Avant-Garde Poetry Contest

[qimissung]

Beware, poetry contest lovers! There's a new poetry contest in town. The first contest begins NOW and entries will be accepted for the next three weeks. I'll moderate the first contest, I guess, and the first winner can then take it from there.

Let the poetry games begin.

[qimissung]

The first entry:


Far and Away

a bottomless pit
with a gentle slope
a crow's prize
a rusted bottle cap
flicker of light
neither sun or moon
from ever blown
the tempting breath
against my ear
what is death
to a tombstone
casting shadows at noon
not left nor right
caught in the gap
none hear my cries
my kingdom for a rope

and still I slip

Ianin Sparrow

[DieterM]

Qimissung, the contest sounds interesting, but, uhm, is there a particular subject for the first round?

[Lokasenna]

Qimissung, the contest sounds interesting, but, uhm, is there a particular subject for the first round?

Agreed.

I'd love to take part, but a bit of guidance on how we're defining the 'avant-garde' would be helpful!

[qimissung]

What? It's not obvious?

Well, I will presume you know what avant-garde means. Do the best you can there (:D). The subject for this initial round is En garde! which could encompass the moment or whatever the outcome of the initial challenge was. Hope that helps.

[Pendragon]

Withdrawn. I refuse to compete with someone who calls me a "Ridiculous fool" :mad5::mad5::mad5:

[qimissung]

Thank you, Pen. That was a mighty challenge, indeed.

[cacian]

unsure of the meaning of
avant garde
in poetry streeming
I write this
to arriere
cast
the meaning of ask
and if I happen
to last
in this competive
task
i would have earned myself
a pass
that every
effort is a worthy mast
to think it's a
gast
legacy is a mind
fast
happy I enticed.

[Lokasenna]

Well, this is Avant-Garde for me. I'm sorry Qimi, but I've taken you at your word - here's my poem on a theme of En garde!.

En Garde, World!

World, you are my enemy,
my nemesis.
I challenge you to a duel - en garde!
Let me be the Blofeld to your Bond,
Fu Manchu to your Neyland Smith,
Lex Luthor to your indomitable Superman.

My evil plans are as follows:

1. I shall
leave DVDs of Midsomer Murders
lying around to give people ideas.

2. I shall
have the music of Björk playing continuously
on the London Underground.

3. I shall
make all bus drivers be over 75
by law.

4. I shall
let any architect do
whatever he likes.

5. I shall
vote LibDem.

I don’t want to cause suicides,
I just want to create the circumstances in which they are likely to happen.

I remains yours, in agreeable supervillainy,

A concerned citizen

[Iain Sparrow]

The Poet

They say his Mother's a whore
of his Father we know little more
but that he loathed his only son
punished him for things he hadn't done
Such was his circumstance he began to write
unpleasant poetry by day and by night
Whatever worse is hard to imagine
that purple prose are not out of fashion
He wrote of dark moods and horrible betrayals
not a ray of sunshine was ever his tales
Pictures he painted with verse most black
Lions and tigers and bears, Oh my!
the English language is under attack

If all the words were turned to bullets
I'd bless the day and all the dead poets

Was it that you wanted to duel my friend...
well then welcome to the Lion's Den.

[qimissung]

Excellent turnout! Iain, though, just one entry per contest. So choose which one you'd like to be in this one and save the other for another day. :)

[HCabret]

EIGHT

Look right, think right; talk right, act right;
Live right, try right; know right, be right.
Walking down this snowy middle
way comes a lonely stranger on
the shore not from here; this mythic
gunslinger without a name or
identity to call his own
armed with a coffin behind him.

A grand silence falls over the
blank street of Eight, West Virginia;
Unable to leave, without hope
for escape and locked in a room
together; eight hours of night
must they wait while a pot of gold
sits outside; who are these rotten
eight names who all seek shelter here?

Otto is first, with his trial
for his crimes against Eight and her
past lives; Agasti, next with his
doubt about the one he thinks he
is in love with; why cant i have
my love, Sleepy Maggie? Is it
me or is there another? Wait
forever till nothing comes back.

Who is this Ba, so full of pride?
Returned from a road traveled by
only one before; give me your
stubborn love so i dont lose this
map which leads the way to our gold.
Lunasa full of ignorance
without blissful knowledge; apples
in winter, from little Eight girl.

Octavius, before his
empire came to his aid, he found
glory in gluttony and lust.
Last Awst is this, sitting in the
corner saying nothing; what is
there to hide Awst I can see a
tree outside the window from my
chair; somewhere i can see bodhi.

After this blizzard passes the
sun will peek through the grey clouds and
a winner will come out of this
tribulation as the victor;
Only one is a knight and he
already has a coffin in
the room ready for his body
to float down the river of souls.

Six, including Eight are left here
sitting and staring waiting for
the snow to pass; only one of
these hateful eight make it out
alive; come and show me who and
liberation will come to all.
No one knows how to be alone.
I see blue in the sky above.

Snowy streets on a sunny day.
Eight walks out on this middle way
alone and unafraid; life is
unending and deathless; i am
going to live forever; I
know the path through the snow towards light.
Look right, think right; talk right, act right;
Live right, try right; know right, be right.

[PeterL]

Devant la Garde

Je suis devant la garde.
I know nothing of what is in front of the guard.
The guards are wide, fat fellows
They buy their clothes not from
The Big & Tall shop but from
The Short & Wide shop.
Ceux qui sont en avance de la garde
Shovel the snow and sweep the dust
For those of us who follow.
Et il ya une arrière-garde aussi.
The ones behind who catch the brick bats.
We, in the middle, are the important ones.
Et la poésie n'a pas d'importance.

