English Poetry Contest - May

child of the other side

Hello everybody and welcome to a new English Poetry Contest!
This challenge will be organized every month, by Marlie (child of the other side) and Charlotte (Sweet Hermione).

The idea is very simple. We decide the subject, you write the poem. (And of course, we’ll try to make an entry as well.) This can be anything that’s inspiring; another poem, a lyric, a title, a picture, a word, etc. We’ll try to vary the subject as much as possible.

Every participant has to maintain the following rules:

About the voting:

Well, those were the rules and now the most important part; PRIZES!

1st place - 40 sickles
2nd place - 30 sickles
3rd place - 20 sickles

No one can win the first price more than 3 times in a row. If so, SH / Cotos will decide what to do. I hope you all understand why we do this.

The subject of this month is theatre. And before you all start to write about Tarzan (which is allowed of course!), or complain about the one-sidedness of this subject; you can write about everything that has to do with theatre. Like fake expressions, role-play, certain plays, scripts, cross-dressing, flamboyant outfits, certain locations, etc. Just explain why you think it has to do with the theatre and we will except it. ^^

Please send your poem between the 2nd and the 24th of May.
And you can vote between the 25th and 31st (24.00) of May.

We wish everybody good luck and lots of fun. If you have any suggestions, tips, notes or ideas; feel free to use the lovely pb-button, it’s begging to be pushed.

Charlotte (Sweet Hermione) and Marlie (Cotos).

child of the other side

1st Poem

My poem is a homage to every great actor and actress on this planet (I've got a whole list prepared if you wanna know who I mean Rolling Eyes

). So, here it is

***

A single tear rolls
down her porcelain face, as she
tells about herself and everyone she is

And nothing has ever been as beautiful as she

Intimacy, vulnerability, uncensored sincerity, in
a play of her and the world

no end, no goal, just her, behind the
mask of her character

But if you look close, really close, you
will see that her masked face
isn't masked

child of the other side

2nd Poem

This poem is not a reflection of the happiness theater always seems to be.
I've been on stage before, and when you step into the spotlight, it blinds you. Altough you are fully lighted, you just feel the darkness around you, you know there's a public waiting for you to speak, only you can't see them. [just so you know ^^ ]
This poem is about someone who lives from the theater, who always tells lies just for the attention from others. She [let's make the person a girl] seems to be interesting and others adore her for what she's telling she is. But in the end, everyone realizes she isn't. She isn't the person she wanted to be so badly. And finally, the smile that she faked so many times, dissapears.

***

A single spot lights up
Like we’ve seen before
You appear from the obscurity
Smiles that fall on the floor.

You whisper your lines
Empty eyes without more
Like you believe it yourself
Smiles that fall on the floor.

And the day has come
The light goes out
The public is gone
Your mask falls apart

As smiles that fall on the floor.

child of the other side

3rd Poem

I was thinking about old actors and actresses who are simply put down because they're too old. Acting business can be tough when you're too old for the plays young writers write. I thought I'd write a poem about it.
I focused on the rhythm of the poem. I usually just write something down and read it a couple of times, change some things and send it in, but this time I really tried to make the rhythm fit. You should read the poem aloud to hear the rhythm clearly. I'm quite happy with it.

***

Behind the old façade

I used to be the best of all
Until my age took it away
With pain it came
My act, it went
Away
And now I'm old and frail

No dwelling on the past 'til now
I never thought of it, I lived
Like all was well
But you were right
I hid
Behind the old façade

child of the other side

4th Poem

I'm a dancer, i do latin american, new dance development, and theatre dance, my boyfriend is a drummer in a band. So that's wy i have the poem below:

***

Up from the floor!
Up on my feet!
The music grows louder
And picks up the beat!

The stillness is over,
I pick up the pace.
I barely remember
That still, quiet place.

The underworld loosens
Its grip on my dance.
I put it behind me
With barely a glance.

I feel the pulse quicken!
The power, it grows!
My spirit awakens
And energy flows!

I quick-step and shimmy,
I spin and I spin,
My movements expressing
The life-force within.

The beat grows more urgent!
There's more yet to come!
My essence responds to
The call of the drum!

The pulse grows more insistent
As the song draws near its end.
The melody is ending,
And the rhythm takes command.

The drummer shares his passion
And I answer back in kind.
Together, we are partners
And in music, just one mind.

We tap the great unconscious
For the rhythms that it holds.
We give them form and share them
As our dialogue unfolds.

The energy is peaking:
It's the climax of the show.
I lose myself in rhythm
And I let the power flow.

Sweet Hermione

5th poem

The subject 'theatre' reminds me of ballet. That's why I wrote a poem about it.

***

Feathers in the wind
Like the floor doesn't excist
No more sorrows
No more pain

Merely feathers
Moving through the air
In their own world
Doing their own thing

Until the music stops
And the wind stops blowing
The feathers become human again
And they're running away

The applause is loud
Like a thunder in the sky
The world they were in
No longer excist

child of the other side

6th Poem

At first I loved this subject, but when I started to write I totally hated it. I’ve written 5 poems and none of them was fitting or good enough. In the end I decided to pick this one. It’s different from my other poems so …
The poem is a combination of a lovers story, their wish to play in the theatre, and some Romeo&Juliet sort of lines.

