by Deb Scott
It’s Thursday, and time to post links to this week’s poems (or leave us your poem in the comments).
Last week’s Read Write (Word) Prompt suggested you beg, borrow or steal a few (or a lot of) words. Did you? Or did your writing come from someplace entirely different. (That’s OK, too. You never have to write to the prompt. We are not like that around here.) Whatever you did, or didn’t do, share it. And come back tomorrow for the next great prompt.
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Deb Scott is a community director for Read Write Poem. She also co-manages the Read Write Poem Virtual Book Tour. In past lives she used to borrow her friends clothes all the time. She doesn’t do that anymore, but she does steal her husbands desserts on occasion. Deb blogs at Stoney Moss.













Maybe first? Game of Go
Mine’s called Notes to Self
Mine is here…
Whispers for RWP #109
Erica Scime replied:
January 14th, 2010 at 8:37 am
Oh I love this! The stanza about Venus is particularly beautiful!
I managed to use some of the words..
Opps! I forgot the link!
LOL!
chugging train
I squeezed in all of the words:
Stones
Ten o’Clock
Have a great day, all!
say the secret word (three times)
[...] poem inspired by Read Write Poem, Prompt #109. Possibly related posts: (automatically generated)The Violet Long Light: A Horror Story…Part [...]
RWP Poem 109 Wordle
Used all the words and the self imposed challenge is to make it as short as possible.
This is my shortest so far.
http://rallentanda.blogspot.com
rallentanda replied:
January 14th, 2010 at 7:46 am
To read mine you will need to click on
RWP 109 Wordle in the blog archive section
http://rallentanda.blogspot.com
You’ll find mine here:
http://beyondtheblog.wordpress.com/2010/01/12/zany
I had some fun with this one. I call it Elite
living in the woods
It’s called “Shouldered”
http://inthemindswell.blogspot.com/2010/01/shouldered.html
Erica Scime replied:
January 14th, 2010 at 8:26 am
I do love a poem with visual appeal. And this one certainly has that – along with aural appeal! “The slipping/ of the silk chemise.” It’s a sexy image.
The prompt words didn’t grab me this week so I am grateful to Rallentanda for sowing the seed for this poem, which allowed me to use one word from the group plus I stole a word from James’ piece of last week over at Coyote Mercury. Thanks!
http://melrosemusings.blogspot.com/2010/01/horse-ride-to-petra.html
rallentanda replied:
January 14th, 2010 at 8:27 pm
Beautiful poem.A young Lawrence of Arabia riding throught the desert.
Deb Scott replied:
January 15th, 2010 at 9:55 am
That’s the spirit, Derrick! I look forward to reading it.
I had to exchange a hero for a titan to make it work…
http://keepingsecrets-karen.blogspot.com/2010/01/winter-tarry.html
Three words in this, although one reduced from plural to singular. Click on my name for the link.
“Starting Over with Robert Frost” was generated by the recent “Starting Over” mini-challenge here on RWP –
http://theresebroderick.wordpress.com
’sundered’ this week — bust week but I’m goingh to try and catch up on the visiting!!
http://therer2doors.wordpress.com/2010/01/13/sundered/
angie werren replied:
January 14th, 2010 at 6:36 am
and I did mean “busy…”
This was a fun one. I used several, but not all, of the prompt words. Here’s what I ended up with:
Mind Games
For this one, I produced Savage World.
Mob of Anarchy
This is what I finally managed to come up with this week:
http://cynthiashort.blogspot.com
Cynthia Short replied:
January 14th, 2010 at 10:56 am
Wow, something VERY BAD has happened to my blog…my post has been deleted except for the intro! It was on there early this morning, but has now discppeared…
I will attempt to re-post when I return to my home computer!
Cynthia Short replied:
January 14th, 2010 at 1:51 pm
Okay, I re-posted and let’s hope this time it “took”!
http://cynthiashort.blogspot.com
Here is my contribution this week:
http://juliejordanscott.typepad.com/jjspoetry/2010/01/duh-duh-duh-duhget-your-poem-on-109.html
Here’s my offering for this week:
Sycamore
It’s also for the January RWP Mini-challenge. To avoid comment moderation, I’ll just direct interest folks to click in the link to the other poems for the challenge inside that post.
Here’s mine: Sometimes I Miss the Old Jealous Goddesses.
May take a while to visit you all.
