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Sentenced to inconsistency
I said I wouldn't be doing it.
I have never stuck to a plan.
I decide not to do it but do it.
It's a sentence that began with Adam.
Adam was a man without a plan.
Now for a plan I also don't plan.
I act on a whim without any stress.
But now my whim is to wear a dress.
I need to address my inconsistency.
I need to tie myself to a tree.
Tied to a tree I shall be free.
I shall be free of my inconsistency.
The inconsistencies of life sometimes bother me.
They say all things have a meaning.
The fault lies in us, that we cannot see the Big Picture.
It's just a shadow of a mirage reflected in a mirror.
It lacks shape and substance.
My interest wanes.
Ennui sets in quickly.
I lack sleep and focus.
Life is a moonlit sham without meaning.
We snap shots of our frustration in the dark without a flash.
To all things there is a season and a time.
The inconsistencies of life sometimes bother me.
The inconsistencies of life sometimes bother me.
An endless black ribbon takes us from life to death.
Rest stops along the way are strictly forbidden.
It's like alcohol diluted beyond any bite.
It gives no comfort.
It becomes worthless.
It's salt that has no savor.
Cast it away, it is fit for nothing.
Even space reaches a point where time means nothing.
We are taught to believe, and questions are unwanted.
Explanations never come,but he who seeks may find a solution.
The inconsistencies of life sometimes bother me.
Pendragon
(C) 8/18/2014
This contest is now over. Thanks for the contributions!
mal4mac: I liked the theme of inconsistency and how being tied might make one free of it. This gives me something to think about.
Pendragon: Another one on inconsistency but from a different perspective. Being tied won't help in this case.
Thanks for the two perspectives on inconsistency and thanks to mal4mac for the form.
The winner is Pendragon!
Congratulations!
Thank you! The form is a reversible. Length doesn't really matter, but the poem must be able to read both directions. And make sense. Sample:
Allegory
Weakness seeking,
Ravenous wolves prowl—
Circling vultures hunting endlessly—
Show fear, you die quickly.
Thoughts become words become deeds.
Ignorance breeds prejudice breeds hate.
Pass and see me not time following time.
Your loss it is. Sing sorrow.
Mine was it never; neither gain nor loss…
Loss nor gain: Neither! Never was it mine!
Sorrow sing, your loss it is.
Time following time not see me and pass…
Hate breeds prejudice breeds ignorance!
Deeds become words become thoughts!
Quickly die you— fear show…
Endless hunting vultures circling!
Prowl, wolves, ravenous—
Seeking weakness…
Pendragon
© 3/17/2007 10:13 PM
October 15th deadline
Moonlit Willows
Willows dancing
under ghostly moonlight,
sorrows unspoken
buried deeply within roots,
broken promises
whispered solemnly
beneath swaying limbs,
secrets sordid
veiled behind green leaves,
phantom lovers
weep
lovers phantom,
leaves green behind veiled
sordid secrets,
limbs swaying beneath
solemnly whispered
promises broken,
roots within deeply buried
unspoken sorrows
moonlight ghostly under
dancing willows.
Wow! Great start! 0o0
Thank you
In or out
Day or night
Win or pout
Stay and fight
Fight and stay
Pout or win
Night or day
Out or in
Wow! I like this.Quote:
Originally Posted by YesNo
Thanks, ampoule!
I will extend the deadline five days since I have only two entries.
Dark Muse, that may be the best reversible I have evr read. Congrats, you win! Nice poem Yesno! Very close to call!
Thank you very much
I will post the new form soon.
Sorry for the delay I have been busy, but I have your next style now.
The next form isn't too complicated but it is one that I enjoy.
It is a Japanese form called a Choka which consists of alternating lines between 5 and 7 syllables. It can be any length but it should be an odd number of lines ending with an extra line of seven syllables.
Here is an example:
Autumnal Lovers
Your breath draws me in
drowning in your ocean eyes
consumed by your fire
taste of Autumn on your lips
drinking rain drops off your skin.
Deadline: Oct. 20th
Say--life must go on
Face the future--the past dies
Picking up pieces
Fitting the puzzle together
No echo looks like me
Makes you wonder why they say
Life has to go on...
But only death is certain...
His twitching muscles
I can see them through his shirt
I want to smooth them
Stop their progression
Let them ripple against me
Their strength lifting me higher
ampoule, October Eleventh, TwoThousandFourteen
More please.
