Avant-Garde Poetry Contest 2

[HCabret]

Thank you YesNo! And congrats to tailor STATELY!

[tailor STATELY]

Thank you one and all !

Like YesNo I struggle with what is avant-garde poetry and what isn't. Unusual, unexpected, experimental, and innovative is pretty much how I view avant-garde. The poetics box has grown so large I find it difficult not to revisit contemporary and historical memes - which makes innovation perhaps impossible for me. That leaves unusual, unexpected, and perhaps experimental (in modifying known poetics) in my quiver.

Hawkman, in the current Poetry Contest http://www.online-literature.com/for...-Contest/page7 , proposes a lyrical rewrite of a 60's protest song made relevant to our times... with extra credit for a few embellishments if I recall correctly; which leads one to another aspect of avant-garde poetry that I neglected to address above: poetry that "also promotes radical social reforms." (Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Avant-garde ). The varied art (sculpture/film/music/etc.) of Ai Weiwei of mainland China has recently come to my attention http://www.bing.com/news/search?q=Ai+Weiwei&FORM=HDRSC6 and, I believe, may be a good contemporary example.

I'd like to propose an avant-garde poem in any form, or freestyle, on an aspect of societal reform that you'd like to explore that hasn't already been dragged through the media ad nauseam. One of the criteria I will use to judge is how many google hits your niche garners... the fewer the better. And... please keep in mind Lit Net's rules regarding political commentary, and other expression, not condoned by our host.

Extra consideration for the unusual, unexpected, and experimental.

Ta ! (short for tarradiddle),
tailor STATELY

[YesNo]

We were driving south on Clark Street having long past
Wrigley Field not having found a convenient place to park
nor having any reason to do so when Alice told me to turn
onto Fullerton and take Lake Shore Drive to Hyde Park so
I could get an apple croissant and coffee at the Medici and
I thought that was a good idea and wondered why she was
so thoughtful, but when I parked near 57th Street I noticed
she had a new protest button which read, “Imaginary People
Are Real 2,” and I tried to explain to her, again, that it didn’t
matter what she wore since no one could see her anyway
and she told me I was one of the major reasons why the
world was like it was and that button was for me to wear.

[HCabret]

MILES OF EYES: THE BLINDING OF MAGGIE LLOYD in 1901
BY ELIOT CUFF

Before the sun, before the moons stood trees of
gold and silver lighting the world for all to see.
Outside the gates of Maggie's chambers a cat on
a kite is looking for trouble and playing in
dirt in the yard; I see golden combes of ambre
standing over the hills and far away looking
through my binoculars waiting on the river
to rise; they beat me about my face and left a
trail of blood on the door of the old jail.
I woke too see that i was blind, so beat your drums
lightly and take me to the graveyard; Maggie had
taken up the job of a steel worker and walked
outside of Chicago to see as far beyond
the stars as to fight the forms and light the functions.
I open the windows to catch the calm breeze
to see where this heavenly light will fall within
the blaze; I find New Penzance Island a lovely
place to be; a tame of doves comes over the seas
and the baffled king composes hallaluyeah.

[HCabret]

A DAY IN THE LIFE OF THE ALMIGHTY PHILIP P STONE (INCOMPLETE)
Bridging time and trying not get arrested.
Nigger’s never guilty; almighty Philip Stone
knows this better than anyone else; married to
a white women; fearing what this means now that I
am going to jail for a crime I could not
commit; a parade of solid wooden soldiers
come to pass through the dark night; profiled as a
common thug with no worth; Hannah Horvath walks by
with not even a second thought to those who
run; Hannah Jane is pregnant with my only son.
Nathan Moore Stone, a Captain, savior come back to
save the world from its worst transgressions; I am
sitting in the street afraid of the night hoping
I won’t end up in a pool of blood; naked eyes
in the street hoping for bloodshed and spectacle.
Bangs of a southern man who has forgot his good
book; I am now one of those grateful dead who roam
the streets of Brooklyn; I am black and very cold.

[YesNo]

The interstate bypassed the town decades ago
and carried away the department stores and
population except for those supporting the farming
community and so I figured I’d stop by Betsy’s
Kitchen for lunch and ordered coffee and then
selected a burger and the waitress was polite but
bent over too far for her worried but youthful thirty
or so years busy behind the counter and I noticed
a sign saying that this wasn’t Burger King so if I
wanted it my way I could shove it and she told
me unless I specified what I wanted on the burger
it would come plain and I told her to put everything
on it, whatever that was, figuring I’d do it her way
and Alice told me I shouldn’t have ordered the
coffee and after tasting it I realized she was right
but it was something I could get used to and it was
not like I was the only one in the cafe since it was
nearly half full of older clientele than were in the
picture of it in its busier days and so if these people
could eat the food so could I and as I read another
sign describing the descendants of Jack Schitt a
guy with his wife at a table informed me, “And now
you know Jack,” which made me smile because I
was surprised how they got all of his descendants
that I ever heard of into that small space including
Pisa, Fulla and Dip, whom I had forgotten and Alice
didn’t know why the waitress was so somber and
couldn’t walk straight and I said it’s because of the
interstate and she said that kid was born long after
the interstate went through and when the burger
arrived it tasted good even though it was done her
way and I suppose she was worried since she didn’t
know me and maybe thought that I would not realize
that they did not take credit or debit cards here even
though that sign was the first thing you saw on the
door but she didn’t say anything and I paid her and
left a generous tip which I figured would go either into
the tip box or the cash register depending on the
need for change and as I left she cleaned up my place
and perhaps she was glad I was leaving or perhaps
the tip was unexpected or perhaps she just got tired
of that interstate and we exchanged a smile.

[Sancho]

^nice
Think I've eaten at that place.

[YesNo]

Thank you. Those are my favorite places to eat.

[tailor STATELY]

A bit dated, but here we go:

Hcabret: My favorite lines:

Bridging time and trying not get arrested.
I am sitting in the street afraid of the night hoping
I won’t end up in a pool of blood; naked eyes
in the street hoping for bloodshed and spectacle.

I see golden combes of ambre
standing over the hills and far away looking
through my binoculars waiting on the river
to rise; they beat me about my face and left a
trail of blood on the door of the old jail.



YesNo: My favorite lines:

I noticed she had a new protest button which read, “Imaginary People
Are Real 2,” and I tried to explain to her, again, that it didn’t
matter what she wore since no one could see her anyway
and she told me I was one of the major reasons why the
world was like it was and that button was for me to wear.

and so if these people
could eat the food so could... “And now
you know Jack,” which made me smile because I
was surprised how they got all of his descendants
that I ever heard of into that small space
.
.
.

And the win goes to Hcabret. Congratulations !

Ta ! (short for tarradiddle),
tailor STATELY

[cacian]

bump

[PeterL]

bump

Bump bump

[YesNo]

Bump bump bump

If Hcabret doesn't show up, maybe cacian or PeterL can lead the next round?

[cacian]

how about yourself YesNo or Peter do it.)

[Melanie]

Technically, if the winner doesn't show then it goes to the runner-up which would be YesNo. Did anyone send a message to the winner?

[cacian]

Technically, if the winner doesn't show then it goes to the runner-up which would be YesNo. Did anyone send a message to the winner?

i am not sure.
i do not think so.