Minimalist Poetry Contest

[phoenixtears]

Diamonds sparkled in her eyes
and kindled a hope in mine.
I walked up to her
heaving a sigh
and said what my heart had felt
"I love you ... cute little kitty"
She mewed and licked my hand
while those diamond eyes shone
like the sun on sand

[Melanie]

time passes
maturating facets
under heated pressure
forces of nature
governing fate
from the ordinary
to extraordinary
a fragment of
eternity

[cacian]

ok guys time's up.
the entries are all absolutely fabulous. It is a very close contest and very hard to chose only one but there can only be one winner and that is
''Diamond Eyes''
by
pheonixtears
a beautiful piece.I enjoyed the humour and the images portrayed :)

[cafolini]

That there can only be one is an aberration.

[Pendragon]

Congrats, pheonixtears!

[phoenixtears]

Wow! That feels great. Thanks Cacian And Pendragon. Well, time to move on. The next topic is :
Broom.
Deadline: 15th of July 2013. Good luck

[Pendragon]

Do you ever ponder
A witch's dilemma
Does she sweep with her broom
Prior to her joyride?

[YesNo]

When Harry Potter rides his broom
Much like a witch of old
He proves that even men can fly
Against the moon--beyond the sky,
Beyond where radiations lie,
Beyond where solar flares say, "Die!"--
Or so we have been told.

[cafolini]

Concrete, the courses run the world
while memories of facts science adorn.

[Melanie]

witches say brooms
during full moons
will stand in a room
on their own

their claim impugned
for this is my broom
in my own room
and no moon

center of gravity
balanced strategy
moon's depravity
no twitch of my nose

it posed!

(It was easy to do, been there for 5 hours, looking a little odd but going strong.
I've walked all around it, shaking the floor. I think I'll spook someone when Halloween comes.
What I don't get is why it keeps falling over when it's in the closet leaning against the wall!)

http://i1312.photobucket.com/albums/t540/melaniespoetry/d1d550fe-5b40-433c-8b70-a60f49d769e1_zps18906c4b.jpg (http://s1312.photobucket.com/user/melaniespoetry/media/d1d550fe-5b40-433c-8b70-a60f49d769e1_zps18906c4b.jpg.html)

[blank|verse]

Broom!

My son is
sweeping
the floor
with his
swerving
screeching
Matchbox car.

[cacian]

broom
vroom
it is all in the stroom
never mind the boom
elevation tooms

[seaofmilktea]

One fell sweep
And spider's silk falls to dust.
Still, dustbunnies creep like whispers
Forgotten, all whiskers.
There is magic here yet.
Don't forget:
Brooms once swept cloudfuls of stardust.
Now, in cupboards they dream of witches
While we dream of a decent night's sleep.




Haven't written anything in a long time. Poetry looks a lot easier than it is!

[phoenixtears]

Great entries everyone. Pen, Melanie and YesNo delivering the goods as usual. Nice picture, Melanie, by the way.
Cacian strung together those rhyming words nicely.
Seaofmilktea, I liked the line : Now, in cupboards they dream of witches
Cafolini : Didn't really get those lines. Hope you will enlighten me on them.

But because I can't get those lines out of my mind, the winner is..................

Blank Verse

Simple words conveying an emotionally powerful idea. You took the topic to a completely different level.
Congratulations!

[cacian]

phoenix thank you and congratulations Blank Verse!! :)

[blank|verse]

Thanks very much, phoenixtears, glad you liked the poem and well done to everyone who entered. And thanks also, cacian.

If anyone wants to read a master at work on the subject, I can recommend Charles Simic’s ‘Brooms’, which begins: ‘Only brooms | Know the devil | Still exists’, and has other remarkable lines like: ‘A broom is also a tree | In the orchard of the poor’ and ‘The secret teaching of brooms | Excludes optimism’ – dark but incredible. I can strongly recommend Simic as a poet.

I’ve not contributed to the Minimalist competition for a while, so I’ll set the following subject and deadline, but if the topic’s been covered recently, or you think the deadline should be different, please let me know.

Subject: Mountains
Deadline: Wednesday 31st July, 2013.

Best of luck, and I look forward to reading the entries.

[Dark Muse]

Balance

Eagles flight,
your voice
echoes
off canyon walls
here we escape
here we disappear
beneath the white
and gray,
beauty
which sometimes
means death

so the wind laments,
uncovering
unexpected
moments of joy.

[Pendragon]

Mountains made of molehills
Barriers created by fear
Let us cut the mountain down
Tear down another Berlin Wall
Practice war no more...

[cacian]

i like the topic so much i have here two offerings pieces i hope you do not mind :)

heighest

to highest mountain
the peak is sending
messages blending
signals of lending
belowing views
to valleys and hues
spectacular fuse


blending

the landscape
blends
valleys to mountains
balancing fountains
of mouth watering
source to seas
and corse
beauty is dorsed

[Melanie]

Congratulations blank verse! Good poem.

[YesNo]

Mountains mark our boundaries though we live next door,
Though our beds butt on one wall and share a single floor.

[tailor STATELY]

Mountains

Mountains
rise above
Breathe deep the
rarefied air...
and chill

7/27/2013

Ta ! (short for tarradiddle),
tailor STATELY

[Melanie]

Mountains have seen
more sunrises
more sunsets
more thunderstorms
more rainbows.

Mountains are
God's cathedrals.

[phoenixtears]

When a lonesome cry
out to the mountains
came back,
then why don't you?

[blank|verse]

Thank you to everyone who entered - there were some good entries and I enjoyed them all, including the emotion of the poems by Dark Muse and phoenixtears, and Pendragon's more political take on things (although I was slightly disappointed that someone from Blue Ridge Mountains chose not to write about them - too obvious perhaps? :)).

Anyway, the winner is...

YesNo for the metaphorical transformation of the topic into a simple-but-effective couplet. Well done.

Thanks again to everyone who entered. b|v

[Melanie]

I agree! WTG YesNo! The metaphor was delightfully clever.

[tailor STATELY]

Congratulations YesNo !

Ta ! (short for tarradiddle),
tailor STATELY

[YesNo]

Thank you, blank|verse! And thank you, Melanie and tailor_STATELY!

The next topic for the minimalist competition is Patience.

Deadline in three weeks: August 23

[tailor STATELY]

Swiftly! Patience -
abide with me

Steel me against
anger's niggle;
frustration's maw

Feed my spirit
with delight; calm

8/9/2013

Ta ! (short for tarradiddle),
tailor STATELY

[cacian]

patience
your name
has ancient
written to
mention
keep it
a function
who knows
what tension
may rouse
attention

[Pendragon]

Can you pause a moment
Can you watch with me one hour
Ignore the voices that beckon
Or is patience beyond your grasp
Hurry up before time runs out
Carpe Diem, that's the way!
No pausing or just waiting
Patience lies beyond your grasp

[blank|verse]

Heron

Stands. Is.
Reads the stream’s
free-flowing lines.
Reads. Reads.

Reads for meaning’s
sheen through eddies
of meaning.

A glimmer. A gleam.

[The Highwayman]

The cracked church bell’s broken song
The moon, on a single blade of grass

Whirring clocks and running rivers
My mind, anticipating your return

My soul, a dog teased with hope of a bone
Waiting, waiting, patience rewarded?

Open books, closed hearts
No reward for these vacant thoughts

[Hawkman]

Patience?
Take a rock
and watch it
in geologic time.

