FRAGMENTS OF POETRY'S POEMS AND SCORES #2

* IF YOUR NAME ISN'T ON THE LIST BELOW, PLEASE DO NOT POST HERE. THE ONLY POSTS ALLOWED ARE POEMS FROM FOP'S TEAM LIST. THIS LIST CANNOT BE CHANGED. ANY COMMENTS AND DISCUSSION SHOULD BE TAKEN TO THE "MARATHON" THREAD.

* CONTEST STARTS 00:00 3 OCT PNQ TIME

* MODERATORS: If this thread goes beyond 100, please don't lock it, but I will try to make new ones on time if need be. Also, please delete any posts here that aren't poems (unless they're from me!).

FOP'S TEAM LIST AND SCORES: 2384 (includes 1280 bonus points from HH)
The Queen: 8+8+8+8+9+7+8+8+8+8+8+9+7+8+
7+7+8+8+7+8+7+9+7+8+8+7
Mera Luna: 9+9+9+8+9+8+8+8+8+9+8+10+9+9+
8+9+9+8+8+10+9+8
Beautiful Chaos: 7+8+7+8+8+8+7+8+8+8+7+3+7+8+
7+8+8+7+7+7+8+8+8+7+8+7
Liquid Grace: 2+8+8 xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Melissa xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
slighte: 10+9+9+9+9+9+8+9+8+10+10+9+9+8+10
+9+9+9+8+7+7+8+8+9+8+7+6
Captain Lonesome xxxxxxxxxxxx
Colm: 9+9+8+8+3+8+9+8+8+8+8+9+9+8+8+9+9+9
+8+8+7
dollwithafrown xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Italian Stallion xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Kiko xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
kips: 8+6+7+9
Lady Aureus Argentum xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
The Poet Behind The Poem xxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Faithless xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
MyaEve: 7+7+7+7+9

THE THEMES FOR EACH ROUND
1. 21 syllables
2. Tanka
3. Water
4. Free verse
5. Include the word "microscope"
6. Wild card (pick any theme from this list)
7. Cats
8. aabab rhyme scheme
9. PnQ member
10. Alliterative verse
11. Five lines
12. Halloween
13. Toilet
Once all 13 rounds are completed by your team, go back to Round 1 again to start a new lap!

THE POINT SYSTEM
* Each submitted poem, if it complies with the theme of the round, will earn an easy 5 points straight away for your team, regardless of quality.
* Poems will also be roughly judged for quality- a maximum of 5 points can be earned for a high quality poem (giving a maximum total of 10).

HOW TO RACE
* The Great Marathon starts on 00:00 3 October, PnQ time.
* Anyone can start the race by submitting a poem for the first round in this thread.
* Another team member then completes the second round, and so on.
* A person who has submitted a poem MAY NOT submit another entry until SIX further rounds have been completed by other members of the team.
* All poems MUST be new and submitted here by the authors themselves.
* You may plot your team strategy within your club. CLUB LEADERS, it is up to you to do all you can to get your team's entries racing along. Bribe, threaten, shame, PM, blackmail...but get those rounds completed!
* With each entry, PLEASE LIST the Lap #, Round #, and the theme with your title.
* If all 13 rounds have been completed, the team can start from the Round 1 theme again to earn more points in further laps. These laps are unlimited.
* The team with the most points wins. Individual team members who gain the most points will also be recognised.
* It all ends on 00:00 9 October, PnQ time.

GOOD LUCK!!

Lap 8 Round 6 - Wild Card - 21 Syllables

Little flower, you
are growing into colour. But
come Winter, you can't live

again.

Lap 8 - Round 7 - Cats

There were once cats, mum said,
bigger than the biggest wolves,
that fossils showed had teeth the length
of knives. And once in school a substitute teacher
showed us pictures from the zoology museum
of a striped feline called a tiger. He said people
once hunted the tiger to extinction. He showed us old videos
of the animal, and I began to wish
that there had been more big cats like tigers
around to hunt more people.

Lap 8 - Round 8 - aabab rhyme scheme

There's a cafe around the corner of the street
where lovers and other dreamers meet
They crave cupcakes every day of the week
and chatter with strangers before their eyes greet
for it's a good conversation that they seek.

Lap 8 - round 9 - PnQ Member

Somewhere beyond the graveyard of PnQ
is a place we call the Royal Asylum,
'tis a castle where bunnies hop
into the Queen's mouth
for she's never satisfied
with frog-meat as midnight snack.

Frogs never turn into a king of class anyway
as they wrap their tongues around their bodies
the way a magician does with its coat.

So there's always a Lunatic around
to catch these green-legged creatures,
one hand grasping a giant needle
to pierce their eyes through -
another hand snatching a plushy hammer
to smack out their tongues

right into the kitchen
where a Chaotic Cook pulverizes them
and sprinkles the scarlet dirt
upon pig heads who drive her insane
because they never stop gossiping
about the chickens in the corner.