[Iain Sparrow]

Excellent turnout! Iain, though, just one entry per contest. So choose which one you'd like to be in this one and save the other for another day. :)


I'll go with the second one, "The Poet"... it's just more fun, and less presumptuous than the first.:)

[DieterM]

Watch out!

Watch out cause
Some think it's
Enough to put words in weird
Positions to forget about punc-
Tuation to makes miss
Takes be it grammar be
It whatever who give's a f uck to
repeat words
To repeat words or
Not to use words alto-
Gether *|*
/@/
And it's bloody poe
Tree
It's darn avant-garde it's
Modern its what you want
It to be when more
Often than not it's just pure brain
Wanking and
S hite

[qimissung]

Thank you for joining us, HCabret, Peter and Dieter.

[qimissung]

Well, I'm two weeks late, and I really apologize for that. I have really not felt well lately. I couldn't really say I was sick, but I sure was bleh. Anywho, the contest is now officially closed. I will decide on a winner and post that announcement tomorrow.

After that, the winner will announce the topic for the next context and it's length, when it is closed and the new winner, etc. I think this is a really cool idea for a poetry contest, so I hope this takes off. See you tomorrow.

[qimissung]

To be avant garde means to be innovative or experimental. I'm not sure that any of these poems fit that parameter. How do they stand up, then, as poetry?

Cacian-I like your idea of being a part of something. Your entry is a trifle choppy and rhymie, almost as if that were the most important thing about poetry. I sometimes think you are having us all on-but you would never do that, would you?

Lokasenna-I love the breezy tone your tale of evil tells, Lokasenna. You've created a most fun and evil villain.

Iain Sparrow-Your whole poem is a challenge to an unknown poet. I like your mettle and the last four lines of your poem best.

HCabret-I find yours, in the spirit of well-written poetry, to be rather a strong entry in terms of intent and style that neither subjugates nor overwhelms your ideas. Well done.

PeterL-Ve-r-r-r-y clever. I enjoyed this short but to the point entry, although I might take issue with your last line.

DieterM-Point taken, my friend, point taken.


The winner then, HCabret for" Eight."


Congratulations, H. I hand off the next contest to you.

[DieterM]

Congrats, HCabret, and ty, qimissung, for contacting me re. this contest :-)

[cacian]

qimissung thank you and no I would not have you on. how could I?? :D
what I wrote was genuine. :)
and
congratulations to HCabret.

[Lokasenna]

Indeed, well done HCabret! And everyone else as well.

[Iain Sparrow]

Congrats HCabret!.. and thank goodness I didn't win. Winning a poetry contest... well, I could never live that one down.:)

[cacian]

so who is taking the lead for the next topic??

how does it avant-garde if it does not have a bard??

[YesNo]

Right. We need a bard to avant-garde. Nice way of putting that, cacian. I wonder if there is a runner-up to take the lead?

[cacian]

Right. We need a bard to avant-garde. Nice way of putting that, cacian. I wonder if there is a runner-up to take the lead?

haha indeed. I don't think HCabret is around.
another member may take it up.
who is the runner up if not
how about yourself YesNo?

[YesNo]

I was planning to enter the context, but actually didn't, so someone else should continue this.

[Lokasenna]

Does it have to be avant-garde poetry, or could we try a different genre? I'm not a very good judge of the avant-garde, but I'd be very happy to run/judge a contest on another theme - but only if people would like me to? I don't have time at the minute to compose anything, so I wouldn't feel like I was missing out by not competing.

What about a narrative poetry contest?

[qimissung]

Good ideas, Lokasenna. I have some ideas, but it will be tomorrow before I can finalize them.

[cacian]

Does it have to be avant-garde poetry, or could we try a different genre? I'm not a very good judge of the avant-garde, but I'd be very happy to run/judge a contest on another theme - but only if people would like me to? I don't have time at the minute to compose anything, so I wouldn't feel like I was missing out by not competing.

What about a narrative poetry contest?

Loka I think it is a great idea although I am not familiar with narrative poems.

[Lokasenna]

Following a private discussion with Qimi, we've decided to carry on with the avant-garde theme for now. I'll create a new thread later today for that purpose: the 'Avant-Garde Poetry Contest 2'.

We'll have a narrative poetry contest at some point in the near future - 'narrative' poetry being poetry that tells a story of some kind, though I imagine we'll be able to interpret that as broadly as possible. I hope by the time it rocks around I'll have enough leisure time to compose something (I haven't written anywhere near enough poetry this year...).

[cacian]

Following a private discussion with Qimi, we've decided to carry on with the avant-garde theme for now. I'll create a new thread later today for that purpose: the 'Avant-Garde Poetry Contest 2'.

We'll have a narrative poetry contest at some point in the near future - 'narrative' poetry being poetry that tells a story of some kind, though I imagine we'll be able to interpret that as broadly as possible. I hope by the time it rocks around I'll have enough leisure time to compose something (I haven't written anywhere near enough poetry this year...).

that sounds cool.
however avant-garde is quite tricky because it is not quite clear what it is about.

[mal4mac]

To be avant-garde izzard (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x1sQkEfAdfY)
As climbing up the shard (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eHPgVkTz9bQ)

[qimissung]

Thank you, Lokasenna! Cacian, avant garde simply means new, unusual, or experimental. It concerns the form of the poem, not the content. Lokasenna's entry was probably the most avant garde one. It's actually very hard to come up with new forms of things. That's why people get so excited when someone manages it. Loka will post a new topic for the next contest shortly.