[Dark Muse]

She Waits

She waits

inhale exhale

but still the phone never rings

She waits

breath held

but no familiar knock comes upon the door

She waits

tick tick tock

and only silence

She waits

flowers wilt, tarnished photos, tattered lace

only dust and bone.

[Adolescent09]

When I yell out 'fiddlesticks!'
white doves fly on down
many hit tips of mountain tops
one shows me a sun.

©M.Z. (Adolescent09)

[cacian]

anyone for judges?!! i think it today :)

[YesNo]

Thanks for reminding me about the contest, cacian. It looks like today is the deadline.

tailor STATELY: I liked how patience was requested to come swiftly. It usually is needed right away.

cacian: I liked the last four lines the best. They held my attention on the "tension"-"attention" words.

Pendragon: Yes, "carpe diem" seems the opposite of patience.

blank|verse: Occasionally, I watch a heron just stand in place in a nearby pond. It does seem to be a very patient bird, but then does it have anything better to do? What it does is done gracefully.

The Highwayman: Nice description of patience unrewarded.

Hawkman: Watching a rock would be a good test of patience. It kind of reminds me of meditating. Nice minimalist poem.

Dark Muse: I can sense her frustration in how you described the waiting and then the final lines made me think she will be or has been waiting for a long time.

Adolescent09: I like the sounds in this poem. I don't know that it is about patience, but I may have missed it.

Thank you for all for the entries.

The winner is Hawkman.

This one fit the minimalist constraint the best although I enjoyed all of the entries.

[Pendragon]

Congratulations, Hawkman!

[Hawkman]

Gosh! I wasn't expecting that! Thanks Y/N & Pendragon. There's some particularly good poetry being posted in the games section at the mo - it kind of attracted me back. All the entries were memorable in this round, so thanks to everyone else for sharing.

OK here's the next one: "Reading Greek." You can do what you like with it, as long as it's minimalist and poetic :D

Deadline: midnight GMT Sat 14th September.

Live and be well - H

[Pendragon]

Reading Greek

Alphas, Omegas
Have to get to Vegas
Beta, Gamma
Someone tell my mama
Delta, Zeta
Babe I'll catch ya later
Epsilon, Phi
I'm waving goodbye!

Pendragon
8/25/2013

[YesNo]

νυνι δε μενει πιστις ελπις αγαπη τα τρια ταυτα μειζων δε τουτων η αγαπη(1)
1 Corinthians 13:13

Ancient, modern, never through,
Love caresses, ever new.

(1) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1_Corinthians_13

[Melanie]

reading Greek
is Greek to me
said tongue-in-cheek

[cacian]

read the greek
and feel the streak
remove the steek
unancient weak
latin is seek

[Dark Muse]

Enigma

Trying to understand you
has always been like
reading Greek.

[tailor STATELY]

Reading Greek: Homer slays me - Achilles


Angst, an Homeric brush

toppling a near display

No recompense enough

owed on a Grecian urn


9/6/2013 r.9/10/2013

I had originally used "an": an Homeric, but yielded to "a", briefly; the archaic def. for an = "and if" or "if"

The ambiguity amuses me. If anything is archaic, the original Greek is.

With forethought,
Ta ! (short for tarradiddle),
tailor STATELY

[chirpy]

Oh Helen – beware your gifts
I have read
of Troy

[DieterM]

What makes me feel
at home:
a merciless sun
on my coconut skin,
the perfumes of souvlaki
and ripe figs,
the periptero woman shrilling,
"Ti kanis simera,"
and the word ΤΗΛΕΦΩΝΟ
on the telephone booth

[Hawkman]

The deadline having passed, it is now incumbent upon me to thank all the participants who have graced this thread with their labour, before passing judgement. It’s a pity that one has to choose a winner because it always implies that everyone else has lost! Therefore, brothers and sisters of the pen, Think not that you are losers; consider instead that your efforts have been inscribed on a round table, that ceased revolving and came to rest with one to the fore directly before the hawk.

Since you have all gone to the effort of entering the fray I think it only right that offer some observations:

Pen: The first out of the blocks, always an eager participant! The rhyming couplets are fun, though the associations are at times obscure. Alpha Omega Beginnings and endings? Well I guess Vegas qualifies for that; Delta & Gamma are both forms of radiation to which Vegas might have been exposed owing to the neighbouring atomic weapons program; Delta Zeta well, I start having problems here, though the first is a brain wave rhythm, but I’m not so sure about Zeta - Theta would have qualified here ;)) but the significance of Epsilon Phi with parting lost me a bit. I am left with an impression of a frat house, though sadly not my favourite: TOGA!!! :D

Y/N: Although you gave us an epigram, we had to read a Greek quote to get the point. A novel approach, putting the onus on the reader to read Greek, rather than making the poem about Reading Greek. A cunning ploy.

Melanie: You certainly embraced brevity, although I do feel that you took it a little too much to heart and chose a well worn path. ;)

cacian: what can I say? This was so you!

DM: both you and melanie latched on to the enigmatic theme, favouring brevity, whereas I’d like to have seen yours developed a bit. I feel minimalism should not be defined by reduced length alone, though yours was certainly effective.

TS: I must confess I rather liked your preamble :) though the poem itself had me thinking of an old music hall joke: “I say, I say, I say; what’s a Greek urn?” “About five bob a week, I think.”

chirpy: This too, was brief and to the point, though one does not have to have read Greek to read of Troy… Nice idea though.

Dieter: If I’m brutally honest I’d like to trim your poem a bit. There are one or two elements which border on excess, but as a poem it is very evocative.

Gosh it’s is so hard to choose…

And the winner is – Dieter, because the poem took me somewhere. So Congrats to you and thanks again to everyone else for making my choice so taxing.


Live and be well - H

[cacian]

Hawkman thank you :) and Dieter congratulations!!! a well deserved win.

[Melanie]

What makes me feel
at home:
a merciless sun
on my coconut skin,
the perfumes of souvlaki
and ripe figs,
the periptero woman shrilling,
"Ti kanis simera,"
and the word ΤΗΛΕΦΩΝΟ
on the telephone booth
I loved your poem Dieter! Applause,applause!
Could you translate lines 8 & 9 for us?
(and your avatar is also a winner)

[DieterM]

Wow, thanks Hawkie, or as they would say, evcharisto poli! @Melanie, the periptero is a stand where cigarettes, papers, candy and other such things are sold. The periptero woman is asking, "How are you today?", and the last word means telephone.

For the next round, let's have a go with this line out of a Beth Gibbons song (and do try to find it on Youtube or any similar site if you wanna get a better feeling of what I'm thinking of):

autumn leaves

Deadline is oct. 4th (I'll read on oct. 5th in the morning, Paris time-uhm, Paris, France, okay?).

[cacian]

great topic Dieter!


through the forest
the wood
the solace
i catch a glimpse of the fall
crimson red gauntlets
yellow stark portraits
a perfect autumn leaf
crisp crackles so to speak
i am but haught.

[Pendragon]

I think people are over thinking my poetry. It was a simple rhyme, just for fun. There's a song out there that gives places, something like "Aruba, Jamaica, girl I want to take ya." etc. Same thing here.

The leaves fall
Soar on the wind
Back to the ground
Where they began
The roots drink deep
Of the natural compost
The leaves reborn
Return from being ghosts

[YesNo]

Pretty while they last, but then they're gone, those autumn leaves.
Memories hold fast and linger on for one who grieves.

