Subject Poetry Contest.

A great first start YesNo. Thank you for kicking things off, I cannot wait to see what others come up with.

the snowflakes catch in her lashes
when she blinks they scatter
like little white butterflies

her blue lips
raw
yet soft to the touch
leave frostbite
on her lovers

her frosty cerulean eyes
cast their frigid gaze
upon a glacial world

her small white hands
nimble fingers
frozen
weave bitter winds
of winter
from sharpened
icicles
and
blows on them gently
sending them out
into the world

and she shivers

The Ice Queen with with cold fingers
Claws at my warm, beating heart
A chill comes into the room
Far worse than Arctic air
I'm blinded by my frozen tears
Now is the Winter of my discontent
And the snow blots out my dawn of hope
Will the Princess of Spring finally find me
Before I freeze to death in cold reality?

Sorry for the delay everyone but I have been busy, but now I am here. I want to thank those of you who posted your great entries for this contest.

So without further ado, or further waiting:

YesNo: I liked your use of rhyme, I thought it worked quite well and it added to the fairy tale like quality of your poem. I also quite enjoyed your interpretation of the subject. I loved the humorous aspect of it, and the unexpected ending which gave the humor a darker edge. It was a fun and enjoyable poem to read.

Pendragon: As always your work is masterfully done. A very powerful poem which is quite gripping. I loved the first two lines which immediate grab the readers attention. And I absolutely loved this line "Now is the Winter of my discontent." The ending was also profoundly powerful. I love the dual aspects of darkness and hope which play within your poems. And I particularly enjoyed the openhandedness of this one. Will the Spring arrive in time, or alas will it be too late? It is for the reader to decide whether or not the poem shall have a happy ending.

But as tough a choice as this was......I have to give the win to

moonbird: I found the imagery of your poem to be the most striking. I thought there was an elegance within your verse which I quite enjoyed, and I loved the visual picture which you painted with your words. There were so many fabulous lines in your poem I thought. And I quite enjoyed the way in which you convey a sense of vulnerability within the Ice Queen herself, as if she is a victim of her own nature, and is lonely in the world she cannot help but create for herself.

Wow thanks! This is the first contest I have won here so it was a happy surprise when I logged on today :)

I will post the next subject and deadline tomorrow!

You go, Moonbird! :wave::wave::wave:

Okay guys, I'm expecting a lot of interesting poems out of this one.

The next subject is........................... Mimes.

I'll set the deadline for January 15. Good luck!

They watch Bill's face, his legs, his hands.
He don't need words. He's understood.
He wonders if his Sally stands
Among the crowd. He knows he should
Make sure his heart stays off display
Since Sally left him yesterday.

Way to start us off, YesNo :)

We Are The Haunted

Silence

becomes you

white faced

like a whisper

contorted within
your own illusions

a phantom

moving black & white
photographs

without memories

haunting the streets
in muted
constructed
realities

without escape

Ooh, spooky-sounding poem, Dark Muse.

Okay guys, 5 days left until the deadline!

What is the point, and who has the time
To give his attention to the lowly mime?

With his painted face and his stupid clothes
He's a clown in a world nobody knows.

Annoying and foolish, he does not entertain;
His presence isn't wanted, his actions are vain.

[A sort of sonnet you're not allowed to read out loud]

Across central park, he knew that there was
another mime, no mere competition.
Had he but words enough and time, he'd cuss
the other off, and scoff each position.

In rage, he could cage her, locked in a box,
or blow her away like a winter gail.
He would not forgive how she lived for gawks
of HIS crowds! Such mox was beyond the pale!

Any mime worth his stripes knows to do shows
where another mime goes is a high crime
to be punished by hanging from the toes.
Yet within earshot she stood e'ry time!

"What's this?" He thought, as she lassoed him near.
Softly, she asked "Want to go for a beer?"

Thanks to both of you for your posts.

Also: Dark Muse, is "We Are The Haunted" this first line of your poem or its title?

