So this blog, in its poetry incarnation, is coming up on a year.

I don’t have any kind of readership. I wasn’t expecting wild success, legions of Twitter accounts quivering at my every update, etc. But I did want someone besides a spam bot to read my work.

At this point, the only time someone alive reads this site is either when 1) I “pay” for it (i.e. a critique group) or 2) Someone gets a chapbook and wanders in briefly. #1 is much more common than #2, historically.

I don’t know if being really ill for almost a month has given me new perspective, or just made me pessimistic. I realize that, on a level, I should be passionate about my poetry regardless of audience. And I am. But WRITING poetry is a different act than PUBLISHING it.

It’s true that mine isn’t the only blog online to soldier on unvisited. All the literature on getting an online audience reads like a self-help book: lots of vague tips and fodder for daydreams, but no step-by-step guide on how to actually accomplish it. I guess, just like improving yourself, getting an online audience is a lot more nuanced and difficult than people would expect.

It would be lovely if someone came in and told me that I’m just too negative, that I do indeed have an extant—if meager—audience. So, if you’re reading this and you feel like posting something, please do.

Though, who am I kidding? The only way this page will get traffic is if the spam bots flag enough words.

HERE YOU GO BOTS: Obama Romney Viagra Cialis lesbians cashforgold

…I have just been very ill.

So, no poems this week. Instead, have some (redacted) SPAM:

This is a message to the webmaster. Your website:http://brianthedell.com/?page_id=597 is missing out on at least 300 visitors per day. I came to this page via Google but it was difficult to find as you were not on the front page of search results. I have found a website which offers to dramatically increase your traffic to your website: **************. I managed to get over 10,000 visitors per month using their services, you could also get lot more targeted traffic than you have now. Hope this helps Take care.

300 visitors per day! Gosh!

So you came to “this page” from Google, huh? But I was not on the front page of search results? What were you searching for, exactly?

Because I sure as Hell wouldn’t know what “keywords” I would need to SEO-spam for a poetry website. But then again, I’m only interested in people who want to read my poetry; I don’t have use for people I “trick” into visiting this site, only to have them click away in disgust/disappointment moments later.

Still, I guess this SPAM was more “targeted” than the ones telling me that my latest poem “is just what my boss was looking for,” or is “something I don’t agree with.”