Grex Poetry Conference

Item 177: A Game for poetry Conf.

Entered by ponder on Tue Mar 14 02:15:27 2000:

60 new of 178 responses total.


#119 of 178 by brighn on Wed Mar 14 15:09:40 2001:

The lounge vipers hiss and slither 
Eye their prey seductively
From the safety of their vorpal cushions

Their sallow skin decays
Of old youth which speaks of Dorian

Their gold chains reflect
The flashing tomb of midlife
If their fangs sink into nubile flesh
WIll they become nubile then?

Their time has past:
Even Eintstein's lozenge of relativity
Is moot against the bitter cough of redundancy
----

tomorrow's memories
blazing coffee
invisible pride
genuine speechlessness
semiotic petulance
..


#120 of 178 by ignatz on Wed Apr 18 05:42:28 2001:

i think i wlatzed through yesterday's future.
and as i stared and watched tomorrow's memories fade,
i often ask myself if there wasn't enough time misspent.

i used to hang out in the run down hangouts with they gang.
with the highway robbery prices and the blazing coffe,
and the endless supply of cigarettes in my pocket.

i was full of an invisible pride in which i thought i was holy.
but as time went on, i got cut up, beat up and passed on,
like some old newspaper you read two days ago and threw out.

i would wonder, and still do if life is too fast.
are we moving around in circled with nothing to do anymore.
no more original work. no more inventions to change humanity.

in my genuine speechlessness, i have a word to be spoken.
no one listens, and my semiotic petulance greatens, i am annoyed.
listen, do you hear that? it's life calling. don't waltz through it.

-----
overwhelming anxiety
attributed forbiddance
overpowering kinmanship
hateful guidance
stricken remorse







#121 of 178 by arianna on Thu Apr 19 09:41:16 2001:

<applause>


#122 of 178 by aquarum on Mon Apr 30 05:53:38 2001:

another juliette

She pauses in overwhelming anxiety.
She must escape the hateful guidance
Which attributed forbiddance 
Of her desire to the Almighty.
That overpowering kinsmanship
Will fall by her hand, when what 
She does here tonight is seen.
The phial, the dagger, the cliff,
The river, it does not matter which.
Now she acts, her only regret is
That she will not see their stricken remorse.

(I really wanted to write this as a sonnet, but I'm very bad at sonnets.)
(Oh, and I'm not complaining, Ignatz, but people have gotten trashed in here
before for making their phrases "too trite."  Just a warning that somebody
may fuss at you for using phrases that have ever been used anywhere before.)

new phrases:
universal putty
celestial balderdash
inherent queen
impertinant antique
zodiacal laughter


#123 of 178 by ignatz on Wed May 9 04:30:06 2001:

trite? what the fuck does trite mean? too common placed?
well, shit, i'm sorry. but seeming that i've been posting on a regular 
basis in which most people have not been , then yes, i need bo 
be "trite."
i write on a whim, i don't sit and think about what i write and make 
sure it comes out perfect and abstract with words people need to look 
up. i do it all off the top of my head. and i really don't care if it's 
trite. 
i like trite!!! it's almost as good as "treat" (the spam substitute)
i figured since i was new at picking out words to put together, i would 
make them kinda easy at first...
not shit i got to look up meanings first. 
i might as well apologize to the whole damn conference, "i'm sorry 
everyone, i'm trite, and i like it."




#124 of 178 by brighn on Wed May 9 13:48:27 2001:

To quote from #0 (the rules): "the adjective must imaginatively describe the
noun in a completely new way."

So, temper tantrums and jabs aside, the phrases in this item are not supposed
to be commonplace. What you post elsewhere, and whether you make commonplace
poems out of the phrases, is up to you.


#125 of 178 by aquarum on Thu May 10 22:20:52 2001:

dude, man, don't get mad at me.  *I* was trying to warn you that people might
get on your case.  Don't shoot the messenger.
why get so upset, anyway?


#126 of 178 by brighn on Thu May 10 23:39:29 2001:

Yeah, get mad at me. =} I'm the one Rebecca was warning you about.

Then again, I'm the one your mother always warned you about, too. >=}


#127 of 178 by arianna on Mon May 14 02:21:48 2001:

I outta get you a shirt with that slogan printed on it, brighn. (;

don't sweat it, ignatz.  I'm the fair-witness and *I* got chewed out for
chosing cliche combinations, too.  [:

read responses 22 - 42.  it'll make you feel better, and should give you a
little more perspective on the personalities that coexist in this
conference. 