[Melanie]

Thank you Dieter, for the translation above.

autumn leaves

hither, thither
leave's autumnal dither
in indian corn hues
of a jackson pollock
on sky blue winds

http://i1312.photobucket.com/albums/t540/melaniespoetry/cd31950b-2746-4466-b561-0b38334751ed_zps516c8ae3.jpg (http://s1312.photobucket.com/user/melaniespoetry/media/cd31950b-2746-4466-b561-0b38334751ed_zps516c8ae3.jpg.html)
Jackson Pollock

http://i1312.photobucket.com/albums/t540/melaniespoetry/bcdd9a69-4e33-4748-865f-7a3e0b789ef1_zps6fe52de6.jpg (http://s1312.photobucket.com/user/melaniespoetry/media/bcdd9a69-4e33-4748-865f-7a3e0b789ef1_zps6fe52de6.jpg.html)
Indian Corn

[Dark Muse]

Memoir of a Leaf

For only a whisper in time
the beauty of death
bursts into awe inspiring vibrance,
but too soon it already
ebbs away into gray.

[jajdude]

Autumn leaves gather near the uncared for shed.
Days shorten, winter comes.
They're just leaves.

[DieterM]

Awwwwwwwrrright, six fantastic submissions so far. And still one week to go. Who wants to participate? C'me on, ladies, c'me on, guys, don't be shy, we of the Minimalist Poetry Contest don't bite (unless asked to)!!!

[DieterM]

It's Friday evening, still two days left for your submissions—thought I'd bump this thread up so that you don't forget!

[cafolini]

Jane Austen
fake
death
beforehand

[DieterM]

Tough job to choose only one. You've been too good, dear friends! And, almost a first, I even understood your offering, dear cacian ;-) (only teasing, of course)
Let's see what we've got, first.
Well, cacian. You took me on a nice autumn walk, something I really like in real life, and which you rendered skilfully in your lines.
Pendragon, nicely done, too; short and to the point, the seasonal turn of death & decay to new births.
YesNo, minimalistic too, but the few words you used say it all. And a very "autumnal" subject, so to say, what with sadness and melancholia always lingering in the air, come October.
Melanie, I think there's a typo in your poem, but correct me if I'm wrong. Isn't it Jackson Pollock you are talking of? If yes, it's a fantastic example; indeed, some of his paintings do make one think of autumn colours.
Dark Muse, I really liked the "beauty of death" that ebbs away into gray.
jajdudes, well, yes, they're just leaves. I had to read and re-read your poem several times; first I understood "uncared-for-shed", as in "shelter of the uncared-for", and I was thinking homeless people with stacks of autumn leaves beside them. And I still don't know if I have really understood what you wanted to say, but I rather like being challenged by such a small amount of words! Poetry should make us ponder and muse, shouldn't it?
uhm, cafolini, I'm not sure at all that I got the sense of your offering. Would you mind explaining?

Anyway, there can be only one winner.

And I choose… ta DAAAAA!

Dark Muse

Congrats, and see you in the next round, everyone!

[Melanie]

Congratulations Dark Muse! I also like "beauty of death" to describe the autumn leaves. Thank you, Dieter, for catching my typo. I fixed it. Yes, it was Jackson Pollock. You did a good job with your critiques...well done.

[cacian]

Dieter thank you for the feedback you did indeed a very good job and glad you understood this piece :D
Dark Muse congratulations !! look forward to the next round :)

[Dark Muse]

Thank you, I will have a new subject up soon.

[Dark Muse]

Ok next subject is Owl

Deadline Oct. 20th

[Pendragon]

The Barn Owl screeches
The Screech Owl wails
Great Horned Owls bark
So who says "who?"

Pendragon

Barn Owl, Typical Call http://www.owlpages.com/sounds/Tyto-alba-3.mp3
Screech Owl:Typical Call: http://www.owlpages.com/sounds/Megascops-asio-2.mp3
Great Horned Owl, Typical Call: http://www.owlpages.com/sounds/Bubo-virginianus-4.mp3

[cacian]

an owl
sat on a tree
sees skies
a sea
wonders to be
the bird of
free.

[jajdude]

Owl sits in perceived wisdom.
It isn't the tree, nor the shining star that advises this.
It's man, or woman, in all her strutting glory.
This is why the owl sits in a tree.

[Melanie]

Night Owls

the moon kissed the rim
of her dark merlot glass
as she sipped on nocturnal stares
and the nightbird's noiseless flight

[tailor STATELY]

Candy's Walk
Mimicking a tawny owl
invading the shadow'd light
Death coos: oo-oo, oo-oo

10/10/2013

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=txzOErCuQlo

Ta ! (short for tarradiddle),
tailor STATELY

[YesNo]

The owl, looking for a treat,
Observes a mouse that's good to eat,
Who's hungry on the forest floor,
Then isn't hungry any more.

[Dark Muse]

These were all some really good entries and it was quite hard to judge this one.

Pendragon: I quite enjoyed the humorous and playful nature of this. The last line really made me chuckle. I liked the idea of playing with the different calls of each of the birds.

cacian: As always very interesting, though I am not sure I completely understand this one I am very ingiruied about it. I did like the idea of an owl contemplating on the freedom of birds. And I liked the play upon words with see/sea.

jajdude: Quite an interesting and thought provoking poem. I had to read this one a few times and I am still not sure I understand it, but I really enjoyed reading it. Quite original.

Melanie: A very beautiful and haunting poem. I thought it captured a wonderful image. I also really enjoyed your interpretation of the subject.

YesNo: I liked your use of rhyme, and enjoyed the humor of this poem. It was a fun amusing read.

And the winner is......

tailor STATELY: I quite enjoyed the eerie atmosphere of this one, and loved the connection between death and the owl's cry at the end. This poem captured some great imagery in such few lines and this poem really captured the essence of minimalism I thought.

[jajdude]

Good job tailor STATELY.

[cacian]

Dark Muse thank you and congratulations tailor STATELY.

[tailor STATELY]

Thank you all ! Most unexpected.

This poem was a tribute to my Mother-in-law, Candy, who passed away October the 3rd; the youtube song I linked to was her favorite.

Next Minimalist theme: Harvest

Due date November 6th.

Ta ! (short for tarradiddle),
tailor STATELY

[Melanie]

"Harvest" will be a good Minimalist theme. I watched the youtube song you posted and, I admit, I got a little teary...very touching. I was particularly touched with the way the visuals included every race and religion. God, Buddha, Jesus, and the Dali Llama were all featured. It was a gentle reminder that God loves us all. Candy must have been very special.

[Pendragon]

Pumpkins and corn
Potatoes and wheat
Food harvested and stored
For future eating...

Pendragon
11/24/2013

[prendrelemick]

(Taken from real life many many years ago in a field near Hull)


In my pea viner,
I could look over your hedge,
It's suprising what you see,
Harvesting veg.

You were laid on your lounger
for an all over tan,
Quite an eye opener,
for a harvestin' man.

[YesNo]

Were we worthy of such harvest
Ready every year?
It came if we were good or bad.
It came if we were glad or sad,
Regardless of the fear we had,
Steady every year.

[DieterM]

Zeal and late harvest winds
redden our cheeks, our hands,
amidst rustling vine leaves
and short, slanted sunrays

Early dusk. We stumble
over the last pumpkins,
back home to our fireside
to roast sweet chestnuts

[Melanie]

Every step time takes
upon harvested fields
leaves footprints in autumn's
bountiful memories
now bedded down for
winter's silent slumber

[jajdude]

The tears you cried in spring came around in fall.
The tears you cried, they hurt us all.

[tailor STATELY]

Deadline mid-night California PST tonight !

