It’s not as dramatic as in that beautiful Burt Bacharach song, as performed by Trijntje Oosterhuis in the clip below. But this house? These pages? They are empty now. At least, if you are looking for fresh poetry. They’re not empty, because you can still find some wonderful poetry, but there will not be posted anything new here, anymore. The wonderful poets who have contributed are still writing. Great poetry and other cool stuff. Just not here. That has to do with me. I have jumped ship, and have taken my business elsewhere. A while ago.

I Abandoned Medium And This Is Why

This Medium publication has pivoted to a substack newsletter. Smaller, but still ambitious. Only my writing for now, but with the aim to incubate empathy through poetry. Check it out here:

The Tripple Effect

But wait! What about that promised song? Well, you will find that at the bottom of this post. First, I want to acknowledge some of the amazing contributors to this publcation. Brilliant poets like Dennett, Molly Skeen, Charlene Marron, Lisa Bolin, Michael Hall, Jorge Vallejo, Priyanka Srivastava, Srinath, Emma Laver-Scott, A. Christine Myers, Alex Kilcannon and I. M. Dust have published multiple wonderful poems here. Thank you for that. Go click on their names and read more of them.

Also a special mention for Jim McAulay🍁, who has written almost more tritriplicata poems than I did.

Of course also many thanks to Wolfie Bain, Geetika Sethi, Muhammad Zunair, and Heidi Franklin. There were more, but some of them have decided to pull their poems from here. Which is okay. They might have found a home where there’s a better spotlight on them.

More special mentions are for Sylph Hemery, Raffaella Ferretti, Somsubhra Banerjee, Harley King, and everybody at the POM family, like Christina M. Ward and Samantha Lazar for giving me and my poetry a beautiful home on Medium.

As explained before, I decided to put my poetry in front of a different audience, mainly because I don’t want to battle with fellow poets for my piece of a pie. Check out my post about nuts from the garden and subscribe here:

Hazelnuts from the Garden

So, this publication is no longer open to fresh poetry. I will keep it alive, so hopefully some wanderers find the pearls contained within. But feel free to take your treasure elsewhere.

And now, finally, it’s time for… Trijntje:

These Pages Are Empty Now was originally published in The Tripple Effect on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

Shuttlecock
left behind broken, a
reminder of some people’s fun here.
I pick it up, before
a bird does.

Litter. It’s literally everywhere. Amazing what people callously leave behind. In the streets, in parks. In nature. Places they enjoy. Have fun in. And then, ruin.

The litter left behind is not just uncomfortable for other humans using that space. Finding a shuttlecock is not that bad. Or a candy wrapper. It doesn’t hurt. But a piece of broken glass can seriously hurt.

It’s the birds and other animals that use the space too, make it even more enjoyable, that are most in danger of choking, or dying of hunger because they ate something that fills their stomachs but holds no nutritional value.

So, I pick up litter. On occasion. But that act alone does nothing. It’s like a drop of water on a hot plate. When I pick up some litter, I take a photo of it. Not just with the camera on my phone, but through a special app. An app that celebrates its 7th birthday this month. By using Litterati, you can take a photo, tag the trash and geolocate it. The data can be used by your municipality to take measures that are aimed at areas where the issue is the largest. It also helps in having conversations with big brands about the impact of their packaging. Data helps. So with every piece of litter that I take a snapshot of, I hope to contribute to a bigger solution. Is this an example of Tikkun Olam? Maybe. Most importantly, it helps me to teach my children to take care of the world they live in.

This story is a reply to the Weeds & Wildflowers prompt Tikkun Olam: what are you doing to help the environment, as written here:

Tikkun Olam

The Shuttlecock and the Litterpicker was originally published in Weeds & Wildflowers on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

There was a time I published a story on Medium every single day. Sure, it was not a very long time, but I tried it. It didn’t work as I wished it would. Despite my effort, and an increase in number of readers, the time spent on my work by Medium Members was not so high that my monthly earnings from the MPP (Medium Partner Program) rose above that magic $10 mark — let alone 10 Euro.