#128 of 178 by arianna on Mon May 14 02:34:47 2001:

(er, try 22-47, rather.)


#129 of 178 by brighn on Mon May 14 03:29:02 2001:

hey, I liked 47. ;} One of my smarmier pieces.


#130 of 178 by arianna on Mon May 14 15:50:33 2001:

in fact.


#131 of 178 by flem on Wed Sep 12 21:40:24 2001:

The Spam-ku archive

The indisputable, inherent queen of ersatz food,
Its putty-like consistency transmogrified into 
the universal putty of the written word,
pours forth with glee celestial balderdash
through wonderfully impertinent antique poetic forms,
and cycles the zodiacal laughter, tears, 
and general silliness that flesh is heir to.


new list

indefatigable bullshit
ersatz inspiration   (I love the word ersatz)
eponymous deity
hallowed meretrix
agglutinative personality



#132 of 178 by morwen on Wed Feb 6 00:05:16 2002:

Avoiding the agglutinative personality of the crowd,
I sidle along a back street
Seeking the erzatz inspiration of some eponymous deity.
Half blinded by the tearing rain
I notice a whore, drenched in the sudden downpour
Like a sort of ragged Virgin Mary huddled in a doorway
Watching this hallowed meretrix, I feel the muse's prick
And hurry home to write, the words tummbling from my pen
When I read what has been written,
I wonder that such indefatitigable bullshit
Should ever have come from me.

***********************
Julie's back.  Been really busy with other things.
I want to reestablish the rules here, though as I said before they are 
only cast in clay, not stone.  There are to be 5 to 8 pairs of words.  
Poets are supposed to use ALL the offered combinations and the poems 
are only supposed to be 5 to 16 lines in length.  Like I've said before 
I'm not picky but... Please try to stay close to the rules.  Otherwise, 
what's the point?

************************
New Word List
1. capable incompetant
2. blank musings
3. indifferent similarities
4. royal nobodies
5. sad joy
6. aluminum frustration


#133 of 178 by morwen on Wed Feb 6 00:06:41 2002:

by the way, I actually had to look some of those last words up before I 
could use any of them.  It definitely made for interesting poetry.
~Julie Pratt


#134 of 178 by jaklumen on Wed Feb 6 07:57:10 2002:

sahib?

sahib!

Paradox is the world I teach you today, sahib.
It is a glorious kingdom
where royal nobodies sit upon thrones of aluminum frustration,
and their sages are court fools babbling blank musings.
Troubadours and common gleeman alike sing songs of sad joy,
and wealth and poverty line the streets,
paved with golden and wooden coins from the east
etched with a parable on their third sides
speaking of indifferent similarities here.


#135 of 178 by morwen on Wed Feb 6 18:09:35 2002:

Jon, you forgot to do a word list.  LOL


#136 of 178 by flem on Wed Feb 6 19:36:45 2002:

"Watching this hallowed meretrix, I feel the muse's prick"

haha, excellent.  Was the pun intentional? 


#137 of 178 by morwen on Thu Feb 7 03:07:31 2002:

Depends, I didn't know there was a pun.  Oh wait.  I think I see it.

No, it was completely unintentional.  Suppose I should've seen that 
coming and written "muse's touch" instead. lol



#138 of 178 by remmers on Thu Feb 7 11:16:26 2002:

Word list, please!


#139 of 178 by flem on Thu Feb 7 14:48:56 2002:

re 137, "muse's touch":  Absolutely not!  "muse's prick" is essential, 
especially in such close proximity to "meretrix".  :)


#140 of 178 by jaklumen on Fri Feb 8 04:52:41 2002:

yes.  It would be unwise to break a near rhyme that happens to have a 
witty interpretation by a certain colloquialism.

Oh, beg your pardon, John, sorry.. it is my turn.  Here we are, as 
follows:

rich beggar
fragrant stench
delicious dogma
skillful quack
thoughtful ignorance
coordinated chaos
joyous damnation
stereophonic soliloquy


#141 of 178 by brighn on Fri Feb 8 15:19:02 2002:

This response has been erased.



#142 of 178 by brighn on Fri Feb 8 15:21:06 2002:

 It was not coincidence:
 It was the delicious dogma of the skillful quack
 that one rich kid was bad enough, but twins?
 Too much.
 So one was squirreled away
 (In the coordinated chaos of the birthing room)
 To the fragrant stench of the London streets,
 The joyous damnation of living among the common people
 nd raised in the love born of thoughtful ignorance.

