GET OUT OF YOUR COMFORT ZONE CONTEST!

COMING SOON

P&Q stalwart..better known as Larry, will be hosting this next contest. I will be co-hosting it (this means I will be going on vacation half way through and dumping Larry in it but, hopefully I will return for the GRAND FINALE). As the title suggests, this contest will be a challenge to most of you. Formed poetry seems to be dying a death on this site so...we hope to bring it back. We hope this contest will be a challenge to all but, also a learning curve for those who have never tried forms before.

As soon as Britt's contest is complete Larry will post the rules and choices for round one. In the meantime...

Flex all your fingers
you'll need them to count
sharpen your claws
we know tensions will mount.

Structured poetry is what
this contest is about
we've seen your free verse
but with forms, there's a drought.

Can you handle a tanka
or perhaps a sonnet
but wait! there is more!
we're just not telling you yet.

There is talent walking
these P & Q floors
so keep your eyes peeled
for us opening our doors.

Sharpen your pencils
shapen your minds
the judges are waiting
a winner to find.

WATCH THIS SPACE....

WOW!

That was a brilliant way to advertise this up coming contest.

Sounds exciting and somewhat terrifying for those like me who hardly venture outside of free verse!

Look forward to reading the poems produced and seeing members pushing outside of their comfort zones.

"Look forward to reading the poems produced and seeing members pushing outside of their comfort zones."

And, we hope, trying your hand!

Remember not to commit publicly to being in or not; let's keep the whole thing tied up in secrecy.

Meanwhile, the suspense builds in Britt's Finale!

Nice build up here. Nice build up in Britt's Finale too. Nice build up, guys. Nice.

"Nice build up here.
Nice build up in Britt's Finale too.
Nice build up, guys.
Nice."

Here you have a formed poem in the Sesame Street style.

;-)

BUT WAIT!...THERE'S MORE!

The first four members to commit to this challenge...without knowing what the first round contains....will gain 2 bonus points....THAT'S TWO BONUS POINTS! when you submit your poem!

pm ME not LARRY who is probably deep in slumber right now.

I will be doing random incentives to keep it fair for those members in different time zones....it's up to you guys to keep WATCHING THIS SPACE!!!!

Three members have already bitten the bullet..cast there apprehensions to the wind and grabbed their bonus points! That means, for this incentive segment, there are 2 BP left up for grabs....who has the nerve to claim them...a person of iron steal or....that little mouse in the corner whom we have yet to discover is really a giant!!!!

All 8 BP's have now been grabbed...

BUT THERE'S MORE!..ring in the next half hour and we will include a free tile steamer! use your credit card and we'll send you 2 at no extra cost! (I heard Larry has a shed load of these and wants rid of them lol!)

Or...if you'd rather have a second chance at some more bonus points....

WATCH THIS SPACE

Formed poetry?!!?!!?!

*falls in to the depths of despair..that didn't role in the deep along with Adele's ex boyfriend*

eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeek.

Always wanted to try something new so am really looking forward to this

Bah..Humbug...My credit card bill has just been mailed and I'm feeling the pinch now (Larry charged his tile steamers to my account) so....next three members to pm me commiting to the contest get bonus points when they submit their poem and....a mop and bucket to wash their tiles!

One person has claimed their mop and bucket already....make that two mops now!

WELL..all the mops and buckets are well and truly gone..so..next on the list...scrubbing brushes but PLEASE DO NOT pm me tonight...I will give the scrubbers the nod tomorrow...sometime...

I know the scrubbers may feel the lowest of the low
but they are normally the ones to find dimes on the floor!

WATCH THIS SPACE

Now! No more chintzy stuff,
if you PM Hellon [NOT ME]
with your opinion of late nite infomercials,
you get,

......

no bonus points,

......

not a free trip to the outback

.....

BUT GINSU POEMS!!

They slice,
they dice
they say everything twice
and best of all
they have no price!

Credit cards only, please.

OH LALA...I am phobic.."forms" mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm
NANA LIKES

Shriiieeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeek.

There's a reason it's called the Comfort Zone, you know.

But how can you pass up such awesome merchandise?!

4 Scrubbing brushes to give away today folks....first 4 people to pm me will receive this prestine gift...along with 2 bonus ponts!!!!

*Wow!...the scrubbers are proving very popular....two have been taken already!!!

Do you get refunds? Just in case.

Of course not Abby....why do you think Larry's changed his name LOL!

All the scrubbers have been claimed now...wow..how popular they have been haha!!!

OK! Time to get serious, turn off the infomercial & form some poems!

Send entries to me, Larry, by PM not later than 24 January 11:00 pm PnQ time.

RULE NUMBER ONE: Do not advertise you are in the contest!
Rule number two: Do not post your poems to your account until the contest is over.

Round One: Choose any one of these four forms and write a poem. There is no restriction as to subject or style; that is, it can be about anything & can be serious, humourous, philosophical or whatever. I have given two examples by PnQ members for each form. These are only examples of the form & are not meant to suggest any subject or style.

