COME ONE, COME ALL / May 14
by Carolee, Deb & Jill
It’s show time! It’s time to post your original poem, written in response to Monday’s wonderful prompt — we can’t wait to read what fabulous-sounding words resonated in the ears of all your muses! — or any other inspiration from the week. (We love it when you write to our prompt, but we also love it when you write on a whim. We all know how fickle that muse can be.)
So leave a link to your blog post, or leave your poem itself, in the comments!
Let the show begin! This post is “sticky” — it will stay right here in the spotlight for you all weekend.
Here’s how prompts work under the Big Tent
You’ve got all week to write your poem, based on this week’s prompt. Come Fridays (today!) you’ll find a “Come One, Come All” post (this one!) where you can 1) leave a link to your poem or 2) leave the poem in its entirety.
We want to give you all weekend to post your work and read each others’ work. Take your time. Enjoy all the poems that are new to the world.
Some hints
Hint: We’ve set Big Tent Poetry to Central Time.
Hint: An easy way to check on new post comments is via a RSS reader, if you use one. Here’s the address you would add to your reader: https://bigtentpoetry.org/comments/feed.
Hint: Since we’re a new site, and you’re new to it, your comment(s) will be held for moderation for your first few posts. We’re checking the filters often, so don’t despair! That said, if it takes more than a half a day to see it come live on the site, do email us at info (at) bigtentpoetry.org. (But be patient, okay?)
Circus etiquette
We figure you know how to play in the poetry community, but here are the basics:
Be nice. Have fun. Remember we aren’t a critique forum. We want to support each other as we bring more poetry into our lives. Only provide critique if someone specifically asks for it.
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If you don’t see your comment after half a day or so (we ringleaders have to sleep sometime), send us an email. The address is on the main page.
Be patient, have fun, read each other if you can!
I grabbed some words from the language of my childhood, for this prompt: words I Don’t Hear Much Any More
Here’s a little bit o’ silliness that’s all about the sounds: “say what?” It may not be new, but this is the first time I’ve found a comfy place where it might find a home :-).
UK politics dominate the airwaves: CHANGE
Listening for sound–that is hard! I picked up quite a bit of miscellaneous information along the way, though.
Until I find a better title, this is Rites
poemsotherwise.blogspot.com/2010/05/words-ring.html
Jeeves, What a fun poem. We used to call my mother Mugwump when we were little, but had no idea tat’s what it meant! She was anything but indecisive…
Thanks Viviene. Even I didnt know the meaning till the prompt “prompted” me to search for the meaning.
I liked your words — vamoose has always been a favorite.
I liked the sound of the poem, too, without any meaning needed to enjoy it!
very interesting words, jeeves! it’s only the second time i’ve ever heard mugwump. :)
When I was a new leaf, my dad used to call me “mugwump.” That was one of the words that came to mind when I read Tiel’s words from her childhood!
I found my worda on the playground, while watching my grandson play.My link is http://victoria-andnowpoems.blogspot.com/
Well! That was not as easy as I thought it might be. :-) Here’s my strange little poem, Sitting in a Storm Cloud.
Thanks for playing along everyone. Hope you got some joy out of the prompt! Maybe a new word or two that you have a crush on now. Word crushes. Yay.
If it’s quacking, it’s a duck; not an alleged duck. Read all about it at: Scrambled, Not Fried
Here is what I came up with. It’s called, after the car accident.
Darnit I’ve boobed again! I posted the link to my poem on the prompt page instead of on here. Maybe I’ll get used to the protocol by the time you get round to blackballing me!
http://vivinfrance.wordpress.com
No blackballing! :-)
deb’s right! i admire your determination. it does take a while to sort everything out. soon you’ll be a pro, guiding the new folks!
I found my words while at the YMCA watching television while walking the treadmill:
http://inthecornerofmyeye.blogspot.com/2010/05/eagle.html
Hi there Circus Goers!
Here is the link to my poem for the prompt: http://almerimarlife.com/forum/topic/838/king-of-the-hill-a-poem-by-iain-douglas-kemp/
For further redaing and today today’s new `podcast poem click on my name.