 And yet, as the boys grew, their misery at their fates
 Rose above the streets of London --
 From Buckingham Palace to the Back Alleys --
 From the impoverished prince and the rich beggar -- 
 A stereophonic soliloquy of "Woe is me!"

 (From the back story of "The Prince and the Pauper" ;} )
 
 [Scribbled and reposted, I forgot one.]


#143 of 178 by brighn on Fri Feb 8 15:29:04 2002:

devout heretic
spurious capnomancy
effluvial quinine
retrofitted pyrene
treacle-flavored disintegration
retired wife
gelatinous ceramic

There you go. Some everyday phrases for y'all to play with.


#144 of 178 by morwen on Fri Feb 8 19:15:47 2002:

oh my.  I might need to look those ones up too, just to know what they 
mean when they are used in verse.


#145 of 178 by morwen on Mon Feb 11 18:12:59 2002:

Is somebody going to post or are we waiting while everyone looks up 
brighn's wordlist.


#146 of 178 by brighn on Mon Feb 11 19:10:56 2002:

I killed it. ={


#147 of 178 by flem on Mon Feb 11 21:43:50 2002:

I may give it a try tonight, if I feel up to it.  


#148 of 178 by aquarum on Tue Feb 12 06:23:55 2002:

Not terribly good, but fun to write...


Sitting at the coffee house, watching his pipe make dragons
I practice my spurious capnomancy and spin stories about them
Stealing bits of wisdom from maidens who then buy them back
With gems.
The jacket talks about gin and tonic and again I smell the effluvial quinine
Of British officers in India, and think of the treacle-flavored disintegration
Of the Empire on which the sun never set.  Until it did.
Grasshoppers lead one to another and I babble about tales of handmaids
And retired wives.
I am a devout heretic when it comes to their conversational patterns.
They follow me nonetheless.
Later I may talk about the woman who was frightened by ghosts
That turned her kylix into gelatinous ceramic
Or try to hard to bridge a gap between cyberpunk and folk song
By talking about yours trulyUs retrofitted pyrene.
Why do they let me?


(Words to follow)
{I swear Brighn picks his words the same way Lofting's good doctor picked
places to go}


#149 of 178 by aquarum on Tue Feb 12 06:42:49 2002:

New Words!!
damasked footlights
firey horns
corked heron
mirroring rosethorn
indefinite bird
falling's sound

Anyone get my references in that poem to popular novels?  (just curious)
And, in reference to the poemin #132 (with "the muse's prick," are y'all aware
that, in addition to the Nine Muses, the Greeks had a tenth, male, muse? 
Museo, the Muse-Man.



#150 of 178 by brighn on Tue Feb 12 17:45:40 2002:

Who is Lofting's good doctor, and how did he pick places to go?
I'm impressed, by the way. Only the last one -- retrofitted pyrene -- sounded
really forced. The rest worked their way in fairly well, considering my
Sadistic choices.


#151 of 178 by morwen on Tue Feb 12 17:53:02 2002:

resp:149 Not that I'm aware of and I like to tell Greek myths for 
fun.  What's your source?  


#152 of 178 by aquarum on Wed Feb 13 05:09:59 2002:

To brighn:  Nope, I'm gonna be stubborn, and make you look it up.
To morwen:  I've forgotten the source now, it was in something about Hecate,
who was his mother.  The reference seemed to be very obscure, and he wasn't
very MUCH recognized.


#153 of 178 by aquarum on Wed Feb 13 05:13:04 2002:

Oops, meant to say that yeah, I know that was a bit forced, which is why I
put in the bit about trying too hard.  It's much funnier if you actually get
my reference, but of course I was being purposely obscure last night.


#154 of 178 by brighn on Wed Feb 13 07:13:30 2002:

Hmmmm... my resident Hellenic Reconstructionism contact is unaware of Hekate
having children. Musaeus was not a Muse, but was connected to Them and to the
Oracles (being the son of Selene and, perhaps, Orpheus). Apollo (also
connected to Oracles) had Musagates [leader of the Muses] as an eponym. He's
unaware of anyone called Museo (which is actually the Italian word for
"museum," not surprisingly).
 
But, Greek mythology spans a long time. It sounds spurious, but I can't
disprove it without sources.