Enjoying the entries to date.

A poem I wrote several years ago I'd like to share:
(ref: http://tailor-stately.110mb.com/ or https://sites.google.com/site/apoetingardenvalley/ )



Scrabble

O'er
Roughest-relentless
Slope of scree
Precious are the
Harvested
Grinding querns
Precariously borne
Away

8/3/2007

Ta ! (short for tarradiddle),
tailor STATELY

[cacian]

harvest the thought
save it for when it is
sought
after all a feeling
is what it ought
when words
let's you fault.

[cacian]

bump;)

[cacian]

I think this needs a judge anyone ? :)

[DieterM]

I agree with cacian—this contest is nigh one month overdue! I even pm'd Tailor to make sure he was okay but got no answer. I keep my fingers crossed he's just overbooked.
But can anyone else play the judge, please?

[cacian]

good point. how about you do it then start it off
oops but then you can you have posted or can you or maybe someone else. let see if anyone is online haha ;)

[jajdude]

I don't look into this site much these days but I'd say let pendragon take over.

[Dark Muse]

In the absence of Tailor Stately I have agreed to volunteer as judge of this one (that way none of the participants have to forfeit by judging)

Great entries everyone.

Pendragon: Very simple but effective. It is a great example of minimalism for it is concise while still giving the reader a full view and understanding of the subject. It tells a little story.

prendrelemick: A fun playful poem that made me chuckle. I enjoyed the your use of language.

YesNo: I really enjoyed this one. It is simple and yet through provoking at the same time. The opening question caught my attention and drew me into the rest of the poem. I liked the idea presented.

Melanie: Beautiful, and almost melancholy in a way, and yet also hopeful I think. I particularly enjoyed the lines : "leaves footprints in autumn's
bountiful memories"

jajude: This was a very touching poem though evasive. It make one wonder what the story behind it is. I did enjoy the rather original take upon the subject. A lot of emotion captured within only a couple of lines.

cacian: I really like the concept of this one, and your original idea, it is a more abstract take upon the theme of harvest. I enjoyed seeing the subject taken in a different direction within your poem.

And the winner is.....

DieterM: Your poem is full of vivid imagery and I really like the picture it paints within my mind. I think it does wonderfully capture the atmosphere of harvest time.

[cacian]

Dark Muse thank you so much for taking time to read and giving feedback it is very much appreciated it.
DieterM congratulations!!!

[Dark Muse]

You are welcome

[DieterM]

TY Dark Muse, really nice of you indeed to take your time, and especially most unexpected that you chose me. And ty, cacian, for your congrats!

Next topic: "black moon"

Deadline Thursday Dec. 19, 20:00 Paris time (have to take a plane the next day, so I'm sorry if that seems a bit short) :-))

Looking forward to reading your input, my dear friends!

[Pendragon]

The full moon is bright
A new moon is dark
Dark of the moon
Whispers in shadow

[YesNo]

Blue moon, black moon, mead moon noon,
Hip hop, bebop, on top soon.

[cacian]

dark moon
bright groom
underneath the darkened
loom
shine a glimour of soon
upheaved is never doomed

[prendrelemick]

Eclipse.

Bright sun,
Black moon,
Portents grave.

[blank|verse]

Black Moon

Night-polluted,
black

but for a shiver
of light

a sliver
of silver

a reflection
of original ideal,

a thought
of a thought.

The idea of an idea
of an idea.

[jajdude]

If ever the sky decides a black moon
That day can't come too soon.

[Hawkman]

Cetshwayo said not to fight
on the day of the dead moon,
yet beneath the dying light
his warriors screamed, "Usuthu," Kill
and "Ngadla", I have eaten.

[Adolescent09]

O' ached chest of Saint Malaise
twang a string to grant one ease
when half is dust in fluff tonight
and half is more than grey and white
Adolescent09

[Gilliatt Gurgle]

Luna Limburger

The moon is made of green cheese,
it soars across the sky with ease,
except in June when it's left out longer,
turns black with mold and smells stronger.

[dara.cv]

When the angle provides no light
to reflect upon the night.
A black moon does arise
Replacing magic in the line of sight.

[DieterM]

Alright, I'm a bit late (coupla hours Paris time) and I gotta do this unceremoniously because gotta catch a plane, plus it's bloody 4:40 in the morning... Well, very good entries, I have to say, and I'm glad my old pal Hawkie participated, too :) But the winner this time is...

Blank | verse

Something drew me right in, a certain je ne sais quoi, and of course, if you use the idea of an idea of an idea on me, you're sure to win, lol!

Congrats, thanks to all for having played the game, and let me wish you a wondeful Christmas and a Happy New Year, I'm now going to where there's no Internet... No, not gonna do me,in, just going to me mom's ;)

[Hawkman]

Congrats b/v!

[blank|verse]

Thank you Dieter - merci beaucoup mon petit chou - but then, I always knew you were a man of impeccable taste and judgement! :) And I hope you have / had a wonderful Christmas with your family (whenever you read this next). And thanks also, Hawk; for what it's worth, I thought your poem offered the most interesting take on the subject.

Anyway, enough of the shameless flattery. I'm sure people have got better things to do over the festive period, but here's a subject and deadline for the next round of the competition; hopefully it gives people enough time to enter. I'll be looking for poems that use language and form inventively; that are concise and condensed. Thanks again, b|v.


Subject: January
Deadline: Friday, 17th January, 2014 (midnight, GMT)

[windblown]

January

January and everything
starting again
soon spring
and flowers
and babies
and hope
and empty summer
and Christmas
and dying
and everything
starting again

[miyako73]

January Morning

The sycamore alone, bare, skeletal,
The ruby-throated quiet, the black-chinned gone,
The streets, the grey pavements, the park empty,
The baby blue eyes, the poppies next spring,
I wander around covered thick, still cold.

[barbara0207]

January 2014

Snow.
Tons.
Wet.
Heavy.
Trees,
Pylons
Breaking.
Power failure.

OH!

That
Was
Last
Year.
Now:
GREY.

[Pendragon]

January begins a new year
Things seldom change
Same old crap, 2014
What the hell
Bring it on...

Pendragon (C) January 2, 2014

[YesNo]

Brrr! Such fear!
Spring is near.
Some folks prefer to race.
Patiently,
Watch winter flee
Gently from your face.

[prendrelemick]

To start again,
And leave all that
Behind us,
And face the front,
Like January does,
Ah, I wish...

[cacian]

January
the blues loose
a clearance of moods
light appears least
hurried to break feast
let spring takes its lease
winter is needs to nature and east.

[cacian]

bump :)

[blank|verse]

Right, time’s up! Thanks for all the entries.

I enjoyed the circular nature (in both senses) of windblown’s ‘January’, which put me in mind of Wallace Stevens's ‘Domination of Black’; cacian submitted a characteristically rhyme-heavy offering; and barbara, Pendragon, YesNo, and prendrelemick all had a similar theme of January as being a time of looking forward. If I’m honest, I would have liked more focus on January itself - what it is rather than what it’s not - and of course, named after the two-faced Roman god, Janus, January looks simultaneously backwards and forwards.

But I feel the best of the bunch is Miyako’s ‘January Morning’. I was particularly taken with the second line, which showed some linguistic invention; the adjectival phrases lacking nouns are nicely suggestive of the absence felt during winter. Nice touch. Personally, I feel the poem could be tightened even further considering it’s a minimalist poem (do you need any of the definite articles? Three adjectives in the opening line!?) but overall, I think it has the edge over the other entries.

