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Poetry Challenge!
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Poetry Challenge!
Poetry Challenge!
So, last summer, I made this thread called the Poetry Challenge. Lots of people joined, and it really took off. It died eventually, but since so many of you are interested in doing it again, I’m rebooting it!
For those of you who haven’t participated, here’s how it works:
Each round will have a main theme and an optional prompt. The theme should be a broader topic since we’ll all be writing a lot of poetry about that one theme. The prompt can be anything, really; a topic, a poetry technique, a random sentence that pops into your head. The person who posts the theme and prompt will be the ‘announcer’ for that round. They can participate in the challenge as well.
Each round lasts a week. Once the theme and prompt have been posted, everyone starts writing. The goal is to write and post a poem a day, but if you miss a day or two, or even six or seven, it’s okay. The purpose of this is to challenge ourselves and improve our writing, and of course, to have fun. So no stress. :-) Of course, if you're extra inspired one day, you can write and post more than one poem.
At the end of the week, everyone will place a vote for the most inspiring poem. Once everyone has voted, the announcer will count the votes and announce the winner, who will then become the announcer for the next round.
Make sense?
The first person to post is the Announcer for the first round. As soon as they post the theme and prompt, we can start.
submitted by Leeli
(August 8, 2018 - 9:18 am)
(August 8, 2018 - 9:18 am)
"rest in peace" is not enough
will it wake the victims of the Parkland shooting
let them live the lives they should have?
will it change the laws so such a tragedy
never happens again?
it's like the children said
"your thoughts and prayers are not enough,
take action"
write to your representatives
call
go to marches
write opinion pieces
petition for laws
elect people who will protect children
like you
often you will stop protesting
feel that it's much easier to say nothing
and lead a peaceful life
but please,
remember
the words "rest in peace" will have no meaning
if killings happen again
and again
and again
(August 20, 2018 - 5:55 pm)
my weariness amazes me
life is a long, drawn-out game
and it's a beautiful thing
near the end
when my hands, with their wavy green veins
cease to move
and my chrysalide eyes open for the last time
i want to be happy when i look back on my life
i know things
will be
okay
so when my heartbeat stills
i will not be afraid
(August 20, 2018 - 9:03 pm)
I haven't done this before so... Is this when we vote?
Unsolveablez says nnyu. You're at NYU?
Well, I guess he didn't say that because I got the CAPTCHA wrong.
(August 22, 2018 - 6:50 am)
Yep! It’s been exactly a week since the first poem was posted, so we can vote now!
(August 22, 2018 - 8:19 am)
Well, I'm not camping anyways but now I have to deal with choosing a poem to vote for...darn it. I love all of Bluebird's, and Applejaguar's, and everyone else's poems but I think I'm going to vote for Leeli's pretty girl poem. I wish I could vote for your untitled poem, too, Leeli. I feel like after reading your poems I can feel okay sometimes because there's someone else who goes through something like I do every day. I can really relate to it so that's why I'm voting for your poem.
(August 22, 2018 - 9:34 am)
Guys I did not forget about this I promise!! I have been writing poetry but I haven't been super insipred so a lot of the poems I've written are word vomits that I'm kinda embarrased about. But here's one less-disgusting word vomit? I'm not super proud of this one either, but here it is. Additionally, I know that I'm late and that y'all have already voted, but I just wanted to post this before a new prompt was started :)
why am i like this?
sometimes it's like i'm not as good
as the other girls
their legs are smaller than mine
their stomachs are flatter
their hair is longer
it's as if
how you look
defines who you are
if that's true,
then that must be why I try so hard to
fit the world's definition of "pretty"
i know you won't love me if i'm not
as thin as everyone else
as pretty as everyone else
as beautiful as everyone else
(August 22, 2018 - 3:29 pm)
@Leafpool: Aw, thanks. I reallyreally loved your poem for the ‘beauty only goes skin deep’ prompt too, because I could relate to it so much and I feel the same way; it’s nice to know I’m not the only one who goes through that stuff.
Agh...who to vote for! I seriously loved all of y’all’s poems, and I’m not just saying that. But...I think I’m going to have to vote for Leafmist’s poem why am i like this. I loved it, and again, it was one of those really relatable poems that just totally reflected my feelings.
(August 22, 2018 - 5:07 pm)
Wow. Thank you so much, Leeli! I'm honored that you loved my poem so much.
I'm going to have to vote for Applejaguar's subway poem. It was so interesting to me, and it kind of stuck with me and I kept thinking about it for a while after I first saw it. Everyone did AMAZING, though. Great job!!
(August 24, 2018 - 11:39 am)
Aaah, I was planning to write something but didn't feel very inspired this week... and it just slipped by! Can I still vote even if I didn't write a poem? If so, I loved everyone's poems, but my favorite one this week was Bluebird's the ancient empty street's too dead for dreaming. I really like your style, Bluebird, and your idea to base your poems off of song lyrics!
(August 22, 2018 - 8:15 pm)
This is a hard one. You all are amazing poets! My vote has to go to Leeli's untitled poem, the one about summer thunderstorms. I really, really enjoyed reading all of your poems, I can't wait for the next theme.
(August 23, 2018 - 1:32 pm)
I vote for either of Applejaguar's poems. I absolutely adored them!
Also, thank you Cassandra!
(August 23, 2018 - 11:46 pm)
When should I total the votes? I don't know if there are other people who didn't participate this round but would like to vote.
(August 24, 2018 - 12:28 pm)
Hmm...maybe give it a day or so more, and then tally the votes. That way we can give anyone else who wants to vote a bit more time to do so, but then if nobody else votes we haven’t been waiting around for nothing. What do you guys think?
(August 24, 2018 - 3:27 pm)
I loved like all of Bluebird's poems (like the one called my weariness amazes me and the one with phone lines "splitting the tangerine sky") and honestly all of the poems on here, and the decision was really hard, but like Quill, I am going to vote for Leeli's summer storm poem.
(August 24, 2018 - 1:50 pm)
I guess I'll total them now because I might not have time later.
So Leeli's work came in first with 3 votes, and then I guess Applejaguar's second because she got 2.
(August 26, 2018 - 12:35 pm)