I agree with this! And your poems are great! :thumbs_upQuote:
Originally Posted by qimissung
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I agree with this! And your poems are great! :thumbs_upQuote:
Originally Posted by qimissung
Just a reminder of our latest Form Poem Contest. We have wonderful entries from alakungfu, Pendragon, qimissung and lucidnightmares. Howzabout adding YOURS so my job of choosing will be absolutely impossible! :lol: Thank you very much.
Quote:
Originally Posted by ampoule
Counting failed always, the first gleaming eye
of a fox or coon, screech owls, a deer scream
raised the hair on my neck and stopped me. I
never failed to fear those yellow eyes and that
fear was the reason in October night, the moon
inches above the earth, yellow at first, as if I
envisioned what was to come, I came. A ghost,
later in the sky, the moon rendered the stalks
dead like bones, an eerie light, but I would go
slowly, over furrows, row by row, as not to fall.
very impressive!
I knew, I knew, I knew I would have mixed feelings about winning the last form contest because here I sit trying to think how I can get out of this job of choosing a new 'winner'. Thanks to those who participated. Your poems are all absolutely wonderful. You all met this challenge head-on and each poem touched me.
I felt a certain fear clinging to that mountainside with alakungfu, scaling the heights, but even more, exhilarated, and then humbled by the mountains themselves and the lost climbers. Amazing.
And then, in the twinkling of an eye, sand is squishing between my toes as Pendragon shows me the lovely Cape Hatteras and all that it means to him, his tryst place. Refreshing.
Still brushing the sand from my feet qimissung is there in Rome, welcoming me to walk the cool floors of art museums and galleries viewing art divine. Inspiring.
Quite unexpectedly, a side trip with lucidnightmares to an asylum. What do you mean 'not as good as you wanted'? I thought it was wonderful even through the madness. Intriguing.
I always love being lost in time and firefangled's cornfields left me in a maze of thoughts. Mystifying.
So...maybe it's because I am surrounded by cornfields and that autumn is my favorite season but I am choosing firefangled as the winner for this round. His poem appealed to all of my senses and the construction, the words planted so perfectly, like the perfect rows of the cornfield themselves.
Thank you ALL and congratulations FIREFANGLED. :)
congrats firefangled:thumbs_up
i`m looking forward to the next contest.
Thank you, Ampoule for selecting my poem. This form was a real challenge. I have a memory of being lost in forty acres of corn on a cold night in the Fall. I’m not sure it was October, and the night episode only occurred once, which was plenty. However, I did enjoy the thrill many times of wandering into the maze (hmmm) of a cornfield.
My congratulations to all the poems and poets. I enjoyed reading them all.
I have been trying to think of a form as interesting and enjoyable as the Double Acrostic and I was having a difficult time. I have been reading Mark Strand’s Darker, which has several Litanies. So, this is the form I choose for the next challenge. I think it should be interesting.
Everyone has probably heard a Litany at one time or another. It is a poem built on a pattern of repetition. Nearly every line begins with the same word. Typically, litanies are used to convey praise, to curse, to implore another or one’s self to do something, or beseeching forgiveness to name a few. The Sermon On the Mount is a Litany. The association of one line to another in a Litany can be very obscure or very obvious, but the art of the form lies in that association and the language the poet uses to convey it. Here is an excerpt from Mark Strand’s Giving Myself Up as an example:
I give up my eyes which are glass eggs.
I give up my tongue.
I give up my mouth which is the constant dream of my tongue.
I give up my throat which is the sleeve of my voice.
I give up my heart which is a burning apple.
I give up my lungs which are trees that have never seen a moon.
You can see why Litany is used in prayer. It has a tendency toward fervor by nature. There is no other requirement of the form than this repetition and its imaginative use.
Good luck to all entries!
What an interesting form, very fun. I could write and write these.
Swallow
I swallow the kiss of a secret lover.
I swallow the hand reaching out for another.
I swallow the joy from a toddler’s smile.
