My Poem 'Me, Paul Butters' goes Viral on 'Hello Poetry'

Until just three days ago my most popular poems on the “Hello Poetry” website were 1) “Remember” (15\1\2014) with 3,200 Views and 2=) “Excitement” (22\1\11) and “Great Nephew Jacob…” (2\1\15) at 2,400 Views. But then I posted a new poem called “Me, Paul Butters”. Yesterday I got up at about 4AM just to check my laptop. I was utterly gobsmacked to see it had had about 5,500 Views! Then it became my first “Daily Poem” there, so even more Views (and Comments) piled in. Right now it has had 7,000 Views.

Soon this new poem might challenge my most popular poems of all: “Champion” (25\8\08) on VoicesNet (7,602 V) and “Mirror, Mirror” (10\9\12) on my Blogger Poetry Blog (7,230 V).

Of course, I have no idea why any of these poems went “viral”. IMHO I have written many, much better poems. For the record, my most comprehensive collection of my poems is on “Poemhunter”, which holds 240 poems (including a handful of stories).

Anyway, here is the poem in question:

“Me, Paul Butters”

I’m no author, novelist or poet.

I’m just Me,

And don’t I know it.

I don’t need to be classified,

As long as I’m writing, I’m satisfied.

Typing out words, line by line,

I don’t care if they don’t rhyme.

I don’t care if my verses don’t scan:

I’m not always an Iambic Man.

I just say what I gotta say,

I’m not worried about any pay.

Words come to me without much bidding,

The world of its evils I hope to be ridding.

I love to spread lots and lots of Love,

Bringing peace to all like a messenger dove.

Things of beauty bring joy, John Keats rightly said,

To make us sleep easy when we go to bed.

So I’ll paint what I paint,

And sing what I sing,

Just letting those words

Do their magical thing.

Paul Butters

© PB 13\11\2015 (3).

(I will post the poem on my blogger poetry blog in due course). MMM it is about writing actually. And okay I’m being very honest with it. This all began when I read a lady who wrote that simply putting a novel on self-publishing site CreateSpace does not of itself make you an author. She was quite right of course but I had to think, “I might not want to be an ‘author’!” That set me off on writing the poem. Frustratingly I can’t find that woman or her blog now. If she only knew…

Maybe I’m losing my ego at last and becoming mature. Maybe! Odd thing to do, writing a poem about not writing poetry. That’s Me!

Paul Butters


20\11 PS - 8.8 K now.
24\11 - 9.5 K.
26\11 - 9.7 K.
30\11 - 9.9. Have 110 poems on HP now, apparently! 240 poems on Poemhunter.
2\12 - 10 K. Not bad for a poem about letting go of your ego, ironically.
9\12 - 10.2 K.
13\12 - 10.3.
5\3\16 - 10.7.

Where have all you UK Readers Gone???

(Picture Credit - Amazon co uk)

For years at Triond my Views were split roughly half UK and half USA. Then in 2012 I wrote “Beat the Bullies” (now 87,990+ Views) and America took over. “Crake Cake” (2014 – 215,000+ Views) compounded this. So where are you Brits?

On 6^th August 2015 my geographical Traffic Distribution (as shown on my Triond Dashboard) was USA 85%, Turkey (!) 3%, Brazil 3%, Romania 3, Germany 2, Spain 2 and Vietnam (!) 2. No UK! God Bless America.

Yet for about 4 years on Triond most of my Views came from the USA AND the UK: roughly a fifty-fifty split. Indeed there were times when the UK ruled.

Then in November 2012 my article “Beat the Bullies” emulated The Beatles in America. Again on 6^th August my View-count for Beat the Bullies was 87,982. In August 2014 I even eclipsed Myself with my “Crake Cake” spoof article: 216,042 Views – again mainly American. I don’t know why these articles were so popular in the USA, but hey, thanks over that big pond. But where did the Brits go?

Well maybe I need to write something for the Brits now. By the way, I understand (or misunderstand?) Britain is “only” England and Wales really, whereas the UK also includes Scotland and Northern Ireland (or so I just read on the web). But let’s not get bogged down with semantics. To most people the UK and Britain are much the same.