*

As it was foreseen

Curtain call
On my name, I wish
To speak the lines of rhyme
And send a ferry
To thou Isle. If not,
I will regret my death
For the drapes will collapse.

Silver stage
On my name, you want
My love to go underneath it,
To forecast the weather.
But please, fly over. If not,
Thou will never see life
On a floor of wood.

Blinding spot
On my name, it marks
The lines of our joyous carrier
Or so we thought.
Thou hope's beyond. If not,
We shall share the load
Of depriving shadows and defeat.

Sweet Hermione

7th poem

I was cycling home when I saw a young man wearing a too big woolen coat. He didn't look up to see me smile and his appearance gave me a feeling I can barely describe. It made me believe he was there all alone, that nobody would care when he went down. Like he meant nothing, to nobody. Like his happyness was nothing but an act, but nobody was unable too see it through. I tried to capture that feeling in my poem.

***

As The Curtain Closes

All the lost and long gone glorie,
Nobody listens but still telling a gone story.
Together pulling a forgotten show,
To people who already decieded they had to go.

Her feet hurting from walking with her back held straight,
The things she bears tell she cannot hold the weight.
The clothes she wears have never been able to fit,
Blinded to see why she didn't run like the others did.

Broken by the love for the things falling down,
The girl on the stage is the one that will drown.
She forbids herself to see the love that is dying,
Desperate she holds on to long forgotten lying.

child of the other side

IT IS *surprise, surprise* VOTING TIME.

About the voting

How to vote:
My first/second/third vote goes to poem number:
Because:

You can vote till the 31st of May (24.00 o'clock). Good luck. ^^

Pottergirl

First vote: 4th Poem
Why: I really like the rythm your poem has. It expresses the almost frantic dance movements I can see in my mind. By reading your poem aloud I almost felt the beat myself. Really good job.

Second vote: 6th Poem
Why: The Shakespearian way of writing is a strong point of this poem. I like the way you broke off the sentences and the usages of the word 'Thou'. It adds a really poetic atmosphere to the story you're telling.

Third vote: 7th Poem
Why: When I started to read this poem, I was actually a little disappointed because there were a couple of spelling mistakes in it that could've been avoided. But then I read the last stanza. No spelling mistakes, and the rythm was just perfect. So, just because the last stanza is brilliant, my third vote goes to this poem.

Patricia

First Vote: 3rd Poem.
This is a sad one, but it is well written. I like the idea of old people, who are just whiped away because of their age. Well done!

Seccon Vote: 6th Poem.
I really like this one. The poem tells a great story, and just what Pottergirl said, the Shakespearian way of writing is great. This poem really stands out from the rest.

Third Vote: 1st Poem
I really enjoyed this poem. I like the way it is written, and the story it tells is strong.

Fiore · 1e jaars Verdiend: 67 Sikkels

I wanted to vote as well!

First vote: Second Poem
Why: I like this poem a lot, because it has a kind of story in it. It has a clear end and beginning. The words are well chosen too and it made an impression on me.

Second vote: Sixth Poem
Why: This poem is very special, because the author used old English in it and I liked that ^^. That's very original and it also makes the poem a little bit mysteriously, because you get the feeling that this poem was made in the past.

Third vote: Fifth Poem
Why: I liked this poem too, because the poem gave me some feelings. At the end there is a small mistake, it must have been written in the past tense, but that didn't matter, because this was one of the only poems which gave me certain feelings and it brought memories back. That's the reason why I found this one very good too.

**Smalofski**

First vote: 2nd Poem
Why: I really liked the sentence: "Smiles that fall on the floor." It's a poem that's not insanely difficult to understand, but the more you think about it, the more depth it gets. Really beautiful poem!

Second vote: 5th Poem
Why: It really gave me a feeling of a magical fairyland where the dancers are when they dance. I liked the feather-metaphor a lot too.

Third vote: 6the Poem
Why: Like mentioned before, the Shakespearian manner of writing is really great. The poem itself was hard to understand, I had to read it three times. But then again, Shakespeare’s poems were never straightforward either.

Sweet Hermione · Geplaatst: Ma Jun 02, 2008 13:07

Thank you for the many votes! =D

1st place: Poem 6 - Child Of The Other Side (40 sickles) 7 points
2nd place: Poem 2 - Dark_angel (30 sickles) 5 points
3rd place: Poem 3 - Patricia (20 sickles) 3 points

I chose Patricia's poem because she had two voters and Miryana and Pottergirl had one voter.

Poem 1 - Loesewies Boterslag, 1 point
Poem 3 - Pottergirl, 3 points
Poem 4 - Miryana, 3 points
Poem 7 - Josse, 1 point

Congrats! The new challenge will be opened today.