There's no free lunch

anymore

if there ever was.

Nothing is free

not love

nor a place to pour your heart

in words

and receive support

not mandatory scripted critiques

written for points to earn mandatory scripted critiques

or pay your ten bucks plus up front

to only to find out

you'll never be accepted

even if you wrote there 33 years.

I've tried them all

none offered this clean inviting slate

thoughtful challenging prompts that stimulate

or a community that folds around you

protective muse wings

that no money

can buy.

We choose

those things we value with our cash.

Those things define who we will ever become.