I swallow the watch with the broken dial.
I swallow the dreams of a newlywed bride.
I swallow the memories from a dying man’s eyes.
I swallow the hope of a new generation.
I swallow the pause in a long conversation.
I swallow the what, the how, and the why.
I swallow the stars from a crisp autumn sky.
I swallow the essence of a good man’s soul.
I swallow the Earth then spit it out again, whole.
Marriage Litany
I give you my hand; I will work to support you.
I give you my eyes; they will not wander to others.
I give you my ears; I will listen to your every sigh.
I give you my tongue, to forever sing your praises.
I give you my arms, to enfold and comfort you.
I give you my chest, as a place to lay your head at night.
I give you my feet; they chased you with laughter.
I give you my heart; it beats only to love you.
I give you my all; I cannot grant you more…
Pendragon
© 8/2/08
What's the deadline for the "Litany" contest?
Thank you, Aunt Shecky! I forgot that is part of the requirements. The deadline for submission is August 24th.Quote:
Originally Posted by AuntShecky
Fifth and Pen, thanks for getting things off to a great start. These fit the form exactly. Great entries!
Venture All
Venture into the depths alone.
Venture into the lesser known.
Venture into the reefs you dare.
Venture into the vast somewhere.
Venture into the tropical regions.
Venture into the foreign legions.
Venture into the echoing sound.
Venture into the safer ground.
Venture into the stock and trade.
Venture into the life you've made..
i want to forget all the pain
i want to forget my years of restrain
i want to forget how to feel
i want to forget what`s real
i want to forget how to wake
i want to forget that i`m a mistake
i want to forget my mind`s confusion
i want to forget of joy`s illusion
i want to forget my lowly place
i want to forget your beautiful face....
I curse the land for the bridge it forms
I curse the air which forms a barrier
I curse the water that covers the distance
I curse my feet for not walking
I curse my mind for doubting
I curse my wallet for its moths
I curse you for being unmovable
I curse my heart that keeps beating
I curse my soul which keeps loving
I curse life which keeps going
I curse this distance between us
I curse time and my impatience
I curse death that it won't reunite us
I curse our love, that we cannot be togethor
I gather in the shelves, through dewey eyes;
I am childhood fears made into pictures;
I am the maps of paths that bring surprise;
I am wood and stone and metal fixtures;
I am the courses of the months and years;
I am feasts that you have not learnt to make;
I am a poet's loss and evening tears;
I am a chronicle of grave mistake;
I am a war made cold and dry and stale;
I am technology of flame and steel;
I am a peace in blood to make you pale;
I am supposed to try and make you feel;
I am the heart of criminal intent;
I am a science-fiction trope gone wild;
I am the voice of beaten jailed dissent;
I am a manual for a new-born child;
I am about the monsters of the id;
I am a stakeholder report made plain;
I am a pleasure maybe better hid;
I am machinery but used in vain;
I am conspiracy built out of fact;
I am a yearbook of a vanished school;
I am a tale of presidential act;
I am a teacher's words used as a tool;
I am sections periodically bound;
I am a guide to other guides not found;
I am a country travelogue, now see!
I am a shopping catalogue, choose me!
(librarian's response)
I know you all want dearly to be read
But nightfall comes; I'm putting you to bed.
I can tell now this is going to be a tough one to judge. I've put an ad in the paper for some extra help. :lol:
Excellent entries everyone!
Congratulations, firefangled, on winning the contest. I've been out of town, and just returned. I thought your poem was lovely.
And it looks like you've chosen a very interesting form for the next contest. I see there are some amazing entries already!
Someday I want to hold your hand in a night of falling stars
Someday I want to hold your hand while wading in a silver stream of hope
Someday I want to hold your hand, feel it pressed, palm to palm, to mine
Someday I want to hold your hand, and feel you warm and full of life
Someday I want to hold your hand, and watch you sleep and dream
Someday I want to hold your hand, and laugh, and feel it running out our soles
Someday I want to hold your hand, and lose myself in the truth I see in you
Someday I want to hold your hand and feel your hand hold mine
And then I’ll know
And then I’ll know
And then I’ll know
TIDY
She tidied up her hair.