Well done, everyone. Over to you, Miyako…

[cacian]

blank I verse thank you :)
Miyako well done !!!

[miyako73]

Thanks Blank and Cacian. My apology, blank--I just realized now I was in the minimalist not in the subject contest. Too much coffee and smoking. Give me till the end of the day to think of a subject/theme.

[miyako73]

Okay, here it is:

cacophony

"a harsh, discordant mixture of sounds"

For added challenge, your poems should minimize, tone down, lower, calm, still, deaden, stop, mute, or silence
those harsh sounds, discordant voices, noises, shouts, or whatever bother your ears and your sense of serenity.

Deadline:

February 16, 2014
Before 12 midnight of Sunday

[cacian]

Okay, here it is:

cacophony

"a harsh, discordant mixture of sounds"

For added challenge, your poems should minimize, tone down, lower, calm, still, deaden, stop, mute, or silence
those harsh sounds, discordant voices, noises, shouts, or whatever bother your ears and your sense of serenity.

Deadline:

February 16, 2014
Before 12 midnight of Sunday

hi miyako may I suggest a new addition to these contests?
how about you write something to give us an idea. I think it would be interesting to exemplify the contest. in other words anyone who gets a turn at starting a contest should write a piece themselves to lead by example.
what do you think?

[miyako73]

Here, Cacian. Sorry I wrote this fast. Though not good, you'll get what I mean.


my domestic life


mother’s nagging
wakes up early
to start the chorus:
father’s sermon,
sister’s complaint,
brother’s guitar,
our hungry dog.
it’s seven o’clock-
too early for muffs
and silicone plugs.

[Dark Muse]

Conversations at the Cafe

Spectrums of..
jewelry.....
return -myself
isolate
reality..
there is nothing wrong with
...the cat
a loss
postponing-
decisions
pervert -- truth
what you really want
-clam chowder-
to do...
nudge yourself-----
strong again.

[YesNo]

eekpot riplot boo

Om

irrot yogblot noo

Om! Om!

yiptot tripgot doo

OM! OM! OM!

Om

Om

[cacian]

I see miyako. I'll try see if i understood :)

[cacian]

a symphony
music
and sea
woosh like bee
screech note
and key
ping pong
does gee
bounce up
and free
winning all
three
tournament
prix

[prendrelemick]

Us, Our, We.

My teeming brain within,
Is stilled by thoughts of you,
You drive out the cacophony,
Of life's o'erbearing stew,
"You" my place of peace
"Our" my place of home,
"We" is my resilience,
And "Us" my comfort zone.

[miyako73]

The verdict:


Dark Muse, I like the interruptions of thoughts and worries.

YesNo, I like the idea very very much, but the poem has no narrative. I wish those senseless noises are city noises, noises of busy people or noises of chaotic life that call for meditation.

Cacian, I like the energy of the poem, but they are all noises. Where is the muting?

Prendrelemic, yours is the most coherent, but the focus is not on discordant sounds but on the word "cacophony".


It's between Dark Muse and Prendrelemic. It seems their poems are opposite. But I have to follow the mechanics I proposed--write about cacophony and tone it down for extra challenge.

I'll give it to Dark Muse.

[Dark Muse]

Thank you, I will have the new subject soon.

[Dark Muse]

For the minimal poetry challenge I could not resist the idea of providing a picture of something microscopic for your next inspiration and I became quite fascinated with this little guy.

It is called Tardigrades, commonly known as water bears

http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2008/09/10/article-0-029908E800000578-448_468x413.jpg

Deadline March 5

[Pendragon]

I am the monster
Under your bed
Because you cannot see me
Doesn't mean I'm not there!
Every time that you shrink
In one of your dreams
Come face the water bear
Am I fierce, do you think?

Pendragon
(C) 2/23/2014

[YesNo]

I don't know much about them, but
They seem quite happy living there
Out of my sight out of my mind.
About me, too, they do not care.

[windblown]

microscopic cosmonaut
tardigrade in outer space
solar winds do not harm you
nor do you freeze in that sub-zero vacuum
they deprive you of oxygen - you survive
tiny little water bear
what is your secret?

[DieterM]

I'm clueless I'm
helpless I'm freezing
there's that hole where
my stomach should be
where my body should be
and your cold stare
holds me like a laser beam
as you say 'It's over
it's over I'm done
with you', and your gaze
gets colder still, so cold
that it could even kill
a tardigrade

[Dark Muse]

Sorry of the delay, things have been a bit hectic over here. Great entries everyone. This one was a really hard choice to make.

Pendragon: I really enjoyed the playful mood of your poem. It made me chuckle and I think it did suit the image quite well.

YesNo: An entertaining poem. I quite enjoyed it. I really like the idea that these microscopic creatures exist as happily oblivious to our existence as most of us do to theirs.

windblown: Wow, I loved the imagery of your poem. There are some wonderful lines here. It is a lovely poem about survival touched with a certain feeling of sadness, for it seems like it would be quite lonely sustaining those harsh environments in which none else can manage to live.

And the winner is....

DieterM: Love this, I loved the original way in which you integrated the inspiration within your poem. I also found it to be quite gripping to read. Great concept.

[DieterM]

Oh wow, thank you, Dark Muse! It was a difficult topic, to be sure, and I had to look up the word because the photo left me clueless... and immediately, I was taken in by the explanation that this small creature could survive incredibly extreme environments. That and some rainy weeks might explain my inspiration.

Anyway, I feel honoured.

Now, let's see what we could use for the new round. Know what? I'd like to travel someplace exotic and expensive (don't worry, even a metro-trip to the suburb sometimes seems too expensive to me, lol)

Alright, why not. Topic: faraway.

Deadline: Sunday, March 30, 2014

[prendrelemick]

Are you small,
Or are you faraway?
It's a matter of perspective
And my eyesight is defective.

[Pendragon]

My thoughts drift
On a sea of memory
Far, faraway
To realms I cannot see...

Pendragon 4.13/2014

[YesNo]

Faraway where monsters play
My mind will waste this lovely day.

[DieterM]

Ok, I should be selecting today, 3 good entries so far... But let's give it another day, I'll take my decision tomorrow, so you can still participate! Make it minimalist, make me travel, make it "faraway".

[DieterM]

Alright, this was what I'd call a really, really minimalist round, mates! Where the entries were concernced (very short and to-the-point, even if not in the sense I expected/hoped for) as well as where the participation was concerned. Three entries… must be an alltime low in this section! Luckily enough, quantity doesn't have any influence on quality, so I must say, I really liked the three entries. To be honest, not one of them made me travel in the sense of "going to another country", but they made me react nonetheless.
Pendrelemick must certainly get this round's special Prize for the funniest poem; I really appreciated how you underlined the poem's pun by rhyming the last two lines. And not only is it a pun, but one that is oh! so true!
YesNo must get the special Prize for shortness; I'm not altogether sure I understood what you meant to say, but I liked it nonetheless.

And last but not least, because this round's winner: Pendragon. My mind drifted with you…

Best to all three of you, thanks for having participated, and now, it's up to you, Pendragon!

[Pendragon]

Sorry about the delay. Little action on these contests lately.

Try "apathy"

[YesNo]

They say that politicians win
And I reply, "Whatever."
They say a lot. They start again,
But apathy just won't let in
Their energy, no, never.

[Pendragon]

Someone else may judge or start a new contest. I am gone until further notice.

[blank|verse]

YesNo - I declare you the winner of the last competition. Well done! :)

Would you like to choose a new subject / theme and set a deadline for the next round of the competition?

