Thank you.

As we all know, someone very close to all of us on this
site got burned by a fake. We all want guarantees that
it won't happen to us. I can understand that. A suggestion
was made that you put a just say hi sign in your pic.
A friend of mine has said that it has made for too much
drama, she doesn't know how to fit a just say hi sign
into her pic, and that she wants to leave the site. I hope
she listens to my pleas for her to stay. The sign idea
is a good one except for these reasons-
1)There is only so much room in a pic. Holding
up a just say hi sign would probably leave no room
for your face in the pic or the sign would be so
small you couldn't read it.

2)Fakers are alot like con artists. They are very
clever. It would be very easy for a fake to edit
a pic to insert a just say hi sign into it.

3)There are no guarantees. A person can post a real
pic of themselves holding a just say hi sign and
still be a scammer and end up hurting someone.

Two people together,
yet lightyears apart.
We're only separated
by the coldness of our hearts,
two hearts that used to beat as one.

Baby do you wonder
how this came to be.
I ask myself this question
and the answer frightens me.
We did this to ourselves!

Not the passage of time.
We're weren't a victim of crime.
We both just got scared
and found a place to hide.

We hide from each other.

The sun shines thru our
bedroom window but it's
black as night inside.
We have no one to blame.
We just have foolish pride
and a fear of looking inside.

We hide from each other.
Afraid to discover.
Wanting so bad to recover
a friend and a lover
who got lost somewhere
between the sheets and the covers.
Sleeping in endless night.

It isn't too late.
We can still find our way.
As long as we breathe
we still have a chance
to find our way back
to each other. Let's
not put it off any longer.
Lover, here's my hand.
Take it today.

Like doves we can fly away.

Now this one is an original. These are my words.
What I'm about to write are words I would love
to say to my wife and have her actually HEAR.
She listens but it seems like she never gets the message.

Free
by Jim Miller

I saw you in a prison.
I found a key.
You took it from me
and used it to break free.

For the first time
in your life
you got to see
the world in color
and not just black and white.

I treasured every second
that I finally saw you live
then I watched you retreat
using me as your chains.
You blamed all on me.
Lover I only have so much to give.

You are alive.
When will you finally live?

You scream that
you want to be free.
You ask me again for a key.
There's no need for one,
your jail cell is open.
Have some courage,
walk on out into the light.
Be who you really want to be.

I cannot free you.
You have to free yourself.
I already gave you a key.

You say you want to dance.
I want to see you dance.
I want you to revel in
the music life has in
store for you instead
I see you make your prison
stronger, any excuse will do.

Brick by brick stone by stone
I see you build a lonely home
and surround yourself with
bars of gray. All I can
do is watch, I am left
to watch and pray for
the day you walk away
from your prison and
into my waiting arms.

I cannot free you.
You have to free yourself.
I already gave you a key.

What are you waiting for?

U2 also wrote this and I feel alot like this song
today too. I couldn't write a better reflection
of how I feel today.

Bad by U2

If you twist and turn away,
if you tear yourself in two again.
If I could, yes I would.
If I could I would let it go.
Surrender.
Dislocate.

If I could throw this lifeless lifeline
to the wind, leave this heart of clay.
See you walk, walk away into the night
and thru the rain, into the half-light
and thru the flame.

If I could thru myself set your
spirit free, I'd lead your heart away,
see you break, break away into
the light and to the day.

To let it go
and so to fade away.
To let it go
and fade away.

I'm wide awake.
I'm wide awake.
I'm not sleeping.
Oh no, no, no.

If you should ask then maybe
they'd tell you what I would say.
True colors fly in blue and black,
bruised silken sky and burning flag.
Colors crash, collide in bloodshot eyes.

If I could, you know I would.
If I could I would let it go...

This desperation.
Dislocation.
Separation.
Condemnation.
Revelation in temptation.
Isolation.
Desolation.
Let it go.

And so fade away.
To let it go
and so fade away.
To let it go
and so fade away.

I'm wide awake.
I'm wide awake.
Wide awake.
I'm not sleeping.
Oh no, no, no.

I did not write this. U2 did. It reflects very much
how I feel right now. Have you ever been with someone
who is possessive, has a bad temper, and lacks the understanding
and compassion that you so desperately crave?

With or Without You

See the stone set in your eyes, see the thorn twist
in your side. I wait for you. Sleight of hand and
twist of fate, on bed of nails she makes me wait and
I wait for you.

With or without you.
With or without you.