Short but, hopefully, sweet:
http://metaphysicworld.wordpress.com/2010/01/11/leslie/
Monumental
Simple stones mark the path to the caverns
Of the elite
Who first entered this fertile vale
And shouldered the task of sundering
The rocks that prevented an easy entrance.
Hercules himself would have shuddered
At the thought of clearing years of debris.
They, however, were enthusiastic in their
Approach; yoking teams of oxen who
Pulled and dragged at the stubborn site
Where now fields of golden grain rise
Thigh high.
We do not question their decision
To remove themselves to the rocky
Caverns to the north. There they
May draw closer to those favored
Places where the morning sun breaks
Forth and purifies each day. Let
Them forever gaze down upon us
In peace,
This poem came out a tiny bit stuffier than usual, and I can’t tell if it’s the words or the fact that I’m currently reading Wuthering Heights. Does anyone else find that what they’re currently reading affects how they write?
The storm passed too quickly to drench me, I complain
Deb Scott replied:
January 14th, 2010 at 10:15 am
Oh, yeah. Without a doubt my current reading affects my writing.
This was a great word cloud! It enabled me to write
Six Weeks
http://velveteenrabbi.blogs.com/blog/2010/01/read-write-poem-109-six-weeks.html
Here’s my Wordle-inspired poem: Here Comes the New Boss
my first prompt!
shouldered
namaste!
Deb Scott replied:
January 15th, 2010 at 9:54 am
Welcome to RWP!
Yay for my first prompt! And double yay for me actually posting the poem in the right place today! **LOL** I’m always open to hearing your thoughts and gentle critiques.
This Question
Sundered sugar packets spill
Granules of precious white sweetness
Across the table
While
A drawing of Hercules battling Hydra
Hangs over her shoulder
Half-hidden by her honey-hair
This question is sticky
Like the spoons spackled
To cheap paper napkins
In this elite coffee shop
Where pierced, tattooed muses
Serve up
Venti -soy -non-fat- decaf-no froth-no whip- skinny- vanilla -lattes
She twists her simple ring around her finger
The stones shining crisply
As she looks in my eyes expectantly
Knowing
Full well that I will bear the brunt
Of any fertile decisions made today
Over Formica tables stained with brown rings
Above the din of coffee enthusiasts
I clear my throat from being silent too long
And I set my cup down slowly with purpose
Intention
Staring into her face
I reach under the table and gently
Place my trembling hand upon her thigh
David Moolten replied:
January 14th, 2010 at 3:26 pm
I like the play between narrator and companion, and between narrator and “the world” of the cafe, which is the world of itself, but also the rest of the world compressed, other lives, history, classical myth, memory, all tangential, bustling and noisy and tuned out by the narrator in a moment of truth.
Beth replied:
January 15th, 2010 at 2:19 pm
Thank you, David, for taking the time to read my poem and to comment!
This was an interesting challenge for me – when I first began writing, I didn’t feel much a relationship with the words…but soon I found myself transported to this very interesting cafe.
Therese Broderick replied:
January 15th, 2010 at 9:10 am
I love the subtle touch of the Hercules drawing over the shoulder: a significant hint (in the poetic way) of the great primal emotional dramas wrestling just below the surface of this civilized meeting. (Robert Frost had a lot to say about hints in poetry!)
Beth replied:
January 15th, 2010 at 2:21 pm
Thank you, Therese, for taking the time to read my poem and to comment!
I’m so glad that the Hercules drawing was neither too subtle or too overbearing – it was too delicious to resist!
Deb Scott replied:
January 15th, 2010 at 9:54 am
Glad you’re here!
I too like the big ideas hovering over the table (gives the scene such tension — and we never know the specific question — it could be anything!), but it’s the little details that drew me in, especially:
“Like the spoons spackled
To cheap paper napkins”
Beth replied:
January 15th, 2010 at 2:23 pm
Thank you, Deb! I’m very happy to be here! Thank you so much for taking the time to read my poem and to comment…it is appreciated!
It was amazing how this challenge forced me to form imagery from words…when usually the imagery forces me to form the words!:)
lizenslin replied:
January 15th, 2010 at 8:59 pm
I also like how you draw out the scene and build tension with all the details. What a clever and convincing way to bring in Hercules too.
rallentanda replied:
January 15th, 2010 at 9:13 pm
I liked the imagery and the myriad of details in your poem from the picture of Hercules(very creative touch) the stained formica to the sticky spoons, a clever metaphor for a sticky situation.I also liked the tension building up
to the last line.I enjoyed reading this.
poem: i eat eggs.