Thanks, b|v.

[YesNo]

Thanks, blank|verse.

The next theme will be "monsters" for the minimalist poetry contest.

Deadline: May 31st.

[cacian]

monster did you say??!
oh not they are not for me
I'd rather have a flee.

[Dark Muse]

Sol

It is a giant eye
burning into me,
like a hand
around my throat
oppressing my breath,
there is no escape
no sanctuary,
slowly it siphons
my life away.

[oddball]

Drac snacks
Frankie lurks
Mum-mum rustles
Gilly splashes
Wolfie howls
Witchipoo chants
Windy eats people
Zombie totters
I run

[Pendragon]

Actually, this one is me. My account had problems, long story. Oddball no loner exists, it was just me, Pendragon, trying to figure out what I did with my password....


Drac snacks
Frankie lurks
Mum-mum rustles
Gilly splashes
Wolfie howls
Witchipoo chants
Windy eats people
Zombie totters
I run

[YesNo]

Thank you all for the entries:

cacian: I liked "not they are not for me".

Dark Muse: After two very warm days, I feel the same way about the sun. But it is better than the polar vortex.

Pendragon: Nice list of monsters to avoid. I'd run as well.


The winner is cacian!

Congratulations!

[cacian]

YesNo thank you :)

the next topic is:

''cloud 9''

[cacian]

anyone for this entry. it is only small minimalist :D

[YesNo]

I'll have something by tomorrow. Thanks for the reminder.

[YesNo]

Wining and dining
On life's silver lining
Is what a cloud nine is for.

Soaring, exploring,
Storm clouds ignoring
Each breath follows one breath more.

[Pendragon]

Cloud one is fun
Cloud two is cool
Cloud three is free
Cloud four costs more
Cloud five feels alive
Cloud six gets you fixed
Cloud seven is like heaven
Cloud eight feels great
But...
you can have the best time
On cloud nine!

Pendragon
(C)6/10/2014

[tailor STATELY]

Cloud 9

Cloud nine
a state of mind
one might find
if one were to wind
the tines
of a fork about the spaghetti universe forward in time
dropping a dime
in the cosmic jukebox of the divine
for syncopated rhythms and rhyme
as becoming a celestial paradigm

6/15/2014

Ta ! (short for tarradiddle),
tailor STATELY

[cacian]

OK guys this is due


YesNo:
I enjoyed the simplicity of the piece.
the last line is a nice one :)

Pendragon:
it is a fun piece. I had fun reading it. I enjoyed the repeat of each same line.

tailor STATELY:
I enjoyed the poem very much. every line was a joy to read I especially like the spaguetti line haha :D
of a fork about the spaghetti universe forward in time

dropping a dimeand so the winner is......

tailor STATELY !!!

[tailor STATELY]

Woo Hoo! I'll have a topic soonly.

Ta ! (short for tarradiddle),
tailor STATELY

[tailor STATELY]

After much rambling about on the web I went to the lit net tag cloud... whet your pens:

Next topic: Horror

Ta ! (short for tarradiddle),
tailor STATELY

[YesNo]

What's done unwinds itself through time-bound strife,
But if you'd save yourself, and would be sure,
Do simple things before those ghosts attack:
Retrieve your sperm that has defiled that wife.
Make true the lies to him that you're still pure.
Un-crack those skulls. God wants the bullets back.

[cacian]

horror
I don't do it
I do not get it
then to see it
on telly
it comes across
a baddie
without wings
just ketchup
ready
silence of the lamb
steady.
zombie trash sped.

[Pendragon]

When The Hills Have Eyes
And there are The People Under the Stairs
Will something Drag Me to Hell
Where It Awaits

[Dark Muse]

Horror

It begins as a tingle,
a chill,
a breath,
a shadow,
paralysis starts to creep in,
heart palpitations,
noises in the dark,
nightmare and reality
lose distinction,
it ends with

a scream

and then



silence

[tailor STATELY]

Good entries so far... thought we'd get a better response with the subject matter; but then it is Summer.

Deadline: Midnight (California PDT) 7/18/2014

Ta ! (short for tarradiddle),
tailor STATELY

[Jaked]

Horror: faded scar
her word seared image remains
buried in the yard

[tailor STATELY]

My entry doesn't count, but thought I'd share a newsworthy link and an idea I had:

scary-creatures-are-hiding-inside-our-washing-machines (http://sploid.gizmodo.com/scary-creatures-are-hiding-inside-our-washing-machines-1606386101/+caseychan)





wonder no more



where your socks go...



they flee in terror




7/17/2014

Deadline soon !


Ta ! (short for tarradiddle),
tailor STATELY

[MystyrMystyry]

Night Horror

Walking down the gloomy alley
Puddles reflecting streetlight neon
I hear pounding footfalls behind
Turn and see only my shadow

Arms outstretched

Ready to strangle

[tailor STATELY]

YesNo - A tight abcabc structure with a hint of parallelism in L4 and L6; with an interesting take on the desire/ability to travel back in time.
Memorable line(s): “Do simple things before those ghosts attack:”

cacian - I enjoyed your take on the horror genre... I don't entirely get it either; but have been thrilled enough on occasion to appreciate good horror for its art.
Memorable lines: “silence of the lamb/steady./zombie trash sped.”

Pendragon - An homage to horror flix!
Memorable line(s): “Where It Awaits”

Dark Muse – This is how I felt after reading “Alien”; I slept with the lights on for days... and then seeing the movie didn't help much.
Memorable line(s): “noises in the dark,/nightmare and reality/lose distinction,”

Jaked – Haiku: implied brevity 5/7/5 (and other variations); generally not titled (which I gleefully ignore). Found some interesting anagrams embedded in the haiku: ref: http://anagram-solver.net/%20Horror%20faded%20scar%20%20her%20word%20seared% 20image%20remains%20%20buried%20in%20the%20yard?pa rtial=true: "Remembrance of a Death" Series , When Dinosaurs Roamed America , Mr. Fusion Home Energy Reactor , The End of Modern-day Gamorrah , America Through Women's Eyes , Dreams (The Cranberries song) , Another Body Murdered (song) , Hemorrhagic disease of the newborn , Ordered binary decision diagram , Friderichsen-Waterhouse syndrome , Dame Edna's Neighourhood Watch … c~r~e~e~p~y

MystyrMystyry – Your ending lines a nice turn - within a turn.
Memorable line(s): Turn and see only my shadow/Arms outstretched/Ready to strangle

Thanx to all who participated...





A tough call to make... and the winner is: YesNo !

Ta ! (short for tarradiddle),
tailor STATELY

[Pendragon]

Congrats, YesNo!

[cacian]

indeed thank you tailor STATELY and congratulations YesNo!!!

[Jaked]

Congrats, YesNo!

Interesting thought to look for anagrams... several of those would be chillingly perfect "titles" for the piece!

[YesNo]

Thanks, tailor STATELY! And thanks Jaked, cacian and Pendragon!

The next theme for the minimalist contest will be "sunsets".

Deadline: August 15th

[Dark Muse]

Golden Hour

Ravishing red
Ostentatious orange
Sizzling saffron
Pale pink
Descending daylight.

[MystyrMystyry]

Thankyou Taylor, and congratulations YesNo!

The Happening

Beyond the hills
The sun drops
Like a new penny
Into a slot machine
The scattered clouds
Light up
Scarlet, Indigo, Gold

Green flash!