Lap 8~Round 10~Alliterative

Sadness slumped across her shoulders
Sullen, somber eyes sank to the ground
Salty streams of solitude streaked her cheeks
Sanity seemed anything but sane

Lap 8 Round 11 - five lines

I open my noodles,
crack them in half,
fill the pot,
and with my fork
stir through the bubbles.

Lap 8 - Round 12 - Halloween

Kiss under the cobweb

Face-paint replaced make up, and lips
were voluptuously dabbed with fake blood
instead of lipstick. Hair was only brushed
to allow a sinister wig to fit more smoothly,
and capes were donned flittingly.

But for the trailing cobwebs and occasional pumpkin
it looked like a normal niteclub.
You still had to pay for drinks, (and growling
at the barmen, unfortunately, didn't work.)

But in my converted bath gown, scars and hairpiece,
I found myself in the hands of a girl.
So perhaps I wasn't all that scary after all.

Lap 8 - Round 13 - Toilet

Today I woke up
to brush my teeth
and forgot to unload
the lady's buckets

I heard a cry
and a sniff
and clattering of
a porcelain mouth

so I turned and saw
a broken man

but he wouldn't forgive me
even when I offered
to dry his tears
with his beloved
toilet paper.

Lap 9 - round 1 - 21 syllables

Your heart is a timebomb -
I will swallow it
and silence your love
with an explosion

Lap 9~Round 2~Tanka

Swirling through starscapes
Two celestial bodies
Pursuing heaven
Lost in the flesh of the moon
Passion gravitates to them

Lap 9 Round 3 - Water

I have nothing more
to say about water.
The ocean is all
I can think about.
Rivers, mountains and
wishing wells
cross my mind as I
reach out
my hand
for my drinkbottle
and water once again
soothes my throat.

Lap 9 - Round 4 - Free Verse

Under an oak tree I sit
with you in summer,
I give you white lilies,

and whisper under an audience
of stars

and fall to sleep with you
in the balmy black air.

I climb the oak at daybreak.
Remembering all
the old footholds,

and sunrise is still
as sharp over the fields
as the dawn chorus,

as sharp as an echo.

I look down at you sleeping,
you are so far away.
I stay to watch the sun
sweep the sky

and with the purple haze
of dusk, descend with it
to where you lay sleeping.

I have given you white lilies
that time will not wilt,
I will fall
into slumber with you
under an oak tree,
in the black, black air.

Lap 9 - Round 5 - Include the word "microscope"

Coca Cola Zero
is a bimbo's biggest hero
Your waist will shrink and brains will die
Put it under the microscope
and the glass will undermine

Lap 9 - round 6 - wild card

If my pen was alive
he'd turn into a squid
and fasten itself on my face

strangling me for all the times
I've thrown him in the drawer
with all those other colourless
and useless companions,

or spewing ink into my mouth
to make sure I know how it feels
to have words glued to one's lips.

Lap 9~Round 7~Cats

Majestic lioness
Queen of the wild
Caregiver to all
Temperament styled

A royal air
Head held high
Strength in her stance
Fierce in reply

Nothing more loyal
Cats, so revered
Loved down through history
As much as they're feared

Lap 9 Round 8 - aabab

The easiest thing to rhyme is 'cat,'
It rhymes with things like 'mat' and 'sat.'
I'm in quite a big hurry, you see,
Because FOP are dropping rhymes that are phat -
The only one that's not is me.

Lap 9 - Round 9 - PnQ member

To whom it may concern

I find tributes to be a messy business.
They make people want to throw their eyes to heaven
and don't really do anybody any good, really,
and I know somebody who thinks the same way.

This is not a tribute, but I must mention how
she writes with a characteristic quality,
a sensible variety that sets her, I think apart.
(She would not agree with you)

I don't want this to turn into a tribute, but I feel
that her kindness sets her apart. Her words
are like rosebuds of friendship, and her messages
never fail to bring a smile.
This is not a tribute but she is fair, open,
kind, honest, friendly, talented, creative, wonderful,
amazing, fantastic, brilliant,'
I think I am forgetting something -
it will come to me later.

So we don't like tributes, and we don't write them.
We look at them and throw our eyes to heaven,
and I'm sure she would say the exact same thing.

Lap 9 - Round 10 - Alliterative Verse

Nibbling on her nails non-stop
is a pixie in a pinky punky garb
while cardamoned coffee is served
at some tongue-searing temperature

Lap 9 - round 11 - five lines

She twirls in rags of a gypsy,
batting her eyelashes with tyranny
as if she can morph butterfly blots of mascara
or perhaps inky rivulets of melodrama
... but that's only for the insane.

Lap 9~Round 12~Halloween

Jack 'o' lanterns
Witches brew
Black cats stalking
All you do

Cloaked in darkness
On the prowl
Demons hunt
And creatures growl

Some come knocking
Seeking sweets
Candy is dandy
Ghosts love treats

Lap 9 Round 13 - Toilet

While whoever invented
the modern toilet
is a pretty smart guy,
was white
really
the most appropriate colour
to choose?

Lap 10 - Round 1 - 21 syllables

Auburn oak leaves, nature's paratroopers
whisper their sacrifice
to the lonely breeze.