#155 of 178 by aquarum on Wed Feb 13 17:24:54 2002:

>Hekate in particular gets very confusing when you try to pin her down to
>anything.  According to one of my books, a fragment of Akousilaos lists
Skylla
>(a monster, usually paired with CHarybdis) as having been Hekate's offspring
>by Phorkys (minor sea god, father of the Gorgons).  I can't figure out where
>I found that reference to Museo, and it may well have been incorrect.  I
>merely tossed it out as an item of interest.
>Hekate is not often listed as having children, perhaps because she was seen
>throughout the Classical period as a maiden goddess, very young.  The
>transformation into a crone doesn't appear to happen until the late Roman
>period, and then seems to have been mainly a literary thing, unconnected with
>her worship.


#156 of 178 by brighn on Wed Feb 13 19:08:10 2002:

And the Maid, Mother, Crone aspect of Hekate appears to be a Wiccan thing,
probably caused by a misunderstanding of three-faced Hekate statues (where
all the faces are the same age).


#157 of 178 by morwen on Thu Feb 14 01:24:51 2002:

This is a fun conversation, but leave us not forget the subject.

Here is the latest wordlist restated:

damasked footlights
firey horns
corked heron
mirroring rosethorn
indefinite bird
falling's sound



#158 of 178 by aquarum on Thu Feb 14 04:23:48 2002:

The entire concept of maiden-mother-crone goddesses is modern, although it
did not originate with Wiccans, we just picked it up.  I'll dig up the source
for that later.  NO triple goddess is maiden-mother-crone.  They're all the
same age.  Hekate was considered to be three-formed (Hecate Triformis is one
of her Latin epithets), but all three of her were maidens.
Errr, sorry.  I'll shut up and let the item get back to its regularly
scheduled mayhem now.


#159 of 178 by brighn on Thu Feb 14 05:11:58 2002:

(The maid-mother-crone dynamic came from the Christians, but I don't tell a
lot of Wiccans that, it tends to annoy them. ;} )



#160 of 178 by aquarum on Fri Feb 15 16:41:28 2002:

What's your source for that?  Because my sources said it came from
mythologists and anthropologists.  I forgot to get the book back from the
person to whom I loaned it, but I'll try to remember today.


#161 of 178 by brighn on Fri Feb 15 17:11:33 2002:

Most fin de seicle anthropologists and mythologists were raised in a Christian
society. My source? Simple observation. The relationship between the Lord and
the Lady is a mirror image of the relationship between Mary and the
tri-partite God (maid-son, mother-father, crone-spirit). Unless there's
independent evidence for the evolution of the maid-mother-crone, I see no
reason not to take the simplest explanation.

If we want to keep this thread up, might I suggest we move it to a new item,
and preferably to Synthesis?


#162 of 178 by arianna on Sat Feb 16 00:53:34 2002:

I second the motion.  in fact, I insist on it.


#163 of 178 by morwen on Wed Feb 27 22:34:39 2002:

Here's the latest word list again:

damasked footlights
firey horns
corked heron
mirroring rosethorn
indefinite bird
falling's sound


#164 of 178 by flem on Wed Feb 27 23:19:38 2002:

Hmm, an idea...


#165 of 178 by flem on Thu Feb 28 00:47:06 2002:

Okay, here goes.  


Hamlet's Corpse

I can't believe that Mr. Darden gave Ophelia to her,
Anorexic old Maria Sykes.  Listen to her, 
Gargling the famous lines in front of glass-eyed parents, 
Preening in the damasked footlights like some aging beauty
Past her mediocre prime.  A Straw-blonde ingenue,
Stuffed in a leading lady's role like kleenex in a 
Pre-pubescent freshman's bra, unconvincing and ridiculous. 
Her lover, lanky Hamlet, played by glue-tongued Harry Dent, 
awkward as a corked heron stumbling after her, 
answering her mangled cadences with bungled lines, 
strained pauses, barely hidden glances
Towards me, hidden here behind the monstrous setpiece,
Freakish plywood cutout hastily painted to resemble 
Some surrealist rendering of three indefinite birds 
The size of basketballs, rakishly perched askance
The rusted ledge of this implausible old urinal 
they found somewhere.  Mr. Darden said he got it 
As a favor from the scary metal shop teacher 
When he finally gave up going over lines with Harry and Maria.  
How they laughed, those jackasses, and how I burned with shame,
When he handed me the cue cards and showed me to my post.  
Some overzealous wit had thought to fill the rusty trough;
Hypnotic tiny splashes from each drop falling's sound, 
Counterpoint more tuneful than the fiery horns and squealing bows.
Puddles dance with the jouncing of the foot-slapped stage, 
Mirroring rosethorn elbows and baggy hose on rapier knees.
Mechanically I flip the cards, cannot bear to watch 
As Harry jabs his tinfoiled car antenna at whatever jerk 
They got to play Laertes.  Gratefully the last card falls,
And I unclench my aching knees, eager not to bear the stale applause, 
As one more high-school mutilation of the Bard draws to its close. 


