FOP #1

4.4 Must include the words of a club name on this site.

At the club, sequins glitter
across pushed-up breasts,
hips rest against hands
and for a moment, strangers
touch closer than family.

Then we wake up, barefooted
in a hotel room, no money,
no happiness, only the ache
between legs, and a mouth
deserted by reason.

4.5 Formed poem (excluding haiku/senryu)

cinquain

sobriety
caged in a bottle,
sits and stares.
skin scaling from scratching -
dryness

4.6 Alcohol or Drugs

When I came home last night,
I sat in the corner of my bed
and pulled at my hair,
head buried in knees.

Monologue echoed on and on,
like a synthesizer, you
shuffled through my mind,
jabbing at my vision.

I know I needed alcohol
for a dialogue, cheek
plastered against the wall,
sleeping to the neighbour's screams.

4.7 10-13 lines

It's been a while since I took things
slowly, pausing the cd after every song
to scribble down lyrics across my arms,
and staring outside of the window
whilst blindly typing excuses.

Sometimes a pigeon flies by
and I feel like tying a fortune cookie
to its leg, a semi-spiritual message
wavering like a sign to be patient
for the wings to descend on your porch

except, I wouldn't know where you was,
as you fell behind on my quest
to find a future without you.

4.8 Must include a metaphor or simile

Like acne, you followed me around
during my teenage years. Made my hair
fall out, or cover my face.
Clothes dipped in black, allowing me
to fit with the shadows.

5.1 Must mention ONE animal AND ONE NUMBER.

With half-slanted eyes, I count sheep,
one - thinking of you
... one - still thinking of you
...... one - the phone vibrates
and I don't dare to look,
as if you would bloody my sheep
with the innocence of your words,
one - even the blanket
smells like a funeral shroud
... one - still making room
for the scent of loss
..... one - one too many times
have you taken the sheep
before counting them.

5.2 Wild Card

I grew up watching photos of myself,
one for each year, the ever-same stare
into my soul, as if trying to communicate
with myself. My hair's been the same,
long and straight, cutting off
half of my face, but I'm still staring
intently, as if the pictures notice
what's hiding behind my irises -
dusty stories, clogging vision.

5.3 category : Life

She walks around the corner
wearing a stereotypical trench coat
and dip-dyed hair.

A girl with blonde curls
walks up to her, giggles
and says she's going to
tell her friends.

Her mother grabs her
by the arm, scolding her
for talking with strange strangers.

5.4 Must include the words of a club name on this site.

Fragments of poetry
are scattered around my bedroom.

When he walks in, he doesn't notice
that his feet are bleeding

by shards that were meant
to scar my heart.

5.5 Formed poem (excluding haiku/senryu)

dancing like tetris blocks,
old rows must make place for emptiness,
tidying all the dots of the universe

5.6 Alcohol or Drugs

You was the one who taught me to drink,
when my sketchbook wouldn't suffice
as a visual diary, when I'd grown tired
of writing letters to no one
and burying them with the vegetables
and meat and rice I didn't eat.

Now I'm drunk and you waver
like the handkerchief you never gave me,
like a apology you don't believe in.

5.7 10-13 lines

When I'm hurt I throw a tantrum,
whine about not wanting to fold the clothes
and lock myself up in the bathroom, lights
switched off, hugging my knees in a corner,
waiting for someone to bang the door and be
frustrated and angry and ... worried.

When I'm hurt I act like my inner lunatic,
run around the house giggling at watermelons
just to hide that prickly feeling
within the crinkles of my smile,
and ask for a hug or piggy ride,
just because I still can.

5.8 Must include a metaphor or simile

Like a headache, you appear
out of nowhere. Don't blame the alcohol
or the lack of sleep, blame your loneliness
for ever seeking me.

6.1 Must mention ONE animal AND ONE NUMBER.

A spider crawls against my three-
legged desklamp, and burnt itself
at the top, like Icarus, it fell.

6.2 Wild Card

We've got nothing in common but our sadness.
In ten years we'll still talk about going to the cinema
on our own, never about how awesome
transformers was, or how I liked the theme song.
I will act ignorant, humming to myself
as I wait for the microwave to make a sound in the house,
whilst you're glued to your computer screen,
shedding blood over the game you chose over me.

6.3 category : Life

A freudian slip, perhaps.
The truth, more likely.

We hide within fancy terms,
trying to stroke our conscience

like a tamed dog, never biting
at the core of our heart anymore.

6.4 Must include the words of a club name on this site.

Free spirits roam around the internet,
running from homework or chores.

I remember the way we met, waist-deep
in poetry, but you've grabbed the branch
that's been hanging above you,
pulling yourself out of this fantasy.