Jackpot

[Jaked]

sunsets

your memory
makes darkness
bearable

[Pendragon]

Gold and purple
Fit for a king
Scarlet cloth
Fit for a prince

[tailor STATELY]

~~o~~~~ sunsets


daily tie-dyed
pastel skies
all too soon
dematerialize

mountains, vales
and prairies fade;
glaciers chill -
deserts defied

oceans drink
in exultation;
the sun retreats
in exclamation ¡

7/29/2014

http://i129.photobucket.com/albums/p219/bomrox/f932d89a-06ca-4117-aa7b-a655c880e45f.png (http://s129.photobucket.com/user/bomrox/media/f932d89a-06ca-4117-aa7b-a655c880e45f.png.html)

dedicated to pk vaille on her birthday
happy birthday sis !

Ta ! (short for tarradiddle),
tailor STATELY!

[cacian]

tailor STATELY thank you for the lovely feedback :)

sunset
runs red
above the clouds
spreads
yellow until
it is said
to turn
river
beds stead
shimmers above water
fled
to catch the med
as it sped.
life tournesol preds.

[blank|verse]

Before Turner


.

.

.

[blank|verse]

After Turner

Tonight, I wonder if that blush-
coloured swirl in the deepening bowl of sky
is Turner washing a sable hair brush
or Macbeth scrubbing clean ambition's dye.

[cacian]

YesNo I believe this is due :)

[YesNo]

I guess the time is up. Thanks for the reminder, cacian.

I read through the list to see if I liked one better than the rest and I realized they were all pretty good. That makes it harder to judge, but it means you are all winners. So out of all the winners I need to pick one who will set up the next contest.

Dark Muse: I liked the last line with "descending" daylight.

MystyrMystyry: That is an unusual perspective of the setting sun like someone putting a coin in a slot machine and winning.

Jaked: A sunset reminds me that memory might be all that is left as well and helps the darkness remain tolerable.

Pendragon: Yes. The sunset colors are fit for a king or prince and we get to see them dressed up.

tailor STATELY: This was a very nice description of a sunset. I liked the inverted exclamation point and the use of the word "dematerialize" in the first stanza.

cacian: I liked your unexpected use of rhyme and also the word "tournesol" at the end.

blank|verse: Nice combination of two poems. Before Turner there's nothing. After Turner one gets something visible.



And the winner among all the winners who gets to set up the next contest is MystyrMystyry!

Congratulations!

[Pendragon]

Congrats, MystyrMystyry!

[cacian]

YesNo thank you.
congratulations Mystyr!!

[blank|verse]

Yes, well done, Mystyry.

Lots of good entries; I found Jaked's piece the most enjoyable. As for my own, the first is a bit of a literary in-joke: Oscar Wilde, when discussing how art transforms the ordinary, said something like: 'Before Turner there were no sunsets; before Dickens, there was no fog', so that provided the inspiration for the first very minimalist poem... and also meant I didn't have to write much!

Anyway - is there any chance of a new theme, Mystyry, to keep the competition rolling?

[MystyrMystyry]

Thankyou YesNo :)

Amongst so many gems...

I've been in a rather existential frame of mind for the last few days - a transitional period if you will - so how about I theme the new contest The Here And Now?

[YesNo]

The Here and Now--
Eternity--
Walk patiently,
Observing, see
All patiently,
Delightfully.

[Pendragon]

We talk about the here and now-
What if time itself is fractured
So that in the here and now
We are neither now nor here?

[mal4mac]

In the here and now,
I'm looking at a cow.
It's staring back at me,
I smile at it with glee.

[tailor STATELY]

2d or not 2d

Put away your 3D glasses
Exist -
(Eliminate the noise)
Dance
within the holographic
manifold of mind

8/27/2014 r.8/28/2014

Ta ! (short for tarradiddle),
tailor STATELY

[MystyrMystyry]

Looking good so far crew!

One week to go...

[MystyrMystyry]

Excellent entries!
YesNo, a meditative approach no less. The use of the word 'eternity' in such a small space, and within the theme, has a striking impact of contrast, as does the repeated 'patience' - that life will flow and continue on.

Pendragon, your word play with final inversion is fun, with a philosophical element, what if time is indeed fractured?

mal4mac, brief and a rhyme, with perhaps more to it that at first seems - who is watching whom? Why not both?

tailor STATELY, captures the freedom from technological entrapment quite well I thought. We buy these toys of wizardry, but are they a substitute for life, or is life a substitute for them? Clever title too.


Tricky, and much a tie for first place, but after some consideration I'm drawn to Pendragon's submission for its self-containment, complete-within-itself aspect.

Ah they're all good, and in choosing a winner it means there won't be an entry from them until at least the end of the next round but the winner for this one is Pendragon! Congratulations!

[tailor STATELY]

Congratulations Pendragon ! and thank you MystyrMystyry !

Ta ! (short for tarradiddle),
tailor STATELY

[Pendragon]

Thanks, MystyrMystyry!

Let's try the word "twilight" cunningly describe in as few lines as possible. Deadline September 30. Good luck and God Bless

[YesNo]

Twilight, not bright,
Not dark, just right.
Moonlight tonight
Calms sight: twilight.

[Dark Muse]

Color Me in Twilight

You paint me in indigo,
exploding hues of red,
left among apocalyptic orange,
a stroke of subtle tones
of intensifying yellow.

[Jaked]

Twilight

Surrendered
breathless afterglow
Twilight kisses
good night

[tailor STATELY]

Final ?

[cacian]

twilight
takes over the solar
the sky is
polar
white is oh my.

[Pendragon]

Sorry, I've been having a rough time with my bi-polar. It's hell sometimes to just be me.

Anyhoo-- JAKED-- you're up. Congrats, good description, very few but poignant words!

[Jaked]

Woohoo! Thanks Pendragon! I enjoyed all of the entires!

Next topic: wonder.

Deadline in 2 weeks, 10/24.

[YesNo]

I wonder why I turned up here:
Blue sky, green grass, a mind less clear.

[cacian]

from wonder to wonderful
to think is to perfect rule.

[Jaked]

Just two entries? Let's have one more week... Submit your entries this week - I'll judge on Halloween. Boo!

[Pendragon]

Wonder
Wandering
Wavering
Wish
What
Who
Where
When
Why
Wonder
Why

[Delta40]

Wonder
sparks
Wonder
driven
Wonder
full

[blank|verse]

Wonder

No wonder
I don’t believe:
there is
no wonder.

I don’t believe
there is.
No wonder?
I don’t believe.

[MystyrMystyry]

I wonder
about thunder
Heightening
with lightning
And the pain
of rain

[Jaked]

Great entries!

YesNo: Your piece appropriately left me wondering why I’m here – and how I got here! I like the playfulness between the idea of a blank mind and one less clear…
cacian: I'm intrigued by “to think is to perfect rule” - will have to ponder that some…
Pendragon: What an enjoyable train of thought – I especially like the multiple ways you can read the ending.
Delta40: “Wonder sparks” – I want some!!! “Wonder driven” - would that we all were! “Wonder full”!!!
blank|verse: Both silly and profound – wonderful!
MystyrMystyry: “The pain of rain” – many ways to read this: for some reason made me wonder about rain feeling pain - being so close to lightning must hurt!

There can only be one winner, though, so on this spooky day it goes to …

blank|verse!!!