Lap 10 - Round 2 - Tanka

Rain gently falling
On my stained-glass windowpane
I hear you calling
But I'm gone and that's the truth
Ex-lovers cannot be friends

Lap 10 - round 3 - water

She's huge
like a wail
and wild
like the wind

Luna-zilla!

Launches fat-waves
and strangles Captain Ducky
with her seaweeds

But he
steers
his wings
and torpedoes
a thousand pecks

The sound
of cracking woods
fills the ocean storm

Knack knock knack

Knock

OUT!

Mom, I'm not done bathing yet.

Lap 10~Round 4~Free Verse

I deceived you
The truth
hidden in my eyes
Eyes
That I couldn't let you see
So we lived in darkness

Lap 10 Round 5 - Microscope

Some days I am
an astronomer.
Telescopes and stars
are all I care about.
The other days
I am concerned
with the cellular makeup
beneath the microscope.
I live on these
separate lives -
a life I yearn to visit
and the life that
I am.
I cannot decide which one
I love more.

Lap 10 - Round 6 - Wildcard (free-verse)

Twenty-One

I wake up every morning to an alarming sound,
the sound of no sound.
The city has stolen the voices of the wild,
and birthed the tepid desire
to stroll to the shop each morning for breakfast
(watching everything)
and come out with twenty
mercenaries of a bloody rebellion.

Smoke seems to eminate from every nook,
my tobacco breath fuses with the excretment of factories
and lurks in the air, heavier than mist.
The canal disappears below my feet, as the pidgeons
flap amongst bins and regurgitations.

Navigation of the streets has become easier.
I vary my route sometimes, up by the flats,
their windows littered optimistically
with phototropic blouses.
Or through the park, the schoolboys
armwrestling over the new set of swings.

I forget my umbrella but when it rains I don't mind.
I bow my head to watch for the dirty puddles,
counting the raindrops tickling down my neck
as streetlamps warm up to dusk's descent.

Beyond the twilight hour, the web-like lines
of terraces and alleys quieten. Curtained kitchens
are selfish with their dim light,
yet I cant help but allow my glances to linger,
nor my ears to strain to hear the murmurs
imprisoned behind centimetre-thin glass.

I arrive home to see the clock has again advanced
further than before. I put on the kettle
but journey to bed before wetting a cup.
My eyes try to adjust, as I lay and wonder
if they will ever sell cigarettes
in packets of twenty-one.

Lap 10 - Round 7 - Cats

it's christmas and
the neighbour's cat
has left paw prints
on the snow
they haven't grown bigger
since last year
so I supposed
that he's hungry
because he's snatched
all of our fishes already

Lap 10 - round 8 - aabab rhyme scheme

Believe me when I say that mice
cannot gamble, they merely hold the dice
to keep the enemies in distress
And when stinky cheese is ready for a slice
they're gone for a beneficial game of chess

Lap 10~Round 9~PnQ Member

Bobbers

Bull headed
Strong
Opinionated
Truthful
Misunderstood

The list could be endless
Friend encompasses all labels
No one has touched me deeper
No words have meant more

Lap 10 Round 10 - Alliterative

The thought, though!
Another alliterative attempt arises!
I fear of failure, feeling
seldom of this sorry, sour flavour
that comes with this disconcerting disappointment.

Lap 10 - Round 11 - Five lines

Apollo Eleven landed on the moon in July 1969,
and the first steps on Mars are a probability
waiting to happen. But a black hole is a place
that will only ever exist within the fictive mind.
There time bends beyond our reckoning.

Lap 10 -Round 12 - Halloween

The woman next door
is a true fright at night
she has cucumbers licking
the place where her eyes are supposed to be
and green spaghetti sauce
smeared all over
her pores and wrinkles
while it's not even
Halloween yet

Lap 10 - round 13 - toilet

My nephew's cat
tangoes with
a toilet brush.
Hairs raised
like a rug
as she swirls
into the deep,
porcelain pot,
and roars
when her
companion
is yellowed
and sweaty.

Lap 11~Round 1~21 Syllables

Roses bloomed
in her heart
Thorns left scars
She saved the petals
Remember spring in winter

Lap 11 Round 2 - Tanka

Sleep comes easily.
It is not as if I try,
But my eyes just shut,
without notice or warning,
into these unwelcome dreams.

Lap 11 - Round 3 - Water

Pacific Coast

Never light a candle, on sweet Darien
nor across the shallow reaches, to sea,
I have come this far my dear,
so tenderly let me be.
Pacific blue, how catachrestic dreams
have led me long for you,
where whispering are the waves to
transcend my solitude.

Lap 11 - Round 4 - Free verse

I have a massive headache today
and Luna keeps nagging
about this marathon
while hammering on my legs and fingers
with her plushy hammer

Lap 11 - round 5 - microscope

Microscopes
are over-rated
they're hidden
in a thousand
biology classes
and used
for frogs,
cow eyes
and your own spit.

Why not use binoculars?
At least you don't have to wink
to see a thousand dots
creeping about
as if they're playing
tetris.