Acrostic See: [http://www.best-love-poems.com/poems.php?id=1178974]
And See: [http://www.poems-and-quotes.com/funny/poems.php?id=1184213]
The first letters starting each line spell out a word, also given as the title. Can be made more complicated, but no extra points for doing so.

Etheree: See: [http://www.poems-and-quotes.com/dark/poems.php?id=1184021]
And See: [http://www.best-love-poems.com/poems.php?id=1163790]
The Etheree, consists of ten lines of unmetered and unrhymed verse, the first line having one syllable, each succeeding line adding a syllable, with the total syllable count being fifty-five. It works best if each line ends at a natural stop so there is a staircase effect in the development.

Nonet: See: [http://www.poems-and-quotes.com/dark/poems.php?id=976559]
And See: [http://www.friendship-poems.com/poems.php?id=887094]
A Nonet has 9 lines, the first has 9 syllables and each following line has 1 less syllable until the last line has only 1 syllable. A rhyming scheme is optional.

Tanka [Waka]: See: [http://www.poems-and-quotes.com/sad/poems.php?id=1160509]
And See: [http://www.poems-and-quotes.com/nature/poems.php?id=1181114]
Tanka is a modern term assigned to the only surviving form of Japanese poetry in the waka genre. In modern English usage it comprises 5 unrhymed lines of 5-7-5-7-7 syllables. As with other Japanese forms syllables are used as a rough stand-in for the original concept of "on." Note that the Tanka is older than the Haiku and is more flexible in subject matter. It was used to convey thoughts and feelings about personal matters, lending itself to popularity as a collaborative form or love poem. The first three lines are the "kami-no-ku" or upper phrase, and the final two are the "shimo-no-ku" or lower phrase. [See en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Waka_(poetry)] Thus, the poem is often broken into two parts which develop the theme from separate perspectives.

REMEMBER: Send entries to me, Larry, by P.M. not later than 24 January 11:00 pm PnQ time.

WELL I DID TELL YOU THERE WAS MORE!

So here's the new offer...AN EXTENSION POLE!!! yes folks....we know you need one. Those who have committed already...Tile Steamers and Mops..how good would it be to have an extension pole so you can also clean your windows? Even two storey houses....this extension pole is huge. Scrubbers! what would it mean for you to get up off your hands and knees and fix our whizzy extension pole to your scrubber?..well now you can...it's so versitile it has to be seen to be believed...but YOU ALL BETTER BELIEVE IT!

For those who missed out on the first lot of bonus points and wonder...what would this extension pole do for me exactly...when I don't have the attachements...welll THERE IS ALWAYS MORE...you just have to stayed tuned! AND COMPETE....first 2 poems sent to Larry..that's LARRY not ME...will gain 1 bonus point and an extension pole....AM I GENEROUS OUR WHAT!...if you gain a pole with no attachments...there IS ALWAYS MORE prizes further down the track. Larry's shed is an Aladdin's Cave!!!

2 poles have been awarded 8-)

Hellon deserves to win this just for her enthusiasm
yes hellon, you should win your own contest.

xx0

WAIT... WASN'T LARRY'S NEW NAME THE MAN OF THE OXY CLEAN COMMERCIAL?

I just got the joke... LMFAO I am dying..

what ..I Can't xD such beauty :"(

5 poems in so far & it's only a few hours old

BUT WAIT...THERE"S MORE! wtf...LARRY..gag..ungag...free bonu..s points gag..your she....d ga..g...chloroform..your shed has so much more in there...giv it awa...Billy mays!

Hellon is now tied up...lassooed into slience!...

I Did manage to steal his hat BTW so....maybe..JUST MAYBE that will be a prize...WATCH THIS SPACE!

HEY!

That's my Akubra, I got it from Gowings & I sure can't make it back that easy to replace it. What do I have to give away this time to get it back?

Hat? Lasso? Larry? Do we have a young Harrison Ford on our hands?

Oh, but I guess he had a whip, didn't he.

I have a whip. I gave it to Rosaura when we got married, now I'm . . . .

Never mind.

EDIT: Sibs, Young? Thanks. But "it's not the years, it's the mileage."

[Untying lassoed Hellon, removing chloroform gag.]

Hellon, apparently I got lightening arresters for a different thread that I did not need. Now with people using those tools, it seems to me that someone could use lightening arresters. I have two. If you let me have my hat back, you can give them away.

Oh...I'm not sure Larry...Ummm let me think! I'm wearing your akubra right now and...feeling more and more Australian by the second and...it's Australian Day next week so...I might just hang on to it haha!!!

Mind you...Lighening arresters could come in handy!

I'm going to get it back smelling of perfume & beer.

OK, I can deal with that. It's smelled of worse.

Perfume and beer?

Awesome

usually the beer drowns out the smell of the perfume though lol

The entries are steady.

How many entries so far?

8 are in & 8 others have declared their intent

Ooh, sorry for your judges lol.

Every form has at least two entries now.
pick one of your own:
Etheree
Acrostic
Nonet
Tanka

^
uh. what?

Nevi is confused :p