Well! What was originally going to be my own little poetry challenge has turned into a major competition! Please read every word in this opening post very carefully as everything I say must be adhered to. I don't know if you know this, but I am very strict with my rules and regulations...
The general point of this competition
A few of us users have come up with a list of 50 themes which can be found below. The aim of this competition is to write a poem or a piece of short prose for each theme, just for fun! There are no deadlines (as of yet) for the submissions because I don't want the pieces to be hurriedly written, so don't let that put you off participating. Everyone is welcome to participate. There's no pressure to submit all 50 pieces, take your time, have fun!
Please remember to follow the basic rules of the AMW. All work must be your own. No flaming, trolling, spamming, etc. Only provide critique on a user's piece if they have asked for it specifically. Keep general discussion on this thread to a minimum so as to remain at least a little bit on topic.
Submissions
A list of rules that (hopefully) cover everything you need to know about submissions. Read carefully. If you have any questions, contact me on my profile.
*You do not need to submit the pieces in order. You may start with whichever theme you like.
* Once you have written and revised a piece, submit it!
*You may submit more than one piece at a time, although submitting too many at once will seem as though you've rushed them.
*I will keep track of how many submissions each participant has entered on my profile, so take a look once in a while.
*Only short prose pieces are accepted. Nothing too longwinded please. I am going to include a word limit of 1,500 words.
*There is a certain structure to submitting a piece in order to keep the thread nice and tidy: - Your piece must have the theme name and number as the title in bold. You may also include your own title in brackets next to it. - You must state which form you have written your piece in, for example, haiku, short prose, sonnet, standard verse, etc.
Here is an example post;
51. Insanity (Two Minds) - Haiku
Come here; don't be scared I am confined in both minds Stay away from me
List Of Themes 1. Innocence 2. Entombment 3. A Forgotten Name 4. Rising Tide 5. A Broken Picture 6. Leaves Falling In Autumn 7. Birth 8. Falling Into The Abyss 9. Near-death Experience 10. Beautiful Sunset 11. New School 12. Describing Colour To A Blind Person 13. Home Alone 14. Nightmare 15. Dreams 16. Inner strength 17. Self-Hatred 18. Martyrdom 19. Political Corruption 20. Self-Completion 21. Genius 22. Thanksgiving 23. Halloween 24. Christmas 25. Guilt 26. Daydreams 27. Orange Leaves In Autumn 28. A Shy Person In The Middle Of A Crowd 29. Unrequited love 30. Kraken 31. Memories 32. Revolution 33. The Shining Auroras 34. Poverty 35. A Hero Among Evil 36. An Entity Who Shows Itself 37. The 5th Dimension 38. Berserk Wildlife 39. A Light In The Black 40. Trial And Error 41. A Creation 42. Two-Faced 43. Disillusionment 44. Regular/Ordinary 45. The Mind Of A Villain 46. Someone Who Lives To Watch The World Burn. 47. Old Age 48. Something For The Girls 49. Something For The Boys 50. Go Crazy
And now for the fun part...
I am going to include a few features similar to Strop's 'erks and penalties' idea in the WoM. Some of them are preeeetty difficult, so good luck with that. Once you've completed one, I'll stick your name on my profile.
Here they are:
1) Theme-a-Rama!: Mention 15 separate themes in one piece.
2) Sonnet 130: Write a mock sonnet which relates to love and one other theme.
3) Total Overkill: Use the theme title 6 times in one piece.
4) Like a Freight Train: Be the first to complete the first 10 themes.
5) In The Dank And Dark Recesses Of The Mind...: Be the first to complete themes 8, 14, 17 and 46.
1.) Innocence Trying to prove your innocence Pleading with the smirking judge One that holds a grudge against you So she'll be biased, nothing you can do.
Verbally defending yourself Tear trickling down your face You weren't the one who pulled the trigger To bring up this case, but the judge s******s.
The judge bangs her gavel with a loud thud That echoes throughout the room You demand for your innocence But the judges verdict, fills you with gloom.
You're stuck in a small jail cell Not much space for you to move When you get out; time will tell Hopefully, your innocence is proved.
5. A broken picture A broken picture smashed on the floor Shattering the memories which we've known Glass spread out across the empty room The love of life in our faces; can't be shown.