#166 of 178 by jaklumen on Thu Feb 28 04:20:37 2002:

you didn't do a new list!


#167 of 178 by flem on Thu Feb 28 16:13:36 2002:

Sorry.  Let's see. 

evanescent conifer
silly hierophant
plaintive growl
lifelike patina 
turgid sleeves



#168 of 178 by morwen on Tue Mar 5 01:42:59 2002:

That was a little long, Flem.  Good tho.


#169 of 178 by flem on Tue Mar 5 15:46:20 2002:

Oops, I forgot the length restriction.  Not that I woudl have payed attention
to it, anyway; I'm only barely comfortable stretching poems far enough to fit
in a required word list. Restricting the length artificially I don't think
I would be cool with. 


#170 of 178 by morwen on Wed Mar 6 00:33:41 2002:

Like I said, I'm not a bear when it comes to the rules.  All I want is 
at least a brief nod before utterly breaking them, so that I know you 
are aware there is a rule there.  :)  Proceed.


#171 of 178 by arianna on Thu Jan 15 02:58:01 2004:

With a plantive growl of, "You do not like
my gorgeous new robes?" he spun full circle

as if to flourish turgid sleeves and billowing brocade
perhaps etched with a lifelike patina of embroidered deer and hounds.

Instead, stark naked, a silly hirophant of an unknown kingdom
stood before a dumbstruck crowd, suddenly wishing for darkness
and the evanecent conifer anonymity of a virgin wilderness.


---
Two lists, because I'd like to revive this game, take your pick:

culinary assart
edible collusion
culpable platitude
unsatisfied zealot
superlative interment

gregarious spider
courageous vegitation
tempestuous thread
obvious meridian
melodious oblivion


#172 of 178 by remmers on Thu Jan 15 14:05:58 2004:

Oh mighty Amazon Dot Com,
Thee who have given vent to my impatient wallet -

Oh omnipresent United Parcel Service,
Thee who drop each overflowing, pregnant sack
Upon my doorstep -

Cacophanous emotion fills me as I pore over
Each precious bound volume, DVD, software package!
Happiness stampedes me
Like noisy pink herds of joyous flamingoes!
Alone, I shout my ecstacy to the
Unhearing, careless wallpaper.

Was there a time, long past, without One-Click?
If so, I can recall it poorly, dimly,
As a distant galaxy viewed
Through a warped telescope.



#173 of 178 by remmers on Thu Jan 15 14:08:47 2004:

(I know, I know - I used the original list in #0, not arianna's
lists.  A sudden wash of inspiration flowed over me, and I had
no choice.)


#174 of 178 by arianna on Thu Jan 15 16:31:52 2004:

*laugh*  *applause*

ok...well... any takers on my lists? (:


#175 of 178 by jaklumen on Fri Jan 16 08:02:16 2004:

I'll try one on.

"Come," said the gregarious spider to the fly,
"Come into my humble abode and dine with me."
"Ah, you are most kind, spider sir," said the fly,
"But I would not brave this web of temptestous thread.
I would soon seek solace in the courageous vegetation
That thrives despite the arid conditions.
Your web, though of obvious meridian to you,
Is far too filled with danger for me."
So on buzzed the fly, so sure he was safe,
Did not realize in his melodious oblivion,
That the sweet-smelling plants were of carnivorous type
And soon he languished in the jaws of one.


#176 of 178 by arianna on Fri Jan 16 16:56:51 2004:

heehee!

ok.. new list?


#177 of 178 by jaklumen on Sat Jan 17 07:00:37 2004:

what about the other one you put up?


#178 of 178 by arianna on Tue Mar 9 02:31:31 2004:

hey, if you wanna propose a new one, that's fine, too.


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