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

[The Comedian]

Here's my little number:

Suppose She Farted. . . .

Suppose she farted? Oh! What then?
What do the gods know of women?
Silken lingerie cannot stop
Flatulence departed. Pop! Pop!

But say there was a wafting stink
Of beans and bread and broccoli?
Would those frozen gods hold their hands
So high, poised, and so loftily?

It's true that men are dogmatists
Of sex and love and women-kind.
Who is the statue here and here?

What the figure? And what the idol?

We peering men! We pulp artists!
Would we now worship from behind
The reek sent from an image dear?

O' leering gods! Let me share with thee
The sad truth of oils, perfume,
Jasmine, lavender, and honey:
(O' I fear to state what I think!)
"That men are stiff and women stink"

[Paulclem]

I've just found this thread. Thanks for starting it. Good picture Hillwalker - and I liked your winning poem. The others were good too.

The Old Gods

Solid and strong, so full of common sense,
Older we stand, fuller but statuesque.
Age lays down layers of fat experience,
The thickening limbs of life's rich burlesque.
The young still pass us by without a glance;
The heads that turn are ours towards the suns.
They're off to follow life's absorbing dance,
And gather all their love and pain and fun.
And, stiff, we wonder why they cannot see
How so much better they would be with us.
What we would give, they could pay back in glee,
We'd cut the crap and stifle all the fuss.
So, statuesque, we stand despite regret.
Refuse to see we've had all we should get.

[qimissung]

Here's my entry.


Dryad

the spring called their names
and poor mute things,
they listened and obeyed
travellers on a weary road
they thought at first that they longed only for a drink
but then they heard

the bell-like voices
and they made their way
to the spring song
witless, numbed, entranced, they stared
at brief beauty
and wondered
if they could feel the water
on their winter limbs once more
their fevered brow

the dryads laughed
the song cracked
and they were home
voiceless, mad, besotted

[Logos]

It is up to the moderators to decide if something is *literally* too "explicit", "graphic", or "offensive"--in this case, Daniel's poem is not violating any forum rules. They explained their meaning behind it, so let's move on now

The areas of Personal Poetry and Short Story sharing on this forum are especially subject to _emotive_ reactions from people, indeed, and yes sometimes things of a "sexual" nature come up in creative writing.

We can't moderate how people react to things _emotionally_, so, I'm sorry that some of you are offended by it, but please don't derail this thread with discussion of that. If you find it disagreeable opt-out for now.

This is a poetry *contest* so that is what the thread is for, not discussion of religion etc.

Any more off topic posts will be removed.

--

[Scheherazade]

This is a poetry *contest* so that is what the thread is for, not discussion of religion etc.

Any more off topic posts will be removed.

--

Off-topic posts have been removed as stated in Logos' earlier reminder

If a poem is offensive to your (religious) sensibilities, please feel free not to read or choose it.
("Ignore button" is only one click away at all times!)

However, I would also like to remind that further provocations based on this disagreement will not be tolerated.

If you have any dissatisfaction with moderating decisions or any events taking place on the Forum,
please PM one of the moderators.

[PrinceMyshkin]

LIGHT AS A FEATHER

They say I have my grandma's eyes,
the irridescent blue of prairie skies;
both eyebrows curved like falcon wing
just hovering,
and lashes dark as darkest night
and skin as white as Appalachia snow.

They say I have my father's will,
his cruel instinctive urge to kill,
his cold resolve to pay no heed
to do the deed.
My soul like his, bereft of light,
I'm right behind you..... thought I'd let you know.


Hope I've not missed the deadline DM..... but no matter.

Since I haven't participated in any of the recent contests I don't get notified when there are new entries, which is how I came to miss this magnificent poem, hillwalker!

(And I also missed the controversy that raged over the picture you chose for the next contest but I can imagine the lascivious/hilarious responses it might provoke.)

Here's my entry.


