The Other Contest

Ready ? Okay!

This contest ends NEXT Friday. Participants will be the judges themselves, you're all winners. Congrats. I will give more details when you submit your poem(s) ^_^

It's a drop-box closed challenge. You just have to pick a box code and you will be sent the 3 challenges via PM. Post your choice here and I will send you a PM ASAP.

You cannot change your choice once I have sent the 3 boxes details to you. Do not share the details sent via PM with anyone; they will be posted when the contest is over.

Do post the poems here though, that's alright.

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Drop 0

Drop AZ

Drop 12

Drop AZ

Thanks (I think)

Drop 0, please.

Cool idea

Drop 12 please...

Ooooh I vote drop az

Drop 12, please and thank you!

Boxes DROPPED!

Joyce

Your love for her began with a neighbourly glance
surely black magic at play
my world exists purely because you grew up together
only a door apart.

Your lives drifted through those nonsensical teenage dreams
yet like bees cannot escape honey
a force greater than us all
melded your destiny's.

In another universe
on another calendar
your paths didn't cross
an interaction that doesn't live.

Yet Granddad, you lived and died for her
now together again in the same earth
that rolled the dice
and brought you, to her.

That first 'tick' on a magical clock
the first eye contact, the proposal
moved by another's hand
that same fate that spawned us all.

As I sit and ponder you both, I marvel
you were born and lived Six feet apart
on a world of 58 million square miles
and now you share for eternity
6 feet of gods green earth.

You honestly nailed it! The common challenge perfectly used. Thank u for sharing!

I'm sorry I didn't notice this competition. Am I too late? If not can I have 0 please? Best wishes Milly x

795, an Ode to Mom and Dad

If I could turn back the calendar
to visit my childhood era
there would be many normal days
that would vie for my nostalgia.

Sunday dinners with the table laid
in good china and savory dishes
with married siblings gathered
and nephews and nieces scattered
like squirrels gathering acorns.

School mornings, mom in the kitchen
the stove on and we boys crowding
to dress by the heat of the oven door
while mom fried an entire slab of bacon
in her black iron fry pan - grease popping
like bbs making us jump when hit.

Long rides around the southern states
accompanying dad on his business trips
marveling at trinkets from his customers
living for the motel swimming pools
keeping him alert by rubbing his back
as his stories made miles fly by in a blink.

Punishments for our many misdeeds
applied equally by mom and dad
and the secret honey we savored:
for each guilty switching we endured
we’d gotten away with many more.

Somehow earning scout honors
molded into upright citizens
with beaming parents always present
knowing their support and comfort
came packaged with demands to strive
always pushing ourselves for their sake.

I grew up wanting to be wise enough
not to repeat the mistakes they made
only to find myself hoping against fate
that I have been able to give my children
even a tenth of the love and guidance
I received when I least recognized it.

Wow Larry.. What a poem. I'm touched! Awesome..

Of course Milly! Sent :)

Eighteen - An Ode to my Parents

Eighteen and a rebel stating my place
wrapped in the arms of my parents embrace
My parents are there for me come what may
I know their love for me will never stray

They taught me honour and how to live life
to have a career and be a good wife
seek out adventure be true to myself
that kind of lesson leaps out from the shelf

My father was strong and tall as a house
taught me what to expect from any spouse
Mother taught love and how to remain calm
in the face of conflict peace is the balm

Sometimes when things have seemed dark almost black
My parents have always been at my back
their love is as sweet as the best honey
wouldn't swap them for all of your money

In their calendar I've booked them a date
an extravaganza that starts at eight
A celebration to show them I care
a small symbol of the love we all share

Love you Mum and Dad always xxx

All these months, I love you so...