She tidied up her clothes.
She tidied up her husband's suits.
She tidied up her children's toys.
She tidied up her home.
She tidied up her garden.
She tidied up her life.
Then she tidied up her coffin.
I am so happy with the response to this challenge. These are all very original and excellent Litanies.
12 days left until the deadline. Let's go poets, I know you are out there!
The Meatitudes
Blessed be this pond that cannot resist stealing my face,
for it longs for winter and my magnificent image frozen for eternity.
Blessed be the flower that bears my sacred name,
for every other bloom in spring shall wilt in its presence.
Blessed be the Nereids of the sea and the Nymphs of the woods,
for they drown and they rot from my indifference to them.
Blessed be the soft voice that echoes in the hills,
for she wails and mourns for my spurned love.
Blessed be the mountains that long to touch the sky,
for they are made anthills by my towering stature.
Blessed be the graying sky, which ages in envy for my youth, and the clouds that weep at the lack of the beauty that is mine.
Blessed be the sun, always and ever outshone by my golden luminosity,
that burns with jealousy for my ever-burning brilliance.
Blessed be the ordinary mortals, for they are tiny satellites, forever doomed
to revolve around the perfect circle of the world that is
Me.
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
nice litany Aunt Shecky
Hi Aunty! Thanks for your Litany. Good to see you here!
Just a reminder to everyone, the contest ends at midnight 8/24. There are thee more days and four nights.
Go pay a visit to Hotel Insomnia and get your posts in. :lol:
The eye talks rivers under leaves.
The eye moves a story on a screen.
The eye leads what cannot be spoken.
The eye builds frames for what is.
The eye locks imagination under the sea.
The eye is globe for hidden dreams.
The eye is a worm chewing icons of lust.
The eye is a long spiral blanketing dust.
The eye is comfort when shovels tire.
The eye is a strategy for containing each pile.
The I is hidden behind each of these.
Thanks, Il Penseroso. Glad to see your entry in the mix!
Contest ends at midnight tonight. What a great response to this contest.
There are still 11 hours left.
Great litany, Il Penseroso
Yes, nice to see you Il Penseroso, and nice litany!
The Form Poetry contest is now closed. :)
I will be posting the winner by Wednesday. It is going to be a tough pick.
What a difficult job this is! My hat is off to all those who have ever been in this position.
The Litany form can allow for much diversity, even within its repetition. Each of you has proven this with your poems. There is so much talent, care, and respect for poetry evident in all these poems. A standing ovation from me to all entries.
Now for the hard part.
TheFifthElement
Fifth, your poem seemed to carry the reader through a life where all these moments were taken inside and then finally the earth itself, as if to heal it with all these human things.
Pendragon
Such an expression of devotion in Pen’s Marriage Litany. What magnificent wedding vows it would make!
Akakungfu
I liked the quiet, imperative nature of Venture All. We live with choices we make in life. The short lines with the specific selections for place are not at all simple in their meanings.
Lucidnightmares
I like that as I read I was not sure of what the speaker was trying to obliterate with this plea for forgetfulness, until the last line and then you used a tangible image to bring it home.
Adererodio
This litany demonstrates what is indicative of curses, in that they often end up involving the very thing the curse hopes to resolve or restore in some way.
Autolycus
I liked the wordplay and the comprehensive view of the written word. The ending was unexpected and delightful.
Barbara
If Emily Dickenson wrote litanies (maybe she did) this would be one. The last line gave me goose-bumps. When I finished the poem, the title hit me like a split atom.
Qimissung
What I liked especially was the way it expanded the meaning and love in something as simple as holding hands.
AuntShecky
I love the wit and sarcasm in this. Beatitudes with an attitude. Very nice how echo fits in with the litany.