Congrats! Your prize, to share with everyone … this quote from Einstein:

“The most beautiful thing we can experience is the mysterious. It is the source of all true art and science. He to whom this emotion is a stranger, who can no longer pause to wonder and stand rapt in awe, is as good as dead: his eyes are closed.”
- Albert Einstein

[blank|verse]

Thanks Jaked, and congratulations to everyone who entered. :) And thanks for the Einstein quote - it puts me in mind of Wallace Stevens's famous introduction to his poem 'Man Carrying Thing': 'The poem must resist the intelligence | Almost successfully' - the effect of doing which, of course, is to put the reader into a state of wonder and awe, something Stevens's poetry does to me on a regular basis.

Anyway, on to the next competition. If I may, I'd like to suggest something slightly different. Instead of a theme, I would like people to rewrite an existing poem, by a published poet, but reduce it to its bare minimum. Create a minimalist version of a favourite or famous poem - one of Keats's odes perhaps, or an Emily Dickinson poem, or The Waste Land - I'm sure you get the idea and don't need me to tell you other famous poems. But I think I'd look more favourably on contemporary poems by living poets; in this case, providing links to the poems would be good, if possible, as I might not have read the original.

I'd also suggest not being too flippant by reducing poems to a single word - unless you've got a very good reason - or submitting one on Dante's The Divine Comedy that reads 'Hell, Purgatory, Heaven' or similar. Try to use the words in the original poem but create a new and imaginative minimalist poem in its own right. I hope that makes sense!

In short - a minimalist version of an existing poem.

Deadline: Saturday, 22nd November, 2014.

Good luck! b|v

[YesNo]

There tapped a raven on my door
Who told me that my sweet Lenore
Was dead and I said, “Yeah, I know.”
The raven shrugged, but would not go.

[Dark Muse]

The Lady Without Mercy

Fair knight befell upon a dark beauty,
her eyes shone with the moon,
when she smiled his heart was devoured,
she led him to her bower bed,
when he woke like a phantom she was gone,
he was driven mad by his desire.

[Pendragon]

No purple cow
So I can't see one
Whole lot better
To see than be one

[SOul23]

Every morning my heart wakes to see,
The powers of Love and Life combined,
By the eavesdrops of a Life's cracked-open door.

[blank|verse]

Thanks for the entries, everyone.

I'm afraid I'll have to be brief, so the winner is...

Dark Muse for her take on Keats's 'La Belle Dame Sans Merci'.

Well done, and thanks again, b|v.

[Dark Muse]

Thank you, I will have the next subject soon.

[Dark Muse]

Sorry for the delay, I have been busy.

Next subject: Harvest

Deadline Dec. 10

[Carousel]

Oxford

Visit the city of dreaming spires
Balliol soft in Oxford sunlight
Walk in the footsteps of the learned
Look upon these sacred walls
and read a higher standard of Graffiti

[YesNo]

Will this harvest get us by?
Starvation doesn’t need a thing.
When we’re cold we won’t care why,
But others will move on and try
To cleanup when it’s warm and spring.

[cacian]

harvest
come again
fastest
every year last us
not a day past us
plentiful must us

[Pendragon]

A figure with a scythe
Stalks through the night
Souls for the reaping
This hooded skull is seeking
Harvest moon shining
Is it time for dying?

[Dark Muse]

I know I have been behind but I have been busy. But I am here now. Great entries everyone.

Carousel: There was some beautiful imagery in your poem. I particularly enjoyed the opening line. And I thought the ending was interesting and amusing. But maybe I am missing something I had trouble deciphering how the poem related to the subject of "Harvest"

YesNo: A bleak, but also realistic portrayal. It took me back to the days in which the harvest time really was celebrated and truly a question of life and death. A good job of telling a story within a few short words.

cacian: Clever use of words like usual. It was a unique little poem and I do like the way in which it caputred the feel of the passage of a seaon within a few words.

And the winner is


Pendragon: I very much enjoyed your take upon the themse. Lovely haunting imagery.

[Pendragon]

Thanks, Dark Muse!

Next subject: Sleep

Deadline December 31.

Good luck!

[YesNo]

Bracing for the next big thing,
I worry it away
Prepared in case it comes tonight
When sleep adds dreams to help me fight
Or face it during day.

[jajdude]

Awake, many things divide us,
Many layers deep,
Fears and desires that guide us,
Made quieter in sleep.

[_Joe_]

Cocoon of silences deep,
O king of possibilities, Sleep.

[Melanie]

asleep upon the beach
tanned tums and sandy bums
popsicle anyone?

[Pompey Bum]

in purple dark
yellow eyes
hungry or cruel
my partner
my predator

[virtuoso]

shades of blight
so erudite
Twilight's fan

[Pompey Bum]

Heh heh.

contrarian
tomorrow's antiquarian
yesterday's carrion

[Melanie]

this afternoon's delight
midnight dreamer's insight

[slipee]

Apologies my dearest friends,
I carried on too long
So as I do, to make amends
I'll re-post where it belongs

[Pompey Bum]

O brontosaurus!
You had your day, like Doris.
Now you just bore us.

[cacian]

this is well beyond deadline i think
can someone take over? :)

[YesNo]

Cacian, I vote for you to provide another topic for the contest. I promise to write something for it.

[cacian]

YesNo and why not. :)
Ok here is the next topic for this round:

confidante

good luck :)

[YesNo]

Confidante

Imaginary friends are best
With secrets one would share.
Come heaven, hell, they will not tell.
They listen and they care.

[miyako73]

The Nymph's Apparition


As silhouette
you appear then go
as smoke
leaving me whispering
my secret
to the lingering air
still
keeping the scent
of a muse.

[Melanie]

unarmored
before confidants
who know our secrets
hiding in plain sight

[tailor STATELY]

Confidante: I'm Batman

a confidante
would suit me better
than a love seat,
fauteuil, or divan.
couches i oft
eschew when sitting
with my minions.

3/11/2015
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Confidante

Ta ! (short for tarradiddle),
tailor STATELY

[cacian]

one more day I reckon and will deliberate.
keep them coming :)

[cacian]

YesNo
a superb piece well expressed
i loved the last line!

miyako73
a great piece with a great flow
a joy to read

Melanie
a well said piece so true
perfect!

tailror STATELY a fun piece to read with some amusing lines
and
i ''oft
eschew when sitting
with my minions''

what a great lien to end on!! :)

and the winner is tailor STATELY
just because it is that slightly different i think the inclusion of fauteuil/divan did it for me

[tailor STATELY]

Thank you cacian !

I thought to utilize a random word generator this time from http://creativitygames.net/random-word-generator/randomwords/8 and chose -

Next: whistle

Ta ! (short for tarradiddle),
tailor STATELY

[YesNo]

Alice will be on this train
That’s whistling through the freezing rain.
The whistle’s warning: take it slow.
She’s come from miles where you can’t go.

[Pompey Bum]

whistle wet
a kettle rattling
her little hat
and you prattling

our tongues at last
embrace the thing
we brave the blast
and let her sing

[Gilliatt Gurgle]

Sweet Gums

Whistle through the gristle,
that holds those ivory's tight.
Should one fall out, from sweet excess,
the pitch will change as will the bite!

[DieterM]

jumping through the breezy spring day
she was
almost levitating
lifting her ample amaranth dress
high and higher
white polka dots gleaming like aftersmiles
shaking her auburn hair
she was
and whistling
itsy bitsy spider

[blank|verse]

TRENCH

deathdread - fearbled - prayersaid

whistle

wiretread - gunshred - bloodshed

white

[cacian]

to a bird a whistle
to hear it
little
grizzle
or sound
prickle
when something
thickle

[colb2]

Heard through the rain,
It rang my brain,
Was it a cop?
Should i just stop?
No, just a train!!