Right now, of course, the Big News in the UK is the relatively early death of Cilla Black (72). She was one of our greatest icons and closely associated with The Beatles. The UK has much to be proud of with its Music Industry. Queen, Genesis, Tom Jones, The Rolling Stones, Shirley Bassey, Bryn Terfel…

Lol, I’m reminding myself of that Norwegian football commentator Bjørge Lillelien, who in 1981 made a famous speech after Norway beat England 2-1. He said (English translation): "Lord Nelson, Lord Beaverbrook, Sir Winston Churchill, Sir Anthony Eden, Clement Attlee, Henry Cooper, Lady Diana, we have beaten them all, we have beaten them all. Maggie Thatcher, can you hear me? Maggie Thatcher? Your boys took a hell of a beating! Your boys took a hell of a beating!"

Good job we didn’t lose 5-0. Ha ha (No pun intended – that being almost the name of a Norwegian group).

I suppose today such a speech might include Andy Murray, Chris Hoy, Steve Redgrave, Freddie Mercury, Prime Minister David Cameron and so on. You could do the same with Canada of course: Justin Bieber…er, maybe NOT, lol.

But yes we are a proud nation. We once had the Great British Empire. I have mixed feelings about that however. Colonialism, slavery… all rather dodgy in my view. And colonialism did spawn…the USA!!!! Nuff Said. Over and Out.

(PS Yes this is a bit dated now, but the sentiments still apply).

(PPS - This was published on Triond 8\8\15 and got a princely SEVEN views to press. No change there then!!! Think I'll View it now and make it 8 lol. Incidentally my latest diet blog there is on the Most Popular list with ONE View (Me!)!!!!!!).

Paul Butters

2\11 PS - 25 Views from Portugal!!! Wow! They also like my recent poems. Thank You there.

Another Reason Why I Love Writing

This morning William Willis from Scotland posted the following comment about my poem "Sky", on VoicesNet:

"Hello Paul, I was engrossed this one. A simple, plain, straightforward title but attached is some marvellous poetry. I was taken for journey through the words created in your mind, depicting this wondrous creation above our heads. Where does it go? What does it mean? What do the parts look like, which we cannot see? A pulsating start, as you lay the foundations with, with the documentary like intro of "The sky: an ever-changing canopy, endless variety." I have witnesses that glory, I have seen those shooting stars and those faraway swirling planets. Well, I think they are the planets, in my mind....they are. I like your usage of the word "punctuated" as punctuation marks are small and would seem somewhat insignificant, however we all know they are more to them than just dots and dashes, if you will. Your poem again comes alive with "Cloud-ships sail along an invisible sea." Yes, the changing shapes akin to the ship's sails changing shape as the wind bellows her strong. Paul, ever line is a winner and again I am taken by the descriptive way you speak of the clouds, as in "No end of shapes and forms, Yet sometimes formless mists." We indeed see this in full when aboard that jumbo jet and enter these slight mists, their vapours clinging to the aircraft wings. I like the metaphors, "Clouds that are net curtains. In the window to space" and indeed award these lines ****MY LINES OF THE DAY**** They are supremely visual dear poet! You tell what it is like when the clouds are gone and the worlds natural colours intermingle, with "Golden-red dawns and sunsets. Contrast well with deepest blues." A poem that will forever twinkle in my mind, a poem that I really enjoyed commentating on. This poem I award FIVE STARS (AWARD WINNER) ***** P.S. I did enjoy how you finished the poem off by, explaining that "No words can adequately capture The beauties of the sky, It just gives God’s Believers Every Reason Why." You have done a very good job in this poem and again the spiritual ending was on the money and gave much food for thought. Delightful!"

I duly thanked him for this thesis of course. WOW. I'm gobsmacked!

Paul Butters  

Better show you the poem in question - "Sky" -


The sky: an ever-changing canopy,

Endless variety.

Black at night,

Punctuated only by stars and moonlight,

And clouds by day.