Happy Poeming All…back tonight (European night!)
This poem’s a cracker – reflects beautifully the confusion, boredom and cynicism aroused by the election.
I still haven’t worked out how to leave a comment on your blog!
Couldn’t find a way to comment on your blog…
I really enjoyed this piece…I think many of us in many countries feel the same way.
Thanks for the compliments…sorry about the confusion over comments…the thing is it’s not really my blog..it’s a page within another blog who invited me to post poetry some months ago & who gave me my own page as a birthday present along with the domain name…Chris is working on how to put a comments section on my page without putting it on all his pages…. long winded I know!!!
Still, if you want to comment…just do it here for now…I’ll update when I have news
Thank you again for being so kind
Iain
i like the sound of hyperbole and superlatives one right after the other.
Yes, yes. The boredom, the political foreplay, the who cares about it all. I think your sentiment is global, Iain (figured out how to post a comment on your blog, but will wait until you have an easier go of it).
I love reading political poems, especially from countries other than my own (universality, unfortunately!) — so well done, the use of polispeak & frustration, wondering what has really happened!
Thank you for the compliments.
I now have a comments section on my homepage which has no log-in or you can register for the main site :Almerimar Life & log-in & post comments to the poem on the community forum: available for the whole world to see.
It’s still not perfect but it’s better & after all the whole thing was a gift from Almerimar Life who have been publishing me for a few months now.
I had to work today, hope to do some reading later
Best
Iain
The last three lines: a great summation!
Deviated a little after reading the newspaper, then wandering around my college campus that is deserted after graduation and move out. This one’s looking for some critique, so have at it:
The Sign Said
This prompt pointed out my lack of writing talent! Here is what happened when I gave up…
http://cynthiashort.blogspot.com
it did not point out your lack of talent! it may help you to do something i do with some of my poems: i assign them a category of family or perpetuity poems. that means i am not worried about their literary merit but i am pleased to indulge the sentimental for a bit and capture some important bit of family history/emotion. your piece really really gives a gift like that to your family!!!
I tried listening (to CNN lol) but that didn’t work (knew all the words) so I randomly selected pages in a dictionary and chose words I’d never heard of. Then put them together for my poem.
http://troublebeingstrong.blogspot.com/2010/05/jocose-on-hillock.html
I’m always overhearing conversations—some people might say eavesdropping. I knew one of the men talking, a physicist teaching in a local college. So I incorporated some of the “overheard” words into my poem. http://word-painting.blogspot.com/2010/05/eavesdropping-over-coffee.html
Linda Frances
Here is my short contribution!
http://melrosemusings.blogspot.com/2010/05/necessity-is-mother.html
I am afraid my poem is guility of ‘promptantagonism’.
I tried to write about something that was overheard in a dream, but it ended up to be about silence.
Anaïs: Big Tent Poetry: step 1
i love that word: promptantagonism. :) do we need a sign that says, “don’t poke the prompts”? ha ha.
glad you decided to listen to your muse — that’s listening, right?
Right :)
I didn’t manage to write to the prompt this week, but did manage to write another in my ongoing series of “mother poems”:
Eating the apple
http://velveteenrabbi.blogs.com/blog/2010/05/another-mother-poem-eating-the-apple.html
Well, I listened to “Philosophy Talk” and came up with a few words.
Thanks for the prompt.
Pamela
http://flaubert-poetrywithme.blogspot.com/2010/05/moral-ethic-lies-big-tent-poetry.html
Here is what I offer:
http://firmlyrooted.blogspot.com/2010/05/canvas.html
Thanks for the prompt!
Payday Friday
For some reason I was unable to post my comment on your blog, so I’ll put it here.
The way your images flit about through this piece is really interesting. The last line says it all. Ditto the lovely title.
The New Silk Road based on an old NPR podcast.
Hello! So glad I found you. I’m seeing many familiar names – and the prompt for the first time. I’ll work at it, will post something this weekend. Hooray!
Welcome Wanda! It’s nice to see you here.
hi, wanda! hooray!
