Thank you, antoinette, for slowing down and appreciating what poets like you and I and so many others struggle to create in limited space with well-chosen words.

The Medium Partners Program changes are discouraging for all poets and tragic for those who need the income for living expenses.

My poetry evolved here on Medium after decades of neglect. Now I feel like the spinster aunt that the homeowners wish would move out already. I won’t, but I don’t feel as welcome as I once did. At least some of our housemates appreciate our efforts to entertain and enlighten, even if the homeowners don’t.

I don’t need the income to keep the lights on but was hoping it would supplement future retirement — retirement that is farther away now. Still, others have more pressing needs that won’t be met without finding another source of income. Those poets are the endangered ones.