 

Cloud-ships sail along an invisible sea,

Scowling black clouds,

Or fluffy white palaces of snow.

No end of shapes and forms,

Yet sometimes formless mists.

 

Clouds that are net curtains

In the window to space,

Or growling black monsters

Firing deadly lightning-forks.

 

If we’re lucky,

There aren’t any clouds at all,

Just blue from horizon to horizon

Everywhere you see.

 

Golden-red dawns and sunsets

Contrast well with deepest blues

All colours and hues.

 

By night and day, Moon and Sun

Play Peekaboo behind those clouds.

And stars forever twinkle and swirl

Along the Milky Way.

No words can adequately capture

The beauties of the sky,

It just gives God’s Believers

Every Reason Why.

 

Paul Butters

 

 

My Top Ten Poems (by me) on "Hello Poetry" website

 

1) "Remember" - 36 Likes - 2,489 Views - Trended

2) "Existence" - 20 L - 1,719 V - Did Not Trend

3) "Frenetic Genetics" - 4 L - 1,309 V - DNT

4) "Circles" - 13 L - 1,220 v - DNT

5) "Existence" - 27 L - 1113 V - Trended

6) "Champion" - 1 L - 1,023 V - T

7) "How Dare You" - 12 L - 1,011 - T

8) "Paradise Found" - 6 L - 941 V - T

9) "Communication" - 12 L - 938 V - T

10) "New Eden" - 11 L - 905 V - T

 

 

Personal Comment (10\3\15): Frankly the only surprise for me here is "How Dare You", a more "spiteful" poem than usual. But what do I know???


11\3 - 71 Views here yesterday!!! Thanks everyone. You can see that HP is a very good site for Views, Likes and indeed Comments\Feedback.

13\3 - On Triond in late February my high Views for "Crake Cake" blog suddenly ceased. My other blog "Bullies" is still Viewing steadily but at a much lower level. Hard to fathom. Triond had a "bug" around this time: any effect???




10\5 - "Crake Cake" - 200,994 Views now; "Bullies" - 80,190.

22\5\15 - 40,800 Views on the Hello Poetry site now. That's way more than on any other poetry site. :) Correction - My VoicesNet stats - Profile Views: 17,646. 146 poems online - views: 62,046. 94 other documents - views: 48,191. To be fair, Views per poem much higher on HP.

16\6 - Crake Cake now 213,256; Bullies 85,466. Triond Views 85% from USA, 0% from UK!

My VoicesNet Current Top Twenty Poems

Picture Credit - VoicesNet by Pattra Shuwaswat)

My VoicesNet Current Top Twenty Poems:

Poem Title	Views	Responses	Votes	Points	Added	Last View	Categories
Champion	7404	3	1	5	8/25/2008	2/22/2015	Free Verse - Sports
Dog's Life	2055	8	2	4	7/28/2010	2/21/2015	Dogs - Free Verse
Look Up!	1669	3	1	5	8/23/2008	2/21/2015	Free Verse - Religious, Christian, Jewish, Islam, Baptist, etc.
Seashore.	1544	5	0	0	8/27/2008	2/13/2015	Holidays - Summer
Our Universe.	1480	6	4	16	1/21/2009	2/21/2015	Free Verse - Religious, Christian, Jewish, Islam, Baptist, etc.
Introducing the Game of Table Tennis	1273	2	1	3	4/12/2011	2/21/2015
Circles	1086	0	0	0	2/22/2011	2/20/2015	Free Verse - Religious, Christian, Jewish, Islam, Baptist, etc.
Young Chickens	1033	0	1	5	4/12/2011	2/17/2015	Birds - Nature
Nothing Lasts.	980	6	1	3	2/15/2009	2/21/2015	Free Verse - Religious, Christian, Jewish, Islam, Baptist, etc.
Jennycat and The Dogs	953	0	0	0	7/28/2010	2/17/2015	Animals - Free Verse
Vista.	950	1	0	0	8/5/2009	2/20/2015	Free Verse - Inspirational Poems, Motivational
Hereafter.	901	1	0	0	8/24/2008	2/17/2015	Free Verse - Religious, Christian, Jewish, Islam, Baptist, etc.
A Regular Rhyme.	881	2	0	0	3/1/2009	2/20/2015	Other - Rhyming 2
Hubble.	862	4	0	0	8/24/2008	2/21/2015	Inspirational Poems, Motivational - Religious, Christian, Jewish, Islam, Baptist, etc.
Hello Reader.	848	7	2	6	8/21/2008	2/21/2015	Free Verse - Religious, Christian, Jewish, Islam, Baptist, etc.
New Earth.	843	3	0	0	8/22/2008	2/21/2015	Free Verse - Other
Internet Spammers and Trolls	843	3	0	0	9/14/2011	2/18/2015	Free Verse - Other
At Your Service: Meeting Your Every Need	814	3	0	0	9/25/2010	2/20/2015
Death	791	6	0	0	9/8/2008	2/21/2015	Free Verse - Religious, Christian, Jewish, Islam, Baptist, etc.
Sense.	772	2	0	0	5/12/2010	2/21/2015	Free Verse - Religious, Christian, Jewish, Islam, Baptist, etc.