All the memories already beginning to fade We look at what once was a great moment A moment, which will never be remade We pick up the pieces of glass.
The glass pierces our hands deeply Blood spills out over the picture The memory now gone into crimson red That one memory is now as good as dead.
When I was kicked out of my old school I was the best, I mean the first rule But then I looked like a big fool At my new, for now very stupid school.
Every one was laughing and pointing at me Then I looked down and had something to see I spilled my fizzy drink all over me Then I was late about 10 minutes you see.
Everything was dull and the teacher punished me And made me sit next to a cute girl, Penelope Then suddenly everything was completely fine When she smiled and her teeth started to shine.
I am sitting in my coach and reading a book When I hear a strange noise coming from outside If my parents were here I wouldn't be so afraid to look I looked and saw my bike telling me to go for a ride
The tree turned into a troll which wanted to shook They pointed at me and said "dude just look" I saw the window getting smaller and then it popped I closed my eyes and then it all just stopped
I was home alone, no one with me, alone in the dark I felt that the room was hungry like a big scary shark All the feelings went away when my mom was at the door I said "I don't want to be home alone any more"
Gray skies fade to amber in such a way to enrapture the heart In warm embrace of the heart of the star that provides life to all. Mere moments melting, ever so slightly shifting speed, The mask of a villain, a burden worth bearing to create glory.
A cold brisk air, a world in silence a cry lost to emptiness, the artist is working his wonders.
He has created his masterpiece,the universe will see it and know that mankind made it.
Life is a small sacrifice for something truly beautiful.
I moved to the Bible belt and had to laugh. I laughed when I drove through the cotton fields searching for a radio station that didn't sing Christ's praises over the airwaves. As if AM and FM frequencies are better techniques for spreading the gospel than just letting that God tell us himself. It turns out that self-advertisement works better when the "self" part exists. I laughed when I drove down a street with more churches than houses- a speckled string of multi-denominational worship. Forty-six churches claiming divine foundation, ignoring the obvious segregation: Forty-six ways to read the same **** book to reach the same **** destination. I laughed when I saw books of Christian propaganda on the shelves of public classrooms. I laughed while I walked through a parking lot, seeing decals of a dead man with thorns on his brow and outlines of silver fish tacked on the backs of luxury sedans and rust bucket trucks alike. I laughed a little softer they woke me up on Saturday to play their word games in their church clothes, hoping I'd smile and nod at their pretentious little pamphlets, then watched their shiny shoes run away when I started talking back that day. I laughed softer still when a child who used to greet me with a wave and smile, turned a cold shoulder when she learned I didn't believe in the fairy tales she was raised to worship. I laughed very little when the biology teacher told a student that snakes didn't have legs because God was punishing them for the devil's stunt in the garden. As if the serpents committed the crime, or as if God wouldn't know that an ounce of prevention's worth an eternity of punishment that can't be cured- only treated by a steady regimen of religious guilt cleansing. "Just another dollar in the coffer, please." I laughed at first when a woman at a party told me humans can't come from monkeys because we still have monkeys today. I laughed heartily, impressed by her stern composure to not laugh back despite the essence of her own hilarity. My laughter faded when I understood that she wasn't joking. I laughed because this little town with an entire church for every 100 people was a humorous parody- the perfect substance of a colossal joke. It wasn't until I finally accepted that I was the only one who knew the punch line that I cried.
15: Dreams; Free Verse Eyelids flutter anxiously Awaiting sleep to come The only reason closing them Awaiting escape and hope.
Everywhere, children nestle inside their beds Or in a sleeping bag Some hope for most trivial things Others, simple nessecities.
It does not matter who dreams what They're secrets, motavation, light They're something to push us through every day Something to get us through the night.
Every night, knowing or not We close our eyes and pray For our dreams, each original To someday be obtained
25: Guilt; Traditional Ryhming (not sure what it's called)
I lied, I'm sorry I really did I crossed my fingers I closed the lid To all that was once had between Us two friends in harmony Please don't be angry; my stomach hurts With guilt from my now enemy I'll try again A fresh start I made a mistake I know your heart Was hurt when I lied And mine did too Guilt eating me From the inside through.