(hi, i’m new)
I didn’t participate in the prompt but I was able to write a poem yesterday & I finally joined this site even though I’ve had the link on my blog for quite some time.
Deb Scott replied:
January 15th, 2010 at 9:50 am
Hi Amber!
Glad you joined in, and that you posted a link to your poem.
Here is mine RWP#109 Using most of the words
WALKING THE RIO PECOS
http://waynepitchko.blogspot.com
Mine is an angry little poem this week; comments welcome.
“False Labors”
http://djvorreyer.wordpress.com
Busy with the “Starting Over” Mini-challlenge this last week and a couple other projects, so nothing to this prompt. However I would like to specifically share this last of those with you here. (And an invitation. If you’re starting to feel all comfy with how you write, try changing horses, even a little bit. Results might surprise you some!)
Lilac choir
Therese Broderick replied:
January 14th, 2010 at 1:49 pm
Yes, Neil, thanks for taking the time this week to read so many of my mini-challenge poems and reply to them. I appreciate the time you took. Glad you posted this poem here today.
CNR Gold Watch….
Precious metal case of gold
with sculpted designs to behold
T’was a rare and beautiful sight
displaying proper time, always right
Early in my youth, having never seen
such works of untold beauty, so keen
the smile on the old mans’ face
revealed the pride as he closed the face
letting it dangle from its’ gold chain
as I leaped high to grab and hold
Finally, bending down, letting me snatch
that gold beauty of a watch
T’was years later that I understood
the pride wrapped around that timepiece,so good
T’was not the value of that object
but the meaning that was the subject
Fifty years of constant struggle and fight
morning, noon and some late nights
providing for his family along the way
That’s how I remember Grandpa to this day
Deb Scott replied:
January 15th, 2010 at 9:48 am
A Grandpa would be pleased to read this poem.
Here’s mine, using the word “brunt,” and inspired by the earthquake and the response to it, Earthquake, Haiti
[...] Courtesy of Read Write Poem ‘Get Your Poem On #109′ [...]
Forty-Two….
http://radio-nowhere.org/nb/?p=353
Breaking the Myth
It’ll be the 3rd poem down: The Map
http://oleacae.blogspot.com/
I threw the words into a hat and picked four at random and used them to write a quartina. I don’t think I rearranged the words right because the third line was always the same. Anyway, here it is
How fun…never know what is going to pop us
http://www.wendysmuse.blogspot.com
I meant to say pop up!
Hi,
This is my poem for the wordie word: “I am an enthusiast”
http://flaubert-poetrywithme.blogspot.com
Here’s mine in response to… new year resolutions and Stevie Smith’s “Not Waving but Drowning.”
http://estherpoyer.wordpress.com/2010/01/05/not-smoking-but-writing-poem/
I used all of the words!
http://paperdreams-jgc.blogspot.com/2010/01/im-thief-blame-it-on-read-write-poem.html
(I used most of the words) Vocation: http://littlebirdsings.wordpress.com/2010/01/10/vocation/
my first time here
http://verbasaurus.wordpress.com/2010/01/10/a-new-promt-read-write-poem/
Deb Scott replied:
January 15th, 2010 at 9:44 am
Hi Kathryn. Welcome!
I’m late but here with:
Sundered
You’ll need a password (same as last time) to read it. If you’d like me to send it to you, please leave a comment on my website or email me at the address provided there.
This is my first time trying the weekly challenge and trying to blog. Neither worked well. I’d be glad to hear anything you have to say.
http://pasaery.wordpress.com/
Forgotten
The prompt, and my own New Year’s resolution to write a poem a week, did prompt me to write a poem, however it is not true to the prompt.
Along the Way
I want to walk
and the dog wants to stop
to sniff and piss
on every love note along the way.
I should be more patient.
I should let him be a dog,
but it’s cold and I want to get home
to the couch, my laptop and the TV.
For this is what I’ve come to
Red Sox, Celtics, 24, CNN, Netflix.
Repeat.
The dog is old.
When he dies I will regret
I wasn’t more patient.
I didn’t let him be a dog.
Regret will follow me around
Regret will leash itself to me.
Will I get another dog?
Will I get off the couch?
Where are my love notes?
I should be more patient.
I should sniff more
along the way.
barbara_y replied:
January 16th, 2010 at 2:13 pm
“I should sniff more along the way” seems an admirable resolution, and maybe even one I could keep.
It’s late, but I am going to drop in a poem anyway.
Genesis
http://makeda42.livejournal.com/52284.html
Study of a Princeton Battlefield – and I hope this is not too late…