Oh calendar, oh calendar
why do you mock me so!
When I want the warmth
you dash my hopes
presenting me with wintery slopes...
-
I long for days of honey-
dew kissed, full of bright sunshine.
Instead I get
the black of night,
wrapped up in a blanket,
full of fright...
-
I have my favorite months,
but much to my chagrin,
when I want the sun and fun,
I'm stuck with booms and gloom...
-
I love the changing leaves,
not so much the falling snow.
It's so much easier to shake a rake
then to shovel your way out the door!
-
Springtime gifts us
with earthly delights.
Delicate hues
eye candy for all.
These mild such days
soon give way
to an ungodly heat
that melts your butt
right to the seats!
-
So all you calendar months,
with your gifts and tricks.
I will peek my head out
from under the covers.
If the weather puts me in doubt,
I will go back to bed,
until I recover...

August //

Summer always spelled out secrets;
I almost suffocated, convinced that I must
bear the heat, long sleeves in 101 degree weather.
Even when I relented, able to bathe in sunlight
without regret, I felt a profound sadness -
my innocence manifested as scars.

Summer finds a way to betray me
yet winter is not a friend either,
though I relish in the wonder of snow
and sleeping by a steadfast fire,
the cold months make it easier
to cover up and become invisible...
disappearing beneath wool sweaters
while my true self itches to be discovered.
I only drink tea and eat crumbs from
teaspoons, blackness settles in my gut.
Since the winter has no mercy, why should I?

But the time in between the extremes
provides a haven, an escape where I can
tell my soul to calm, to stop wrestling.

October winds conduct a symphony,
clearing my skull and rushing into
my lungs with a sweetness akin to
honey and nostalgia. Stars -
freckles on a moonlit face.
The atmosphere - giving me room
to breathe without duress.
I walk gravel roads unafraid of
my heart failing due to oppressive
hibernation. Soon, the calendar
will turn but I will remain here - fixed.
Stability calls my name.

Comments for : 795 an Ode to Mom and Dad by Larry Chamberlain.

This poem screams nostalgia in the best possible way and brings to us a plethora of images that really sum up what it is like to have been brought up in a wonderful and loving family.

Children racing around the kitchen, nephews and nieces playing together and different generations all sharing conversation at mealtimes. A wonderful
homely image that really warms the heart.

The reader can see at once the warmth and love with which Larry writes of his family and upbringing. Memories of his Mum cooking in the kitchen
the camaraderie of he and his brothers dressing in cold mornings by the heat of the oven door.

The admiration and fond memories he has of travelling with his Dad on business trips, listening to his dads stories and staying in hotels. All of which would have seemed like great adventures at the time. (Spending special alone time with a parent When you are born into a large family creates moments that are priceless and never forgotten).

Here we see Larry's parents take equal responsibility for punishments showing a united front and consistently providing a loving, nourishing, fun and challenging environment for their boys.

Larry states in the last stanza that he hoped that he was able to give his children even a tenth of the love and guidance he received when he least recognised it.

From the few lines here that I have read and what I have seen of Larry on this site I would say that with the parents and upbringing that you describe I believe you couldn't fail to have been an excellent father.

Thank you Larry for sharing with us a glimpse of your past and a lovely piece that truly is a superb tribute to your wonderful parents.

Mary Anne, this write I can see is deeply personal to you and I thank you for sharing. Your pain positively screams out in this. There is this inner tug of war you wage on yourself, over what you've done to yourself and how you want to be. The different seasons play into this as well. Dreading the warm months because it exposes what you've done, the winter months because of the shorter days bringing on sadness. I totally understand how fall is a balm for your soul, it is for me too. You can absorb the energy fall brings to get you through your dark months. This is beautifully written, you gave us your feelings openly and honestly. Well done-

Brenda,

Your piece was not only lighthearted and fun to read, but at times your voice came across as quite snarky or sarcastic, which made me smile. The rhymes gave the poem a lift and kept the flow going, and though not every line ended with a rhyme or a perfect rhyme, that didn't take away from the nostalgia and frustration we feel when we are caught in a season that never seems to end! I loved the childlike innocence of "calling out" these months as any kind of extreme makes us irritable and wonder why can't it be a different season.

I also read this as someone affected by the dismal time of winter and sometimes it can make hope seem unreachable Sometimes we can just take care of ourselves and, though it may sound stubborn, stay inside if we cannot weather through the unknown waiting for us outside. Loved hearing your voice in this and it was both playful and relatable.