Through the storm we reach the shore. You gave it
all but I want more and I'm waiting for you.

With or without you. With or without you.
I can't live with or without you.

And you give yourself away.
And you give yourself away.
And you give and you give
and you give yourself away.

My hands are tied, my body bruised.
She got me with nothing to win
and nothing left to lose.

And you give yourself away.
And you give yourself away.
And you give and you give
and you give yourself away.

With or without you.
With or without you.
I can't live with or without you.

With our without you.
With or without you.
I can't live with or without you.

"You may be right. I may be crazy, but it just
may be a LUNATIC you're looking for."
Billy Joel

Candle in the Wind.
Stephanie,
I tried to mail you but it's weird, I end up back at
my home page. Am I blocked?

Starting in the 90's a terrible disease hit America.
It is called political correctness.
People now no longer speak their minds
because of fear of "offending" someone.
I say fuck all that shit and let's be real again.
Who else thinks political correctness sucks
and has to go?

bump

How often shoud we hold the American Poet Contest?
I say power to the people on this one.
Let me know how you feel on this.

Thomas,
You DA man! The funniest guy on just say hi.
Maybe you should put together a comedy contest.

This was an awesome contest! Everyone who participated should
be proud. We pulled it off! This was a real poet's poetry
competition.

Just say hi's first American Poet winner is...
drum roll....

JUSTDIFFERENT

You proved that you could not pass auditions, kick ass
on the second stage, and win it all!!!!
Both finalists should feel like winners, as should every
person who took part in this. You all took the writing to
a higher level. It was a near religious experience for me!

JT,
you planted the seeds. I only watered them and watched them
grow.

myspace can keep their music sharing. Music sharing can
be found in a billion places on the net. You can find
all kinds of music on the net but you can look high and low
and you will be hard pressed to meet the kind of great people
that you will find here. This site
is unique in that instead of music sharing there is
SOUL sharing. Only found one fake on here so far.
Everyone else has been awesome and real. myspace has
gimmicks, just say hi is the real deal.

I have found that just say hi is more than a dating site,
it is also a great place to make friends and have a good
time. I have a page on myspace but I really have found
that site to be pretentious and it is not easy to make
friends there. As we found out in the case of Tonyatoto
last week there are also alot of fake people there too.
The forums there are also lacking. I consider this site,
for me anyway, to be a myspace for adults. It is much
easier to make friends here and the people for the most
part are real, cool, and genuinely care about each other.
The forums are also easy to find and are alot of fun
to participate in. If you're looking for a companion
this site is great, if you're looking for a cool place
to hang out and make friends this is your place too.
In my opinion Just Say Hi kicks myspace's ass!
Thanks Vanchau for making a site that evolves and
gets better and better. I rarely visit my myspace page,
but you can bet your ass you'll find me here almost
everyday. I just feel closer to the people I meet here
and genuinely KNOW that I've made real friends here.
Tell everyone you know to abandon the fakery and
boredom of myspace and come here to Just Say Hi and make
some REAL friends and experience the greatness and fun
that the forums have become. The poetry forum has all
week had the AMERICAN POET competition and I know for
a fact that myspace has nothing near as fun and spiritual
going on there. Tell everyone you know to put E-Harmony
and Myspace in their recycle bins and join Just Say Hi!

bump

My family is about as close to cannibals as you can get.
We don't mix very well.

This poem is not part of the American Poet contest.
I just got restless from not writing all week and
inspired by what I've seen. This is dedicated to EVERYONE
who became part of something unseen before- The American Poet

It was into the great unknown
that I threw myself into.
A chance was taken
with no guarantee it would pay off.
A voice cried out of the wilderness.
It called out for the artists
to dream and reach to heights
never before dared.
A challenge was given.
It started with one voice
and was soon joined by
the voice of many who
became one, one in a single-minded
purpose- to create art for
all the world to see.
Souls were stretched to their
limits in this quest to
create beauty out of the chaos
that life itself is.
Beauty indeed was created.
I was there to witness
as each voice sang in harmony,
singing the sweetest song.
It was a symphony unheard of before....
and the song is not over yet,
there are still more notes
to be sung.

To everyone involved with American Poet
I want you to know that I am proud of
you and I feel like a kid at Christmas!
Thank you!

I live those words you write. I have the kind of
family that is scattered to the four winds-
FOR A REASON!!!
I had prayed to God to reunite me with my family last year.
He granted that prayer. I learned to be careful what you
pray for.