Il Penseroso
Wonderful wordplay with the last line and a most amazing litany for what is reveal through and hidden from this complex lens.
Thanks again to everyone for your entries. They were all great litanies. I mean it sincerely when I say the choice was difficult. I started to list a top three, but I could not do it; they were all so good.
The one that I choose as the winner is Swallow, by TheFifthElement. I think perhaps it is where we are at this time in the world that a poem of healing touched me. Congratulations, Fifth, a remarkable poem!
And a final congratulations to all entries. I now relinquish the hot seat to TheFifthElement, and say BADABOOM!
May I be the first to say CONGRATULATIONS!!!! to you, FifthElement. I thought your poem was terrific!
As were they all...
Congratulations to the quintessence! *grin* I much enjoyed it.
Congratulations to all who participated in this round of the form poetry contest. Thanks for your kind assessment of my little ditty, firefangled, but I have to tell you that "Echo" was the scorned lover of Narcissus, who was the speaker of this little litany. Narcissus is also the subject of the poem -- or maybe it's
Matthew McConaughey.
I knew that, but I did not want to give it away. Depending on which Narcissus story you used he died, so I was glad to see him his conceited sassy self. I also had a weak feeling that this went beyond Narcissus into the original beatitudes and their somewhat condecending tone, but I said nah!Quote:
Originally Posted by AuntShecky
It is one of my favorite Spring flowers.
Thanks firefangled :)
and congrats to everyone who participated; there were lots of good poems, it must have been a difficult choice.
For the next round I'd like to select a form which we are probably all familiar with.
Haiku
Why, you might ask? Because I love them, and because to encompass the true spirit of haiku is more difficult than it seems.
So, what is haiku?
Haiku is a traditional Japanese lyric form of poetry with a strict syllable count (this may be varied in English haiku, but I'd like to stay traditional here) consisting of 17 syllables over three lines with a line count of 5,7,5. See the following example, one of the original haiku by the haiku master Basho:
All that remains of
those brave warriors' dreamings -
these summer grasses
Traditionally haiku have a placement in time. In Japanese haiku this was often achieved by reference to specific elements of nature, for example the 'summer grasses' as mentioned in the haiku above but you will see, if you read a number of traditional haiku, that it may be difficult to reference the poem to a particular time by western eyes, as per the following example also by Basho:
A dragonfly, trying to –
oops, hang on to the upside
of a blade of grass
this is because in Japanese tradition they would associate certain elements of nature, creatures, weather, astronomical bodies (reference to the moon would be, by poetic association, the harvest moon, and therefore autumn), with particular times of the year. In the above example it is the dragonfly itself which identifies the 'time' of the haiku.
Traditional haiku generally encapsulate a moment or an image and express it in terms of:
What (brave warriors) (dragonfly)
Where (in a field - denoted by grasses) (blade of grass)
When (summer) (the time of year when dragonflies were seen!)
So, I would like you to compose a haiku sticking to the three lines with a syllable count 5,7,5, with a placement in time, and addressing the question of What, Where and When as imaginatively and as subtly as you can!
Deadline for entries will be midnight of 3rd October (GMT).
Looking forward to some interesting entries :D
Oooh, that's an easy form. :D I think I'll participate. I should be able to squeeze that in. Just to be clear, there is no subject to address. It's what we want as a subject, correct?
Congratulations, Fifth! A well-deserved win! And the traditional haiku is a very good choice. Maybe I can come up with something.
Thank you, firefangled, for your kind comment. I know how hard the job is ...
Congratulations, Fifth Element. Here's my haiku. I don't know if it answers all your criteria, but it's what I came up with.
beauty, cold and gone,
glossing vapid sillhouette,
striated lava
Correct, you can choose the subject matter.Quote:
Originally Posted by Virgil
Easy?!
Great start alakungfu - keep 'em coming!
Dreaming an escape
Sleep soundly in an ally
Alone with no home