Crake Cake Tops Triond Tree

(Picture credit - Rohan810in)

Just had a BIG surprise. My blog on Triond - "Crake Cake..." has had 65,720 Views and rising. In fact it went up 6 views as I took a note of it. "Beat the Bullies" has been eclipsed with "only" 63,617 Views. Then comes "This Paedo Business" with 28,302 Views. 4th is "Need a Therapist?" with 11,351 Views. 5th - "My Triond viewing Records" with 10,929 Views.

Oddly "Crake Cake" took a long time to get cooking. It was published 29\8\14 with limited early Views but has recently gone a bit viral. "Bullies" was published 19\11\12 and has only recently tailed off though still gets some Views.

Soon I will post a blog on how I've lost weight. In the meantime I wait on my blog "Down with Religious Intolerance..." which has remained in "Pending" since mid-December!

Let's try that link again - http://notecook.com/desserts/crake-cake-amazing-new-health-food/

Still "Forbidden" as I type, sorry. Will leave it there just in case...

My latest Geo Distribution: USA 79% (Down at last), Turkey 4, Germany 4, Brazil 4, Vietnam 3 (new!!!), Spain 3, UK 3 (!)

8.45PM PS - Good! My religious blog has now been posted on Triond, at last. :)

17\1\15 Update: Crake Cake 75,548; Bullies 64,308; This Paedo Business 28,302.

30\1\15: Crake Cake 104,627, Bullies 66,726!!!

7\2: Crake Cake 135,317. Geographics - USA 85%, Turkey 3, Brazil 3, Germany 3, Vietnam 2, Spain 2, Romania 2. NOTHING from UK now!!!

19\2: Crake Cake 186,113; still Nothing from UK!!!

22\2: See I'm currently ranked 213 at VoicesNet. Those above me must be getting LOTS of Views or something! My friend Samson Lyanda from Nigeria is at number 2!!! Correction - it's minutes later and Samson is now number 1. Maybe I put him there!

28\2: Oddly my "Crake Cake" Views have become a trickle this week. Recently I was getting 7000 Views per day for this blog. There seems to be no rhyme or reason for any of this. Nuff Said.

7\3 - As I said on Facebook:

On Hello Poetry: my new poem "Aware": 7 Likes and a Repost from Liz Squires (thanks) from NO Views!!! Utterly impossible! Liz is right: the HP counting system has gone to pot.

10\3 - Counting machine on HP seems to be working now. "Aware" went over 400 Views yesterday. Just to say I've posted most of my poems on Poemhunter too: 219 of them now.

5\3\16 - In August 2014 "Crake Cake" reached 216,042 Views. I think it topped 300,000. But this February Triond just vanished!!! On 19\9\15 Crake Cake had had 217,390 Views per my Facebook Post. Maybe that 2014 figure had the wrong date to it then. And maybe not quite 300,000.