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ponder
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A Game for poetry Conf.
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Mar 14 02:15 UTC 2000 |
Okay. Here's the deal.
Each player comes up with 5-8 pairs of
words. These will generally always be in
the form of an adjective followed by a
noun. The adjective must imaginatively
describe the noun in a completely new
way ( that means "cacophanous noise"
or "rosy cheeks" or "pink flamingos" are
out as being too cliche). Next the player
must take the list created by the
previous player and create a poem of 5-
16 lines ( rhyming is optional). Each
reference to a word combination must
make complete sense. The player does
not have to use the word combinations
in the list in the exact order given.
However, each combination must be
used exactly as written.
All other poetry conference users are
invited to judge all entries to see if the
list and poem fit the criterian given.
The object: To challenge each other's
imaginations a little and also to see
what kind of interesting, funny, or
otherwise imaginative poetry we can
come up with.
Here's the first list to give everyone a
place to start.
1. Cacophanous emotion
2. Impatient wallet
3. Pregnant sack
4. Warped telescope
5. Pink herds
6. Careless wallpaper.
Now, the next person to comment
should first write a poem using these
words (please do not use more than two
lines per word)
Then come up with a list of your own for
the next person to write on.
Good luck, poets.
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| 178 responses total. |
lumen
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response 1 of 178:
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Mar 14 21:52 UTC 2000 |
Here I sit in my apartment watchtower
peeping at urban delights through a warped telescope.
I see the melodrama in a couple of burger havens
The cacophonous emotion in pink herds
swarming from steel chariots to grab pregnant sacks.
My impatient wallet
tries to sway me from the meal on the stove
to empty its greens.
I see the careless wallpaper
in streams of billboards
and flyers on posts and corkboards
left by grizzled guitar warriors with long tresses
or any other street herald.
I see the sprawl that seems to last for miles
with a motorized flow.
Then I faintly smile, pull away, and retreat back to my world.
Next list:
broken kaleidoscope
gilded tears
torn skies
slippery physique
glazed landscape
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ponder
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response 2 of 178:
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Mar 15 02:09 UTC 2000 |
Good one.
And challenging list.
Any takers?
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remmers
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response 3 of 178:
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Mar 15 13:05 UTC 2000 |
Like a broken kaleidoscope, its shards glittering
In the rogue sun peering down from torn skies,
So my heart sheds gilded tears of dispair
For my lost one, my angel of bygone days; she moves
With flowing whispers and slippery physique
Through the glazed landscape of present memory.
Next list:
doubtful frog
happy jacket
fragrant constitution
swift estate
kind tort
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brighn
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response 4 of 178:
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Mar 15 15:37 UTC 2000 |
Upon my father's death,
there was a swift estate sale --
Too swift, I think, for though it was kind,
It was still a kind tort.
A pace around the flower-covered bier,
A fragrant constitution,
And my father's body in his happy jacket...
The emotion doubtful, frog* neatly clasped,
Within the unhappy jacket of wood.
Then, gone, too swiftly, like his estate,
Dust in the winds...
* Look it up!
tenuous ligament
overbearing genocide
red embarassment
plasticene scissors
ardent paperback
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orinoco
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response 5 of 178:
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Mar 15 18:54 UTC 2000 |
Uncorking a book, I watch the thin threads of history
spill out, doubtful streamers of experience and tenuous
ligaments of half-truth, verbal tendons
pulling at muscles and heartstrings, tugging the bones beneath the skin.
Pendants of red embarassment and nets
of overbearing genocide. Dark trails of warfare.
Hair. Shoes stained deep with darkness.
Plasticene scissors prevail not against the tangled overflow.
Draining the last drops of the ardent paperback, I set the book aside
and go in search of lighter fare.
+-----------------+
| Last emptiness |
| Thin city |
| Buried foghorn |
| Cyanide mittens |
| Fair toothbrush |
+-----------------+
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faile
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response 6 of 178:
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Mar 16 05:52 UTC 2000 |
This is my last emptiness--
I cannot continue this way,
the song has no meaning,
my voice has worn thin;
city lights are no longer a comfort.
Muffled sounds come,
a buried foghorn in my mind.
Words come:
Cyanide...
Mittens...
Then no sound.
I contemplate my fair toothbrush...
... its pale bristles perfect, manufactured,
Beautiful.
(I suppose if I was giving this a title, it would be something about madness)
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faile
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response 7 of 178:
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Mar 16 05:55 UTC 2000 |
Next set (I wanted to refresh on the rules before I came up with words)
red speaker
intense cat
broken book
lost salutation
shuffling sofa
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remmers
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response 8 of 178:
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Mar 16 15:21 UTC 2000 |
I think ponder said that each phrase on the list must appear
in the poem exactly as given. Is it a violation of this to
put punctuation between the words? (As in "thin ; city")
Just wondering about the intent...
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brighn
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response 9 of 178:
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Mar 16 15:56 UTC 2000 |
Given that punctuation isn't necessary in free verse, all that making a
"punctuation" rule would accomplish is generating poems with no punctuation.
A strict interpretation of the intent of the rules would say that, in each
pair of prompt words, the first word msut be used in the context of the poem
as an adjective modifying teh second word, which must be used as a noun.
However, I think that a broader rule, stating merely that the two prompt words
must be an adjective and a noun, out of context, and that they must appear
successively in the poem, allows for greater creativity and reflects the
spirit of the exercise.