Dryad

the spring called their names
and poor mute things,
they listened and obeyed
travellers on a weary road
they thought at first that they longed only for a drink
but then they heard

the bell-like voices
and they made their way
to the spring song
witless, numbed, entranced, they stared
at brief beauty
and wondered
if they could feel the water
on their winter limbs once more
their fevered brow

the dryads laughed
the song cracked
and they were home
voiceless, mad, besotted

This would be a wonderful poem even if you'd submitted to the lascivious suggestion in the picture, but how elegant it is and how wonderfully you managed to find some empathy for what others will see as the lechers to either side of the photo!

[krymsonkyng]

Watch closely kids, this
is how you break a wall.
Cat calls from gawking gods
beyond the lenses lend
friends to our ends.

So we struck a pose?
A pair of poses, for poet's poesy
and gawking
stern stone faces staring in
on a lovely scene,
but what's it mean?
No meaner scene than
man can imagine.

Staring stiffs write subtle riffs
of our view,
and their view,
of their view,
and you. So smile!
Someone's thinking
about you, while
You read this line.

[qimissung]

Thank you, Prince. A friend who always sees the best in you is a friend, indeed. And krymsonkyng, was there ever a poet who could write such melting toungetwisters as you?

[Haunted]

Victoria’s other secret



thrusted out of stone
a pair of machismo torsos
gratuitously oversees
a very private portal

on this side of the
weightless fabric—

skin...soft curves...
a cleft most coveted...

on the other side—
mounting
anticipation

lacy silky scanty showy thingys

do they cover as much
as they reveal?

but for these two
stoic voyeurs...
you can look but you can’t touch
; )

[hillwalker]

We've had such fun so far, have we not?
A gentle reminder that all entries need to be in by midnight on Sunday 6th June so get weaving.

[hillwalker]

'Tis now the witching hour and the deadline is passed.....so time to put you all out of your miseries.
I have to say, some of us really did have fun with this picture did we not? Talk about the ruffling of plumage!

8 entries – and all, in one way or another, making imaginative use of the themes that could be explored with such a random juxtaposition of ancient and modern.

DanielBenoit – some striking images here and a courageous attempt to intertwine religious imagery, paganism and the everyday. I particularly enjoyed the final two lines.

DarkMuse – a gentler, more measured examination of the myth of celebrity or air-brushed beauty, and how ephemeral the entire drama really is.

TheComedian – witty and slightly risqué, if rather too scathing at the end. But any poem that can find a rhyme for ‘broccoli’ has to be genuinely applauded.

Pendragon – short but sweet – Aphrodite yet again the focus. I just felt there was another verse to follow with an answer or two.

qimissung – a clever idea skilfully expanded upon - the two ladies virtually transmuted into sirens, luring their mute admirers to a state of frustrated despair.

krymsonkyng – a hip, ironic poem full of echoing internal rhymes and casual putdowns. I liked the flamboyant style because it clashes so with the frozen image.

Paulclem – a sonnet no less, and adhering strictly to rhyme. The theme of trying to convince young, nubile girls they would be so much better off with us older, wiser (?) fools is one I can easily identify with!!!

Haunted – from the clever title I enjoyed this immensely. It was witty, and slightly suggestive, yet it kept those leering gods firmly tethered in their place.

It has been so difficult to pick a winner because the standards in this particular comp were uniformly high. So, my huge and sincere praise to all who took part – and finally after having to decide between a very worthy pair (DarkMuse and qimissung) the laurels go to qimissung for providing a brilliantly composed caption to the photo itself.

Congratulations, H

[Dark Muse]

Yay at being somethig of an honorable mention, and congrats to gimi.

[Pendragon]

Congrads Qimi

[Paulclem]

Congratulations quimissung, and thanks for the comments Hillwalker. I must say I enjoyed reading all the other works. I'm looking forward to the next round. It was a good choice of picture Hillwalker.

The only thing I'd like to add is that the competition duration was rather long. Could we have a timetweak?

[Haunted]

Qim, such beautiful poetry. Congrats!