Tell me who you are.
Are you watching me as well?
We have come this far.
Have you anything to tell?
Let us rest and pause our spell.
Thank you for the entrees everyone. All great pomes, it was not easy choosing a winner.
Pendragon: Very elegant with some lovely imagery. I really like how it feels cyclical, the ending returning back to the beginning. It has a nice since of completion, and yet the message is never ending.
YesNo: I like the concept of this one, questioning our reality and ourselves. It is thought provoking and leaves me with many questions of my own. It offers many possibilities.
And the winner is
Ampoule: This was beautifully written, and sensual, and I think it offers many different possible meanings, it brought several things to my mind while I was reading it. I like the subtly of it.
Dark Muse....thank you so much. I enjoyed the form you chose.
Now, in looking for a form I used a long time ago, I ran across this one instead. I hope it hasn't been used before, but I, myself, am anxious to try it. I hope you are too.
It is called a Cleave Poem written in two columns. To read a Cleave Poem, read the left hand poem as a discrete poem, read the right hand poem as a second discrete poem, and then read the whole poem as a third integrated poem.
Here is an example of a Cleave Poem:
In Such a Place as This by Jessie Lafortune
even in this.............................................. godforsaken place
there is stirring evidence............................ of life, like
the frog who came..................................... just after the rain
and remains still........................................ clinging to the grass
the lizards........................................... ..... beating a path to safety
rustling in the grass................................... outside my door
the squirrels......................................... .... giving chase
playing tag............................................... recklessly
in the street............................................ . irrespective of cars
and then there is me................................. alive, barely
running in place....................................... depending on the day
You shouldn't have to put all those 'dots' in there, but I can't seem to figure out how to make two columns. ENJOY!
Deadline: November 15th
Philosophy 101
The Moon and the moonlight……………………………..They tear me apart
Shadows and shapes……………………………………………They torment me so
Swarms of forgotten memories…………………………..Pain unimaginable
Crowding around me…………………………………………..Dimming my view
Cold comfort they are…………………………………………Whispers and echoes
Speaking lies in hypocrisy…………………………………...Soiling my soul
Must rise again, fight the future………………………….Can I be redeemed?
It’s not how and when you fall……………………………It is getting up again!
Pendragon
Saturday, October 25, 2014
Tell me, traveller,....... what is it that you seek,
As you walk.............. beneath the polished moon
Snake-winding.......... through alluvial plains,
Amid tall grasses....... green and verdant
Fringed with seed,..... only to the sun;
How they flow,.......... diurnal nocturnes
Carried on the wind... that lodge in your locks,
Chasing thoughts...... like keys in pursuit
Of music.................. of wild imaginings?
These are wonderful. I can tell I am not going to like choosing a winner.
Songs From the Dead
Play for me...................................discordant harmonies
a song from the dead.....................each stolen breath
infused with memories...................voices in the shadows
murmurs to the moon....................melodies contorted
a prayer within your heart...............beating Morse code
my ear pressed.............................against your flesh
feeling the vibrations......................quivering lips
chanting incantations.....................in archaic languages
awakening soul depths.................. never letting go.
Here? . . . . . . Where?
Near? . . . . . . There!
this is long overdue :)
Yes, cacian, long overdue. My apologies to all of you.
YesNo....so playful
Dark Muse.....so 'Poe-ish', love it!
Hawkman.....wild in the night, how I love nocturnal music
Pendragon.....you had me so involved...in the shadows....whispers and echoes
All so good, and thank you. HAWKMAN wins!
Congrats, Hawkman!!
Gosh! Sorry... If or got about this and I've only just seen the final score! Thanks to ampule and you too Pen :)
Ok, the next round is a villanelle. Personally, I find them hellishly difficult to pull off. Modern versions do tend to allow minor variations to the refrains, but I'll be awarding extra brownie points to people who don't compromise. Probably the best known villanelle is Dylan Thomas' "Do not go gentle..."
The subject of the poem is up to you. Looking forward to seeing what you all come up with!
Deadline 20th Jan. 2015.
The monster likes to look upon the skies.
The soothing blues and whites shift during day.
When cloudless twinkling stars caress his eyes.
They tell him what he sees is a disguise,
A fantasy he makes up in some way.
The monster likes to look upon the skies.
He doubts that what he sees are pretty lies.