OF course, I may only be saying this because I both put punctuation in between
two words (doubtful ; frog) and used one of the nouns as an adjective (swift
estate sale). =}
All the same, I felt like the use of Cyanide... mittens... did make much
sense, that is, didn't exploit the meanings of the words, but rather just used
them as "words".
er didn't make much sense
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arianna
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response 10 of 178:
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Mar 16 16:56 UTC 2000 |
note that brighn used punctuation to separate "doubtful frog" in this line:
"The emotion doubtful, frog neatly clasped..."
Personally, I though the separation of "cyanide" and "mittens" in Jessi's poem
was appropriate and didn't defeat the purpose of the exercise.
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lumen
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response 11 of 178:
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Mar 16 22:24 UTC 2000 |
I'm not sure what Julie has in mind, but I was assuming that the word
was meant to be kept intact with its modifying adjective. I see
nothing wrong with separation of the phrase with punctuation-- it does
allow for greater creativity, but then part of the meaning of the
original phrase is lost.
Whichever way is fine, I'm sure. Perhaps she will give brownie points
if each phrase is kept intact in their original meaning.
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remmers
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response 12 of 178:
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Mar 17 18:34 UTC 2000 |
Well, I'll endeavor to preserve grammar in any contributions
of my own; i.e., have the adjective modify the noun.
Let's see, is there a list pending?
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arianna
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response 13 of 178:
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Mar 18 00:39 UTC 2000 |
>
> red speaker
> intense cat
> broken book
> lost salutation
> shuffling sofa
>
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arianna
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response 14 of 178:
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Mar 22 22:37 UTC 2000 |
(I"m anxious to hear the next poem... <taps her foot impatiently>)
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orinoco
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response 15 of 178:
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Mar 27 01:20 UTC 2000 |
intense cat treads magenta,
drops red pawprints across windowsills
and under fences threads crimson
in sinuous lines
winds veins and arteries
which creep and bleed and under moonlight spread
hisses a sanguine wind before the storm commences
snakelike seduces the red speakers into silence
and paw-drags a curdled note of his own through the speakers instead.
cars sail by in silence, leaden and dark-feathered;
inside, shuffling sofas and bookends peer
through darkened windows, blinking and incoherent
but intense cat flips a quick hip twitch,
half-twist before landing without a hitch, and slips
into the red night, slick and swift,
treading broken book spines and frostbite underfoot,
spitting out a lost salutation before the darkness hits.
+--------------+
| chicken lips |
| noodle tower |
| ear parcel |
| sly icicle |
| angry sky |
+--------------+
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arianna
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response 16 of 178:
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Mar 27 21:11 UTC 2000 |
(I know I've said this before, dan, but it's never seemed so appropriate as
it does right now: I wonder when I'll learn to keep my big mouth shut.)
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remmers
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response 17 of 178:
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Mar 28 16:38 UTC 2000 |
View hidden response.
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remmers
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response 18 of 178:
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Mar 28 16:44 UTC 2000 |
Well there's two kinds of people really,
There's your flatheads and there's your tall-brained folks,
I met someone once with the tallest brain what ever I seen,
A real noodle tower.
Then too, there's some as has brave lips
And others what has chicken lips.
One thing, though, them brave lips fellers
Can really go on and on sometimes,
Yeah they really deliver an ear parcel or two,
Often when you least expect it.
Sometimes they're clever and sometimes not,
Sometimes they're cold too,
And when they're clever and cold
They'll serve up one sly icicle after another,
Babbling endlessly on their soapboxes
Under an angry sky.
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remmers
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response 19 of 178:
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Mar 28 16:47 UTC 2000 |
Next phrases:
bombastic snail
hungry star
quaking conumdrum
flexible prune
sad locomotive
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lumen
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response 20 of 178:
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Mar 28 21:09 UTC 2000 |
resp:12 Thanks-- I asked Julie and she did request that phrases be
kept intact as to preserve their full meaning.
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ponder
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response 21 of 178:
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Mar 29 02:53 UTC 2000 |
resp:8 and resp:9
I'll allow it.
The original intent *was* to keep the words together, though. Still,
Whatever your imaginations suggest works so long as you stay well within
the framwork originally suggested in the rules.
Lots of good stuff here.
BTW resp:9 you have a point there, Paul. Let's try to use these words
so that they more or less modify each other. Still, I'm not picky.
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ponder
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response 22 of 178:
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Mar 29 03:12 UTC 2000 |
Creeping forth, the bombastic snail
Slid on one foot into the cold night.
Frost lined everything with feathers
Even the darkening sky
And it's one hungry star.
The proud slug flexed his tiny brain
On this quaking conumdrum,
Even though his brain had less texture
Than a worn-out, flexible prune.
Finding no answer he trudged back inside
Wending his slow way like a sad locomotive.
*Next list:*
icy flames
simple frustration
blue wishes
worn words
winged kisses
***This one probably isn't as good as the others.***
***BTW feel free to comment briefly on the poems before your own.***
***The whole idea is to know how well we're doing.***
***I like all I've seen so far.***
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arianna
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response 23 of 178:
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Mar 29 17:20 UTC 2000 |
Actually, I liked that one, it was cool.
You used the word "brain" in one line and then used it again in the next,
however, and I tend to dislike that kind of repatition.
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ponder
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response 24 of 178:
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Mar 29 23:53 UTC 2000 |
Me too. I suppose I could've said cerebrum or mind instead.
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