The exercise:
Looking back through the archives, I see that I've done one acrostic prompt per year so far. So let's get it out of the way for 2011, shall we? And since Protagonize's current poetry tournament (which I'm not participating in) challenge is to write one based on a fear you have, we're going to do that.
So Kat's in bed and just as I walked past our bedroom door a minute ago I was overcome by the urge to sneeze. I did my best to hold it in until I could get further away, but to no avail. What came out was a really loud, odd combination of a sneeze and a cough. I'm pretty sure she didn't hear it, because if she had she would have come check on me, convinced I was dying.
Anyway. Onwards we go.
Mine:
Slithering through my home,
Not a care for my screams,
A disgusting python -
Kiss goodbye to my dreams.
End this train of thought?
Sadly, I cannot.
8 comments:
Are acrostic prompts that intimidating? Maybe you ought to do one a month then, until they seem trivially easy :)
I am, sadly, not at all surprised that the instructions for the towel rail were wrong. In fact, I'm slightly surprised that more stuff doesn't come with the wrong instructions!
I quite like snakes, but I appreciate the sentiment of your poem. I hope you don't have bad dreams now!
Fear
Yellow light, leaking from a lamp
On a desk where a young(-ish) man,
Unshaven, rests his head on his arms.
Work lies in front of him, written
On bible-paper in black ink.
Nearly every other word is crossed through,
Those that remain are precious.
Listlessly he lets his pen fall,
Ink spills, but misses the page.
Kissing his fingers to wet them, he curses;
Erases the blot and then pauses.
Trust in himself has eluded him thus far,
How can he believe this will be loved?
In silence he reaches for the paper and
Scrunches it up.
Marc: I'm taking part in the Protag tournament and I'm so going to get disqualified . So here is the version I should've submitted!
Snakes! Good one :)
Greg: I really liked that, I could imagine the scene. Good imagery!
Here's mine:
Losing sense of those around,
Often I find I am pushing away,
Naked displays of ardour, to
easily find a way to downplay,
Longings, of many a face, those deep
images of grace and love but
Not here. I’m without a smile,
Elbowing away companionship and
Staying in exile,
Sailing away, a hundred and more a mile.
Darn poetry :)
Marc - as Indy said, "Snakes, why did have to be snakes."
Greg - I've felt that, I've been there. Perfectly captured.
Watermark - thanks for yours, it inspired my take on fear.
FEAR
Long ago I survived on my own,
Owing no explanations,
Saying what I pleased.
In an instant that changed.
No more selfishness,
Gallant knight I became.
My priorities transformed,
Years pass in beauty.
Knowing this life,
I fear for the worst.
Death to snatch it from me,
Selfishness to return.
Nice work, folks!
My take seemingly awkward, I feel.
---
Fear
Two person in us?
State of ignorance,
Mind of inconstant
Fluctuation?
Fears that lived within us
Dies within us
Contemplate fear;
Fear is just fear.
marc, i hate snakes and now i am surely going to have nightmares.
greg, monthly? i object! i think.
watermark, beauty.
dumbricht, sweet.
zhongming, fear is not just fear when we're talking about s....s!
and since marc already took s....s, here's my yet another lame attempt at whatever you call this poem:
-o0o-
My Fear
When the flow of words stops and
Runs dry not the inkwell but the ideas;
It lurks around
This unwelcome friend who
Empties your mind and
Renders your vision
Stagnant.
Be glad when you can
Lick and
Overcome this menace by just
Continuing to write and
Kick its butt once and for all.
---
see it starts so poetic-like and ends with "kick its butt". yay!
Greg - nah, not intimidating. Just whenever I think of doing one I'm convinced I've done one recently. Apparently that wasn't the case :P
You did a fantastic job with yours. It's like the constraints of the form weren't even there.
Watermark - well that's a pretty fantastic bit of work; it's a shame you weren't able to use it in the competition.
Dumbricht - Indy knows what's up.
Beautifully done. Haunting. As with Greg's, the constraints were hardly noticeable.
Zhongming - that's a great little poem, but it's not an acrostic. My fault, really, for not including a link to the definition.
An acrostic (for whenever I bring this prompt back again) is a poem where the first letters of each line spell a word. Like mine spells 'SNAKES', Greg's spells 'YOU WONT LIKE THIS', and so on.
Feel free to give it another try if you like!
Summerfield - I hope you didn't! And if you did, I hope my more light-hearted haiku provide you with happier dreams.
Your comment after your poem made me laugh out loud. I agree that you did really well with the 'WRITERS' portion, but stumbled with the 'BLOCK'.
Words to ponder for alternatives (if you care to ponder, of course): Leave, Leech, or Lament instead of Lick; Keep, Kill, Knack, or Kiss instead of Kick.
Just thinking out loud :)
Summerfield - yeah, i think you're about right when we're talking about s....s :D
Marc - Thanks for enlightening me on this prompt :)
here's my 2nd attemp :D
---
Libration Path
Experiences of impermanent truth
May slowly bring the awfully
Polluted mind into
The whole new
Inverted world of
Negotiation, which turns
Empathy into a realistic
Standard mirror but
She may or may not be liberated.
Zhongming - perfect! :)
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