6.5 Formed poem (excluding haiku/senryu)

tanka

the neighbour's garden
is drenched in barbecue smoke,
frightening the cat -
it tiptoes past my ankle
and chases a butterfly

6.6 Alcohol or Drugs

You bore the fruits for a lifetime
of shared smoothies and preparing salad
in the backyard, but threw it away
for cocktails, loosening your tie
at bars, then blamed yourself
for being rotten - but by then
it was already too late.

6.7 10-13 lines

I sometimes wonder if you'll laugh at me
for wearing Mickey Mouse pyjamas,
or roaring like a baby dinosaur
when I need to get out of my bed.

Sometimes I wonder if you'll just
read the newspaper as if nothing happened,
a glass of milk patiently sitting
next to my flash cards,

as I walk around with unruly hair,
forgetting where I put my comb.

6.8 Must include a metaphor or simile

I smelled as if I've been acting
like a burito in my bed, wrapped
in my blanket ... still you hugged me
and casually offered me some chewing gum.

7.1 Must mention ONE animal AND ONE NUMBER.

One thousand paper cranes
hang from the ceiling,

one thousand wishes
before you sail around the world.

7.2 Wild Card

I tried to capture you
within moleskine,
in lined paper.

But you only ended up
in blurred ink
and torn edges.

7.3 category : Life

In the metro, ten smartphones
in a row, two people missed their stops,
and one lovelorn girl listens
to music, trying to accompany her texts
with smileys, as she travels to and from
the endstation, on purpose.

7.4 Must include the words of a club name on this site.

Like the flowing river, he took me
to the lands downhill,
where dandelions shattered
in the presence of our chase,
barefooted and innocent.

When I visit it with boots on,
I only recognise the dying promise
on an aged tree, and imagine
a swing blowing in the wind,
carrying your laughter to, and fro.

7.5 Formed poem (excluding haiku/senryu)

acrostic

solitude crumples up,
might as well become a viral quote
as blogposts become littered,
sea full of rotten eggs
heated to be thrown

7.6 Alcohol or Drugs

She's become so desperate
as to force sleep paralysis
by drinking alcohol,

for once enabling her
to steer her dreams
in a world she's called home.

7.7 10-13 lines

The neighbours will see you tanning
when lying in your backyard;
the flowers in the living room
will eavesdrop on your phone conversation;
and the guy you loved most
will know you've traced him on facebook.

So perhaps humanity is better off
living in caves, with only matches
to burn themselves with,
and shadows on the wall
to rage at.

7.8 Must include a metaphor or simile

I'm like roses, like bleeding hearts,
like any other flower that happens
to grow at the top of your head.

You'll flatter me with pastels,
and smudge my smile
with one rub of the elbow.

8.1 One animal & one number

I feel myself stretching
like a lone gazelle
reaching out as far
as my body can manage -
one reach
after another
until my body
is content.

8.2 Wild Card

We stack rings
on our hearts
without realizing
the importance of
our promises.

8.3 Life

There are vulnerable
people everywhere, and yet
we turn our eyes from them
in shame, embarrassment,
disgust. It's time we divulge
our senses into humility,
perhaps then we'll learn
a bit more about humanity.

8.4 Club Name

She walks along
grassy meadows,
toes squishing in the dirt
and a daisy chain strung
around her wrists -
she is a free spirit
in every sense
of the meaning.

8.5 Formed Poem (Acrostic)

Hula dancers shaking hips
asking others to join on stage,
wishing embarrassment from others
awkwardness would go away,
inviting them up, teaching
individuals the way of the world.

8.6 Alcohol/drugs

She sinks herself
deeper into the corner,
fueling the fire
inside the crook
of her elbow -
one more hit
and the blow will
ease, the pain
will diminish.

8.7 10-13 lines

I miss the rain -
that inviting comfort
promising you that a morning
wrapped in a blanket,
a book you can't put down,
and a warm cup of earl gray tea -
cushy socks that slide
off your feet,
rain, oh rain,
please return to us soon.

8.8 Metaphor or Simile

You've found a way
to crochet lace
on your lips
though we know
you're full of poison -
wishes of dreams
become your reality
and it's a burden
to everyone who cares.

9.1 Animal & Number

She watches them laugh,
like three hyenas -
curling deeper within herself
knowing their noise
is directed at her.
Instead of holding her head
higher and higher,
she draws back, hides
even more.

9.2 Wild Card

Eyes cross at five hundred letters
and fingers twitch over the keyboard -
my shoulders are rolled a bit too forward
and I feel my temples starting to pound --
the stress and overload of competition
jumps at the forefront of my mind,
yet I press on, encouraging, focusing
on the end result.

9.3 Life

I live to inspire -
breathe life into
another world,
speak into hurt
and open eyes
otherwise closed
from pain.