My piece this week is entitled “being’s demise.” I listened to and viewed several videos by John Trudell, a Santee Sioux activist, for inspiration.
http://bozone-bw.blogspot.com/2010/05/beings-demise.html
This was a cool idea. Here’s what I came up with. Thanks!
I took my inspiration from the Philosophy Talk discussion of Infinity: http://in-the-stream.blogspot.com/2010/05/infinite-potential-of-finite-mind.html.
Oops… I messed up the link. Here it is:
Infinite potential of a finite mind
Deb — You said “be playful! Let the sound of the words carry the weight (of the poem)” — so here is my playful poem of sounds… Oh Brother!
I always get a little worried at a phrase that starts “Deb — You said…” BUT I look forward to reading your poem! :-)
Here’s mine
So glad to see you all here! I’ll be visiting you all weekend! xxoo
You all give tough prompts! But, in the process, I had a great time with an NPR podcast, where I learned about flavored Kit-Kat candy bars — available only in Japan: http://lindagoin.com/2010/evolutionary-candy-from-japan.html
(Monday’s is not so hard! I am glad, too!)
Here is my poem – http://umaathreya.blogsome.com/2010/05/15/birds-dont-sing-on-such-days/
I did listen to a podcast but not sure about the sound part of the prompt.
the truth and nothing but
After listening to a boring commentary on the euro crisis in Greece, I moved on to health physics. Remember, These words are NOT being used int he appropriate context. They are my interpretations about how they sound to me:)
“As Low As Reasonably Practicable”
ALARP is a lithe limbo dancer, back arched
feet spread, hair sweeping under a bamboo
pole until the contortionist shimmies buttocks
with the inverse square law across the line.
The Gamma grocery store has specials on ALARPS
this week, gm/cm2 and avocados two for one dollar.
Use your dosimetry card for extra bonus buys. Bring
the kids to see our laser safety officer Tim on Saturday.
The ALARP temperature this week is expected
to affect the East when the particle accelerator
collides with the scattering cold front after midnight.
What a great use of out-of-context words – the idea of the particle accelerator colliding with the scattering cold front would startle a meteorologist, but really appealed to me! I also liked the shimmying buttocks of your lithe limbo dancer.
What a wonderfully FUN poem to read! I loved it!
Terrific poem, Kim! The lithe limbo dancer, indeed! What might be out of context becomes a new reality, one close to a truth we may not know is there, I suspect. Well done!
it takes great imagination to use the words as you hear them and resist the proper/accurate usage!
oh, i can’t wait to read! i was in NYC all day yesterday and returned just now from a half-day lacrosse tournament. hoping to post a piece i worked on while on the train and read your poems this evening! back soon!
My first poem in response to a Big Tent Poetry prompt: Lip to Lip I’ve been a bit rocky since NaPoWriMo ended. How has everyone else found themselves getting back onto track after writing a poem a day?
Well, I am always a little bit in a daze after April. This year was particularly tough because of mourning RWP, but was softened by planning BTP.
I miss the daily short poems most, and think I want to try to do those again. They really help center me.
i’ve been rocky after napowrimo, as well. my magic had started to fade the last week and a half of april and i don’t have it back yet! but, i did re-learn that i can write when i sit down to it.
ok, Here is mine, Please click on my name to share my confession about my words.
i’ve made it more than half-way through AND procrastinated on actually writing mine. oopsie! well, it was time well-spent anyway. i’ll read more tomorrow. ‘night all you circus-goers. thanks so much for writing with us!! xo
You’re forgiven, although I always love reading what you come up with. xxoo
(And ditto everyone, on the thanks!)
Here is mine, click on my name to read my poem.
Hi Nate!
Found it! For those of us who might not get to all the posts very quickly a link to the specific poem you’d like to share would be helpful!
(That’s true for everyone who leaves their name as a link, actually. :-) )
Best!
phew! back from yet another poetry field trip and finally wrote a poem for the prompt. it was one of those big deal poems, not because of its quality, but because i hadn’t written in a few days and if i fought too hard to get it just right, i would stay stuck. so i’m letting it be where it is: go see!
http://caroleesherwood.wordpress.com/2010/05/16/big-tent-poetry-sounds-of-words-notes/
off now to finish reading your pieces!