Then there was a time I spent many minutes in Facebook groups for Medium Writers. I even went so far as to become a moderator in one, and an editor for a publication related to another. I spent time sharing my stories — I even had a schedule going on for which story to post in which group on which day — and I spent time reading, applauding an commenting on stories of others. It didn’t work as I wished it would.

First of all, my monthly earnings only slightly exceeded that magic $10 mark, but never rose above $15. Which is an abominable salary for somebody who puts in several hours per day for several months.

Now there is a time that I have moved the focus of publishing my work to another platform and another business model. I decidedly opted for the Maecenate-Model, where I ask my audience for a small donation about the size of a coffee. Additionally, I made an ebook that I sell online. For 2 months in a row, I have succeeded to break that magic $10 mark easily, without spending several hours per day chasing revenue. But mainly by creating my art.

Thinking of Europe (Ebook)

As an added benefit, I do not have the feeling I have on Medium: that by luring people’s attention to my post, I am actually negatively impacting the earning potential of my poet-friends. Every second a Medium Member spends on my poetry, decreases the value of the time spent on the work of others. When these others are my poet-friends, it simply hurts.

Now, once upon a time very long ago, before the age of the MPP, I was publishing stories on Medium. So, I will not (yet) abandon the platform completely. But I have shifted focus. And I’m feeeeeeeling gooooood.

Find me on Substack here:

The Tripple Effect

This story is about finding online revenue streams for creators. You may like to read these related stories:

• Fishing for Revenue Streams
• The Quest For A Non-Exploitative Businessmodel
• An Epic Battle For My Piece of the Pie

I Abandoned Medium And This Is Why was originally published in Eclectic Notes on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

That night, that night,
that night of nights,
that night I will remember
until deep into my nightest night.

Was it a dream? A dream in which
I dreamt of finally meeting the
person of my dreams? A dream I
dreamt ever since I started
dreaming.

But is was real and it was you. You.
YOU!
And when I look at you I know it’s you,
the one I dreamt of. You.

Every day since that night of nights,
I dream of you with my eyes open.

A flattened frog, rotting fish, bird in the water. Funghi on a tree. You won’t find those over-produced, so-called perfect world shots in my Instagram feed, but on occasion there will be a photo of decay. And if it rains, there will be greyness. Just as there is radiance in the pictures when the sun shines. It is as I see the world. Every day. Without filters. Well, okay, a filter now and then can compensate my lack of photography skills once in a while. Especially when it comes to lighting and contrast. But not to beautify a world that some perceive to be not beautiful enough. Simply because I think the real world is as beautiful as it gets. As perfect as it gets. Anything to make it appear other than that it really is, makes it, to me, less beautiful.

Projections in Plato’s Cave

Many of these over-produced, over-filtered Instagram posts, or advertisements, they are like those shadows in Plato’s cave. Projections of what somebody perceives to be the ideal version of the world. But not the perfect world itself. Just the projections. No anomalies, no spots, no explosion of colour or aroma. Just a projection of a perception of an ideal version of a dreamt reality.

The problem is, that we lose sight of the beauty of the uniqueness we all have. If we all look like those projections of perceptions, the world will be a boring place. A place of mass-produced projections. Of mass consumption, where we simply edit out the waste we create. Where ageing is a bad thing. A single-use society.

Embrace Decay

We also are losing sight of the beauty and perfection of decay. How wonderful is it that a dead tree is actually a source of life for so many new organisms, and eventually ends up as food for new trees. How wonderful is it that once thriving centres such as Angkor Wat or Machu Picchu were once thought lost to the jungles that overgrew them, then rediscovered to become major sites for tourism and arecheology? We should embrace imperfection. Embrace decay. Because decay stands for the circularity of life. And that is what we desperately need more of in this world. We need to stop all that single-use nonsense. That dogma that ageing is bad, or that our uniqueness is making us imperfect. These ideas have led us to destroy our world. We need to replace them.

