Today's poets face many obstacles in having their works read. There is less time to devote to writing these days. Jobs, school and family life have all but destroyed "alone time". People don't read poems like they used to. It is very difficult to break into the publishing world of poetry. These are the everyday trials of the modern poet.

Naturally, people apply themselves to what needs to be done. Working is a high priority, especially in today's economy. If someone spends eight or more hours a day working, what's left to spend on writing? The average person is probably awake for more than fifteen hours, but subtract eight working hours from that. Seven hours are left to spend in whatever way they choose. If they have a family they'd like to spend some of that with them. So, say they spend only four hours with their family-- eating together, watching TV, reading to their kids, talking to their spouse--this leaves three hours. Now, provided this average person doesn't have other errands to run or things to do, he can spend three hours writing poetry. However, is he inspired to write poetry? The poet is weary. Weariness can lead to some good poetry, but more likely the poor artist will fall asleep before he manages to piece together coherent words.

Another problem poets face is that many people do not read poetry. People do not respect poetry. Sometimes it is referred to as "stupid" or "boring", and people do not want to take the time to understand the meaning in it. Can you blame them? Now that we understand how little time and energy the modern person has we can see that reading poetry falls very low on the priority totem pole. This is why online poetry networks are a godsend for poets who can't get anyone to read their work. One particularly good website is http://www.allpoetry.com . Here, a poet registers for free and can start posting poems to their own page right away. With a large online network like this a poet is bound to start getting reads and even comments on their poetry. This website also offers free online classes and contests to help every poet from the one just starting to experiment with poetry to the battle scarred veteran. Allpoetry is also a great resource for the time-starved poet. You can write whenever or wherever you have internet.

However, most poets only dream of becoming published. Online reads are great and can boost confidence, but they just aren't quite the same as reading your name in print. This website is very helpful in determining what publishing companies take online submissions: http://www.ncs.rutgers.edu/~lcrew/pbonline.html

Poets always have to be wary of "vanity sites". These are websites or companies who have reading fees or will offer you a chance to be published for a price. It is always crucial to read the fine print before submitting poems to these websites or companies.

The internet is a great resource for poets, in research and inspiration, as well as giving them opportunities to be read and published. Indeed the internet is a friend to poets, easing their struggles since the 1980's

So if you see a starving artist, a creative beatnik, a bohemian wordsmith, cut him some slack. He is struggling, just like you, just like me.

All I am saying, is give poets a chance.