It’s kind enough though it be devil’s play.
When cloudless twinkling stars caress his eyes.
Melodious like when an angel sighs
He knows there’s more to death. So, come what may.
The monster likes to look upon the skies.
They tell him that his evil magnifies
Their fear and for that reason he can’t stay.
When cloudless twinkling stars caress his eyes.
Until the end, they watch him as he tries
To break his chains and then break down to pray.
The monster likes to look upon the skies.
When cloudless twinkling stars caress his eyes.
“Hope Is the Thing With Feathers”
I really don’t care what people say—
Their advice shatters; broken stone tablets beneath Sinai.
I’d love to return to Yesterday…
“Tomorrow things will be different.” Indeed. So they may.
But in all likelihood I’d search but the path I’ll never find.
I really don’t CARE what people say—
Day after dismal, gloomy day—
I HAVE tried to face up to these difficulties in my life.
I’d love to return to Yesterday—
Before this accursed illness came creeping my way,
Battered down the doorways to my mind and crept inside!
I really don’t care WHAT people say—
All I can do is long, hope, and pray
To the One whom alone can (if He desires) send help from on High.
I’d love to return to Yesterday—
But the pressure continues to build and fear holds sway.
Have the walls been breached so that to win is to die?
I really DON’T CARE WHAT people say—
I’d love to return to yesterday…
Pendragon
Yes, congrats Hawkman.
Thanks Melanie :)
Any more?
Jade Heart
Light begins to fade
drowning in your gaze
with a heart of jade.
Waiting in your shade
watching your eyes blaze,
light begins to fade.
Love balanced on a blade,
truth lost in a fog of haze
with a heart of jade.
Old memories decayed
with lost Summer days
light begins to fade.
Your dark waters I wade
to mend forgotten ways
with a heart of jade.
And still you stayed
in my last moon phase
light begins to fade
with a heart of jade.
Three very different approaches to the villanelle. Muse, yours is quite minimalist and has a strong rhythm, but consequently, the lyricism I associate with the form is a little lacking.
Pen, a heartfelt piece, but I feel the fluctuating line lengths and syllable count make it read a bit unevenly.
Y/N, yours is a lyrical piece which holds to the tradition of the form and executes it well. If it has a weakness it is that the third person narration in 'they' and 'their' weakens it slightly. We and our might have been stronger. I read it as commenting on a death row inmate's contemplation of approaching nemesis.
Two experiments with the form and both free thinking in approach. They both have something to say... But this is a form contest...
So Y/N I think yours is the strongest, so you win. Thanks to Muse and Pen for taking part and for making it so hard to pick a winner.
Over to you, Y/N...
Thanks, Hawkman. In rereading the poem, I think you are right that replacing "they" and "their" with "we" and "our" would make it stronger. Thanks, again.
The next form is "common measure". Here is a description of it: http://www.poetryfoundation.org/lear...mmon%20measure
Your poem may be on any topic.
The deadline is March 1st.
For those not familiar with this form contest, to enter the contest write a poem in the specified form (common measure, in this case) and post it here. On March 1st, I will pick the winner. The winner will then pick a new form and start a new contest.
I am going to try to bump this thread with a Valentine's Day poem.
Valentine's Day Poem 2015
My heart is like a valentine
That’s waiting for the spring
To warm it with a pleasant rain,
Unfreeze it, help it sing.
I'm extending the time on this contest. Common meter is pretty common like "Mary had a little lamb".
Goliath was a Philistine,
We went to a museum.
He rolled his eyes at Phoebe's thighs
(Although you've got to see 'em).
He didn't like the way Van Dyck
Resolved his light and shadow.
When I explained, he said, all pained:
"Oh yadda, yadda, yadda!"
Poor Titian's flairs drew sullen stares,
Picasso fared no better;
He just said no to all Van Gogh,
Cezanne was a dead letter.
Then at the overpriced cafe
He cried, "This mocha's tart!
I don't know why you want to stay
If this is what's called art!"
He girded up his loins and left,
He took his ball and sling;
And yet before I paid the check,
I noticed one last thing:
Goliath was a Philistine,
A petty bourgeoisie,
But when beyond those things I'd seen,
I knew the man was me.
Very nice, Pompey Bum!
This contest is long overdue. The winner is Pompey Bum! Congratulations!
You now have the opportunity to pick the next form and set the deadline.