So stop over-producing, or over-filtering your Instagram posts. Post a photo of the perfect imperfectness of the world around you. Post a photo of decay. Help the world shift paradigms, and help make it better.

How to Improve the World One #Decay Instagram Post at a Time was originally published in Eclectic Notes on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

See the storm.
See it, don’t hesitate.
Remember what happened. What went wrong.
See the storm. And this time
make it stop.

In her diary, Anne Frank wrote about hearing the thunder rolling in. About how the world was being turned into a desert. She was in the midst of the worst atrocity in human history. Like her, people had heard the thunder, had seen the storm coming. But they weren’t able or willing to act.

After the Second World War, the world said “Never Again”. Never. Again. We haven’t been able to keep that promise. Too many storms were seen, but we chose to let them rage. Let them ravage another place, another people. Today, 27 January, is Holocaust Remembrance Day. It’s now 76 years ago that Russian troops found the Auschwitz-Birkenau concentration camps. And in these 76 years, I hope we learned, finally, how to recognise storms, how to recognise the sound of thunder rolling in. And how to act on that.

It starts with remembering. So today, remember what happened.

We Remember was originally published in The Tripple Effect on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

It’s International Hugging Day today. And boy do we need a hug in these times. So,
if you just won an election and are filled with hope,
or you just saw the other side win and lost all hope,
feel hugged.

Are you looking across the table to your partner
wondering how you are going to make ends meet this month,
or maybe how you are ever going to get out of this,
feel hugged.

Not sure how you keep up trying to fit a normal working day
into 24 hours when you are also home schooling 2 kids as
a single parent and do need a bit of sleep?
Feel hugged.

Your employees working from home,
income all but dried up,
still you can pay them this month.
But what about next?
Feel hugged.

Most of your friends have gone, your partner, too. (Grand) children
far away and you are tired of eating alone?
Feel hugged.

Maybe you are afraid of a new lockdown, or maybe of what if people
don’t follow stricter rules to prevent that virus from spreading.
Feel hugged.

You lost someone. To COVID, old age, an accident, a war.
Any sickness that we all wish would finally become curable?
Or just bad luck?
Feel hugged.

And anybody out there, who does not recognize him-, her-, it- or themselves in anything mentioned before. All of you.
Yes.
ALL.
Of.
YOU!

Feel hugged.

Feel Hugged was originally published in The Tripple Effect on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

An ode to one of the great footballers of all time

Life is life
paint-rolled on vacant board
evokes music and raw, magical,
unlimited talent.
Diegoaoaoaoaoaoaoal.

One of the best football players of all time passed away today. May he find peace wherever he is now. And a ball. He clearly was in love with the ball, and taught us the beauty of that love. Thank you for that.

Life Is Life — Thank You For Your Genius was originally published in The Tripple Effect on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

Poets on Medium are a wonderful bunch. But increasingly, they are voicing their discontent. Not in words, that they have done generously since the changes to the Medium Partner Program (MPP) revenue calculation system in 2019. No, this time they are shuttering their accounts. Because, since the change to the MPP, poets aren’t earning on the platform. Their work is, as poetry always has been, too niche-y. Not enough people spend real time on reading poetry for poets to earn a decent amount of money on Medium. Before the MPP change, the income for content creators was dependent on the number of claps. Still, people clap up to 50 times for a story. That is indeed the same as clicking the like button on a Facebook post 50 times. They do that because each clap had a monetary value. So giving 50 claps would mean giving as much as you can give, without paying more than your monthly subscription fee. That all changed. I think the system now is fairer, and less prone to the noble art of system-gaming, but it also means that less popular types of content, which poetry is and always has been, have a lower revenue potential on this platform