Is the title of the poem

ONLY A MEMORY

My lips are sealed
but you could always read them anyway

My fingers make as if to catch
some flickering shadow
but too late now all is smoke

My arms hold onto spaces
where you stood
but never tight enough to trap your centrifugal molecules

I fabricate a smile
my grin forever etched upon a map of sorrow

I shed no tears
and yet their traces gossamer my cheeks

I take another bow
now there is no applause

H

seems much more fun here, i post one too

Mimes

They call him clown
A person walking a tightrope in the air
Because of lack of experience
He almost falls off to the ground
But soon control his body and mind
Reenter the play difficult
They are a group of onlookers
Sometimes amazed by
His outstanding performance
But more of a gloating mentality
Waiting for his poor fate
They never realize
When he stands overhead
They become of his mimes

another piece:

Am I The One?

I take this poem
You wrote for me
No addressing, no hinting
But I still try to find my trace
Applaud secretly
Delight stealthily
Oh! Am I the one
Who you miss very much?

The Mime

Trapped in a box
Invisible to others
Alone on the street
Using makeup to cover
The lines from tears shed
The agony inside
Leaning on nothing
For most of my life
I make people laugh
But they never see
Beyond the funny motions
A broken heart beats

Pendragon

We have some great entries here! I will post the results tomorrow in case anyone has a last-minute submission today.

YesNo: A short, quirky piece that I definitely enjoyed. I liked your twist of humor and the way you portrayed mimes as not only performers but actual people. They often have to hide their emotions in order to appear cheerful for their audience. Its simple honesty made it beautiful.

jajude: To me this sounds like a poem written by a mime rather than about one. He is frustrated with his audience and longs for their applause and laughter. Your simple rhyme scheme created a rhythmic flow and at the end I wanted even more. Well done.

krymsonkyng: I have always found sonnets extremely difficult to write, but you have definitely pulled it off with this poem. This sounds like a lot of people I know, where they end up falling in love with their competitor. I liked “Any mime worth his stripes.”

hillwalker: For some reason this reminded me of the scene in the movie “Chicago” where Amos sings “Mr. Cellophane.” I with both surprised and intrigued by your unusual use of “centrifugal molecules.”

yuka: I never pictured a mime as a tightrope-walker, but you made it work with your descriptive imagery. “When he stands overhead / They become his mimes” took my breath away. Your second poem also possessed the simple beauty of a secret love. Great job.

Pendragon: You portrayed in your poem the sadness which can hide behind all them makeup. The first line “Trapped in a box” drew me in at once. I never thought about mimes in invisible boxes being trapped in them. Fascinating.

All of these poems were uniquely beautiful and I congratulate all who participated. However there was one that stood out even more than the rest, and I will have to give the title of winner to...

Dark Muse: Your poem was hauntingly elegant. You spoke more like a child frightened of the silent clowns than one amused by their silly antics. I especially liked “muted constructed reality.” The short lines and italics made it appealing to the eye as well. Beautifully done.

Thank you very much! I will get to work on thinking up the next subject.

Congrats DM - another worthy feather in your cap.

H

Thank you!

Ok, your next subject is Love/Hate Relationship.

Deadline February 10th

Well done Dark Muse. I thought it was great too.

Ok, I'll be first I guess.
===============


"like a shadow"

The thin line fades and we're torn
along the edge --
I curse you when I see you
and I cry when you go.

Why did we meet?
Did it serve some higher purpose?

Now the years have run away
but the sting of memory remains.

Was it love?
Doubt says no.
Then why do you linger in me
like a shadow everywhere I go?

Thank you!

And thanks for starting us off with a great first entry

Nice going, Dark Muse

Thank you!

I believe we all have a shadow.
When you see yours for the first time,
it will be like
looking in a fun-house mirror,
seeing your face
twisted, distorted,
but you can still recognize it
as your own.
When I first saw mine
it was like
two ions touched ends
and their opposites formed balance
and I was
nothing.
He was like another me
in a parallel universe,
identical
yet diametric,
his name
an antonym to my own.
We were an oxymoron.
Yours is out there too,
the one who lives
at the opposite end
of the spectrum,
the contradiction
of your peaceful reality,
and when you meet
your colors will mix
to form something new,
something more beautiful
than you could ever be
on your own,
and the blue-white spark
when your fingertips touch
will not be hot
but soothingly cool,
and you will fuse together,
two opposites
bound together
on a never-ending journey
to the edge of the universe
and the end of time,
and there
you will find peace.

