Picture Poetry Contest (...continued...)

[dramasnot6]

and 5 more days until I depart,once again, for Australia...I will be so anxious about the poetry contest whilst on the plane!

[autolycus]

Old Mother Hubbard
Went to the cupboard...

Her hands lay bare upon the cushion
I saw them flutter briefly there
Her breath ragged in faint confusion
And sudden onset of despair

Her fingers looked each a chrysalis
I wondered about butterflies
Trapped in the moment of what is
And what would never now arise

Before she went I asked the question
As she drowned she answered me
In the moment of stark perception
Before her answers ceased to be

The cupboard was bare:
Three sons over there,
Not even a bone;
And her, all alone.

[motherhubbard]

tomorrow is the deadline and I will judge and try to post on Saturday.

[ampoule]

It's going to be tough on me. I'm excited about what is to come. I think I'll set the deadline for Feb. 16. Let me know if you have a problem with that. I was thinking that there is another poetry contest and that would give people time to enter both

Don't mean to be a stickler but I think Saturday is the deadline, isn't it?

[motherhubbard]

Don't mean to be a stickler but I think Saturday is the deadline, isn't it?

Yes it is. Saturday is the deadline and Sunday the judging. Thanks Amp

[Anonymous Angel]

H ere they are, my hands, weathered
A nd old, but beautiful. I have
N ever thought how hands hold
D reams, but mine are right here, and
S o are the dreams they've made.

Did anyone notice that his hands form a heart? It's beautiful to me...Rebecca Tacosa Gray

[motherhubbard]

I'll try to post on this tonight- I'm sorry for the delay

[motherhubbard]

Pen, This was such a strong start and finish and I loved all that was in between. I love the way you focused on the story that can be read in the lines on those hands. You can see history and there is a story here. I hear love for your mother and the mother of your children in this.

When you look at these hands—
You see more than just hands—
You see history in each wrinkle and fold.

We have taken a journey, and tried to listen to the meaning of the story of skin.
There is a story there, we may have unlocked part, but the wrinkles and puckers and lines tell the rest.
Pendragon
© 1/18/08

Downing

You took a very different turn with your poem and I really liked your interpretation of the picture. You let those hold love all the way to heaven.
I like to think of those hands feeling like this

I feel as if I have just been born.


Please pass your fingers through
mine and
we can go together.'

Jerry
This is wonderful, just wonderful. You are so good at being concise. I love the how these hands do find comfort in themselves. I loved the description of the human heart and the going from hand to hand to get there. I’m not going to pick just one part to quote, I liked all of the parts.





MazHur
This is a great image. I had not looked at those hands and seen unfulfilled desire and I’m glad you showed it to me. Young heart and old hands. This ending was brilliant.

Like a heart full of a myriad of desires
yet to be fulfilled,
A victim of the brutal hands of time,
Here I sit with my fingers crossed.

Nick
This is a great poem Nick. I love the repetition drawing emphasis to the passing and running out of time. I especially liked the way it moved from youth to maturity and left time for one more union. And this imagery was wonderful.

Their skin,
the film of a cooled winter’s drink,
holds the night
in its tactile paving.

Schadenfreude

I love the scene you created at the opening of this poem. I smiled at the berry picking. It was interesting to go from where will you be later straight to the end

Once she picked berries …
and how he had smiled when he asked: “Where will you be later on?”
But now,
her hands are old and empty.

Drama

Wow, Drama. This was a wonderful and unexpected turn on the picture. This poem was full of imagery, sound and texture.

They grind the maize
Soft leather upon yellow kernels

Each callus, every line
Tells a story.

Bailey
Darling Bailey, I love your poem. I especially love the way you call them the washing hands. This last line is great I think that these hands are the result of work and time.

Old and worn the washing hands.

Worn from work the results of time.

Mir
Weaving these two poems together was a fantastic idea. I like the use of repetition and the image of stormed and weathered hands. The ending was very strong.

watch these hands, stormed and weathered, too many days
…
I remember when I was young.

Autolysis

Very clever! I had to read this several times and I liked it more each time I read it
This was my favorite stanza. I wonder what the question was and what answer it got.

Before she went I asked the question
As she drowned she answered me
In the moment of stark perception
Before her answers ceased to be

Anonymous Angel
Short and sweet. I thought this was lovely. I think that old hands are beautiful. I like this part the best-

N ever thought how hands hold
D reams, but mine are right here,

Everyone did such a great job. I have a new appreciation for those who have had the hard job of judging. I’ve been so challenged by this, and I have spent hours trying to choose. There were three that I loved above the rest. It must come down to just one winner and even as I type I’m trying to decide. But the decision must be made. And so congratulations to our winner, Pen for writing a wonderful poem that I captures so much emotion.

[NickAdams]

I thank you. What amazes me is how fertile the blank page of Pen's is. So many threads, so much quality.

[autolycus]

Thanks very much for kind words and encouragement!

Pen, excellent! Truly mightier than the sword.

*grin*

[symphony]

Woo-hoo! Congrats uncle Pen! Awesome work!

[Pendragon]

Thanks to you all-- I don't know what to say... I am so amazed at winning that I cannot think...You are all too kind...

A picture now...

Well, this is surreal, and I drew it for a poem I once wrote. Let's see what you people can get out of it...




Best of luck. Will set closing date after I have three entries...

[downing]

wow amazing picture, Pen! Congrats again for winning!!

[lucidnightmares]

i hope alot of people respond to that pic
i`m curious as to what they think of it
anyway`s i think i`ll give it a try


the widow sleeps within a rose
hides within beauty, fangs exposed

a demon rests inside our soul
losing patience, i lost control

my heart is racing, i need you now
my mind is tainted to a vow

i must have you, this i know
this dark seed, i must sow

pain gives me pleasure
death is my treasure

so rip it out, my roting heart
take this sorrow, tear it apart

only then will i show my face
when i`m lost inside your endless grace

[Granny5]

Congrats, Pen! Great poem and great pic.