I’ve tried it. And will keep trying to build a revenue-streaming home for my poetry on Medium. But to make that stream worthwhile, it takes a lot of other, promotional work. So, I’m also exploring other avenues. With that, I would like to build on the principle that content has a value that justifies a direct reward system. Sounds a bit vague, maybe, but it’s not that complicated. Most of the internet-related revenue models are based on selling advertising targeting. That means that as a consumer, you get content for free, but have to give up part of your privacy so companies can better sell their products and services to you. I don’t think that is principally wrong. However, it has led to a culture in which content is seen as something that has no value, because everybody can get it for free. The price of privacy is invisible and often perceived as worthless. In a system of direct rewards, people pay for content. Now, the question is how. On Medium, you can pay for a membership that gives you unlimited access to every story published on the platform. Part of your membership dues is divided over the writers of these stories, based on the time you spent on their articles. In general, people tend to spend more time on stories that promise them a road to riches in only 5 or 7 or 9 steps, than they do on poetry, and Medium is no exception. That means, that only a very tiny part of the big pot filled with membership fees is paid out to poets. An additional downside to this model, is that officially, the MPP is not available in every country in the world. Only in a limited few. If you are based in India or an African country, you will have to do some magic tricks to make a payout possible. This has an effect of suppressing non-Western voices, which strengthens the cultural influence of Western voices. This leads to an echo-chamber effect that improves the chances of stories that fit a monocultural set of expectations. It makes Medium a bit more boring than it used to be.

Revenue Streams from Roman Times

So, if you are a poet looking to make an income online with your work, Medium might not be the right place. But what is, then? Well, I don’t know yet. I see several writers run newsletters, too. I like that idea. It’s like the magazines of yesteryear, but then in a digital form. You can do a lot with that, especially on a platform like Substack, which is geared towards pay-for-content. Obviously, with this form, there still is a limited pool of people willing to pay for poetry. But on Substack, which gives content creators the option to ask a subscription fee for the newsletter, you might stand a chance. What I have seen so far there, is basically about two types of willingness to pay for newsletters. On one side, people are willing to pay for content, when that content brings value to them. Industry or professional information can do great. Maybe sports. For poetry, it’s more a Maecenate-model: patrons of the arts willing to support (emerging) artists. Like poets.

This brings me to a third potential income stream for struggling poets: patronage. Also known in the micro-form of coffee donations. This is a crowdfunding-type form where poets ask their audience for a donation. The audience donates to make the poetry they enjoy possible. You can do this as a crowdfunding campaign of the go-fund-me sort, or use one of the many sites that are specifically built for this purpose of art-funding modern-day Maecenae, such as Patreon, Ko-Fi and Buy me a coffee (this is the one you can find me on).

Patiently Fishing On

So far, in my experience, none of the above are proving to be a single source of income one might hope to find. Those days seem to be gone for everybody but a happy few. These are just three potential avenues to pursue revenue on. For me, one is minimal, and the other two are, let’s say, not-yet-existent. But I keep exploring, prospecting, digging for gold. Until I find it.

This story is linked to other stories about online business models for creators. You may also be interested in these two stories:

• The Quest For A Non-Exploitative Businessmodel
• An Epic Battle For My Piece of the Pie

If you want to see what a newsletter looks like, why not give my Tripple Effect a try. You can find it (and subscribe) here:

The Tripple Effect

And of course, if you so wish, you can be like Gaius Maecenas and support this poet and writer by buying me a coffee:

Arjan Tupan is writing poetry, podcasting and incubating empathy

Fishing for Revenue Streams was originally published in Eclectic Notes on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

Silly fish,
you ate the bait clean off
the hook, still you caught yourself on it.
Scar on you side now. We
threw you back.

Went fishing with my son. We caught a fish. By accident. I’m not good at it, my son was bored. We threw the fish back. Silly fish.

This poem is a tritriplicata. Want to know what that is? Read this:

What Is That Tritriplicata Thing?

Silly Fish was originally published in Stupid Poetry on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.