the INLAID EAR

My second attempt to list " Poetry Review Reading Comment Feedback Evaluation on Your Poem by Published Poet " on eBay was a lot more mutually fruitful than the first. Upping the ante from one cent to one dollar weeded out eBayers who just wanted to exchange positive feedback, a crucial element in the eBay culture of trust. Instead, I connected with one Peter Rocha who paid 99c (66c after PayPal's cut) for what turned out to be 1,000 words of feedback on his poem — and my utter pleasure. It was amazing to engage in the sincere creative output of a complete stranger, to find it in the gem of personal truth and to reply with honest feedback including what grabbed me and what I wasn't as excited about. Overall the poem pleased me, and the exchange between us even more so. He said he was leaving university soon and worried he might not find such a ready source of creative sharing as he has enjoyed in school. Maybe that's why he turned to eBay. And that's fin...

Greetings, When you're ready, please send your poem for me to review and respond to. Let me know anything you'd like about the kind of feedback you wish, what you want out of writing poetry, whether you intend to publish or share your work with others, and any other thoughts you have for me before I read. I will then read your poem and respond. Afterwards, you can pay me the 11 cents, or if you think what I provide you is worth more, I am certainly open to a tip :) Sincerely yours,

I'm auctioning a poem-readiing-and-feedback correspondence on eBay . As of this writing, the value is cash American is six hundredths of a dollar. But I know from recent exchanges with a talented but relatively new poet that being earnestly read and commented on is a considerable heart value. This experiment is also one of marketing: how do I make the eBay listing more alluring and more expressive of the intangible value it represents? Can I begin to accumulate testimonials over time? The truth is, I do this sort of thing for free when I'm in the mood. I think it will be a good learning. And perhaps I will ask permission to post poems and my feedback and correspondence here. But it will be the poet's perogative.