Hello !

Ahlan wa sahlan!, Velcommen, Welcom, Welcome, Tervetuloa, Bienvenue, Willcommen, Aloha, Benvenuto, Haere mai, Bem-vindo, Dobro požalovat'!, Bienvenido, Wälkommen, Yin dee dtôn ráp, Croeso - or, collectively, Bonvendon !

... and if your language is not represented above, please accept our apologies and let us know so that we may welcome you too, as we would wish.

Having survived our first anniversary at the end of July 2017 with a hundred or so poems posted and innumerable internet friendships struck up, now is perhaps a good time to update this introductory page. We'd like first of all to tell you a little more about ourselves and to see if you go along with our aims.

We think and speak in the plural because we are family: I, Maurice Rutherford, from my home in Westgate-on-Sea, Kent, England, print and sometimes comment upon the poems you request and on others I'd like to share with you, whilst my granddaughter, Katy, who set up this website, manages its continuity, and makes the postings from world-wide addresses, mostly around the restless fashion hotspots where her business, www.storymfg.com, takes her at any time. There have been very few occasions when it has been impossible to meet a deadline, and judging by the warm responses we continue to receive, our extended family is steadily increasing in size.

Together with contacts from UK visitors to the site, we have been delighted to welcome callers from Canada, Portugal, Spain, USA and New Zealand and, no doubt, from other unstated countries. Some callers have kindly passed on our link via Facebook, Reddit and other avenues; this is very much appreciated. We long for the day when we can pinpoint the whereabouts of all who take the time to contact us, and we think that our readers might feel a closer relationship with each other if they knew the location of the contributing writer. Please let us know your thoughts on this and on any other aspect of the site, whether favourable or not; all responses will be openly shared, as will the best poem you've ever read if you send us the text. You have our sincere gratitude for your support, and thanks for all your poems and comments.

To our disadvantage, we're not able to converse in all languages of our Welcome, but we are keen to make the effort towards a dialogue which recognises no boundaries, and to this end your shared poem could be a great help. Our door is open; please step inside. Welcome !

Maurice and Katy

30th August 2017