Congratulations, Dark Muse! Here's one for your new contest.


The Sandcastle Made by Love and Hate

The water washed the castle down
That love with hate had made.
It stayed there for a little while
And made the careless water smile
When forcing it to fade.

Thank you to everyone who has submitted your great entries so far, and I want to remind everyone else that the deadline date may start creeping up on you soon. There are 5 more days left.

Pass the Potion, Please

Two parts, equal and opposite
Both truly me, enmeshed in my life
Which one comes forward
The evil or the good?
One people love, the other they despise
Can I even make excuses
For good times and bad?
Will narcissistic emotions or self loathing win?
Hard to be certain of just where I am
Stuck between Jekyll and Hyde...

Pendragon

Ok I haven't forgotten about this really! Time just slipped by and than whenever I thought I would do it, I kept getting distracted, by I am here now.

Thank you all who entered and giving me the tough job of having to choose the winner.

moonbird: I loved the fun-house mirror imagery which the poem starts out with. That instantly grabbed my attention and made me want to keep reading. There were some great lines throughout and I really liked that sort of carnival, illusionist felling which the poem held. I also really enjoyed the way in which you approached the subject. The idea of internalizing it or individualizing it. A conflict with oneself opposed to a more traditional interpretation. This poem was very close to winning, but the one I will say about it is that though it was very well written and well structured, within the poem I did not really feel that tension of the love-hate dichotomy which I was seeking.

YesNo: Your poem had such power captured in so few lines. This is a poem that truly makes one think, and would benefit from more than one reading. Even so I am still not entirely sure I grasp the whole meaning of it, and yet that is part of the profoundness of it. I loved the way in which the ending of the poem does leave this lasting impression. And it captures wonderful imagery. It really shows the fragility of such relationships.

Pendragon: I really liked the way in which you captured the feeling of the conflict between the two sides. And you had some beautiful and very powerful lines. I loved your use of "enmeshed" and I just loved the line "Will narcissistic emotions or self loathing win?" Also I enjoyed the ending on the Jekyll and Hyde note.

But without further ado the winner goes to...............


jajude: There was such a power of emotion within your poem. You used such few words to the greatest effect of the poem which most deeply effected me and captured most what I was looking for with this subject. You can feel the conflicting emotions, and both the passion and fragility of it. The struggle, between the two, the fight within oneself as well as with the other. The poem started out with a bang out of the gate, and I thought the ending was powerful and beautiful.

Nice going jajude! Can't wait to see the next subject. :)

Nice going jajude! A truly worthy opponent!

Thanks, and I appreciate your comment Muse.

Since I just moved this week to another country let's have a topic regarding that. We'll call it "moving" or "relocation" or something.

Hope you enjoy China, jajdude! Here's something for the contest.


Home

Another year, another life
Across the sea and soon a wife:
The days consume her patiently.

Would things have been much better there?
A love was lost in springtime where
That war forced them to flee.

The trees are different in this park,
Still stars above enchant the dark.
He reaches for her hand.

So poverty keeps things the same?
There's no one near to focus blame.
She's home now in this land.

i heard a singing sage say
'the road cures all' or at least
it is the magic pill
that tires on pavement heal
better than laughter
tames ills faster than the songs he
hears echoing from the streetlight rhythmic
and highway beat, the radio fighting
rain song on the windshield desperate
to make contact.
Still the passion of the path is
the man's solution,
absolution in the turning of the keys
then the rotating mile dials before
the unavoidable surprise
trip home.

I sometimes wonder if death
Is more than end of life
Simply a relocation to somewhere unknown
Not just a quiet grave on the hill
But a brand new experience
New adventures, new places to see
Perhaps the secrets of life yet to be revealed
At one's final relocation