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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.
178 responses total.
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
Good one. And challenging list. Any takers?
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
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
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 |
+-----------------+
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)
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
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...
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
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.
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.
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?
> > red speaker > intense cat > broken book > lost salutation > shuffling sofa >
(I"m anxious to hear the next poem... <taps her foot impatiently>)
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 |
+--------------+
(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.)
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.
Next phrases:
bombastic snail
hungry star
quaking conumdrum
flexible prune
sad locomotive
resp:12 Thanks-- I asked Julie and she did request that phrases be kept intact as to preserve their full meaning.
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.
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.***
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.
Me too. I suppose I could've said cerebrum or mind instead.
(As usual, orinoco's offering amazed me. :)
I agree with Erinn, Julie; that was cool. I think your game has done much for you: someone makes a list of odd imagery, and you are going to excellent creative lengths to make them part of a cohesive work.
I have worn words, calmly. But the ones you illustrate upon me spread like icy flames, then flood my ears. Welling up from within, I fumble with floating blue wishes that are ebullient suddenly, jettisoned by the force of your simple frustration. Clothed in biting consonants, each utterance can be beared only by the winged kisses of your pauses for breath. Please, let's not fight anymore.
Ooh, I like.... (New phrases?)
working on it.
black bread noontime sunshine long task cold ground vivid violet
(Those are so sensible I can hardly deal with them.)
uh... I'm not sure if he's being sarcastic or serious -- someone please translate for me so I can eithe rlaugh at him or tell him to sod off? [:
They are pretty straightforward pairs of words. I've probably used all of them before and not even realized it. I got half a poem....the other half is coming up in a day or two, unless someone beats me to it.
I didn't set out to pick obnoxiously difficult phrases like "heartfelt rudabaga." In fact, I just picked random phrases out of a book. If you don't like my approach to picking the new pairs, just remember: I don't care. <sunshiny smile> Since my phrases are so *easy* Dan, I expect nothing less than perfection from you. d=
(Ooh, I rather like "heartfelt rutabaga")
(Right, it's deliciously non-sensible.)
bah, humbug.
Actually, if I may quote from the rules: "The adjective must imaginatively describe the noun in a completely new way." So, technically, your method of picking phrases violates the rules, since you're picking phrases that are already in print. *sweet smile*
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