COME ONE, COME ALL/ September 3

September 3, 2010
By Big Tent Poetry

by Carolee, Deb & Jill

It’s show time! It’s time to post your original poem, written in response to Monday’s prompt – finding words from our everyday lives – 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.)

What did you write? Please 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.

Although we love seeing our badge in the sidebar of your blog, we would appreciate it if you would also link back to the site in each of your poem posts. Linking within your post helps people travel back and forth from your site to the Big Tent Poetry site, and it helps perpetuate Big Tent Poetry “findability” in Google searches — and that helps us all.

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59 Responses to “ COME ONE, COME ALL/ September 3 ”

  1. Joseph Harker on September 3, 2010 at 12:03 am

    Not very happy with what I came up with, but oh well… Land Fall

    Reply
  2. Rachel on September 3, 2010 at 12:05 am

    I started off following the prompt, but ended up going down a different rabbit trail and wrote another hospital poem:

    Fourth Baptism

    Reply
  3. Rinkly Rimes on September 3, 2010 at 12:17 am

    http://rinklyrimes.blogspot.com/2010/08/circus-of-life.html

    Posted by mistake earlier in the week, as you may remember.

    Reply
  4. Elizabeth on September 3, 2010 at 12:18 am

    I cheated a bit, but rather like what happened.

    http://soulsmusic.wordpress.com/2010/09/03/the-end-of-the-world/

    Elizaeth

    Reply
  5. Diane T on September 3, 2010 at 12:45 am

    Here is mine:

    http://troublebeingstrong.blogspot.com/2010/09/all-about-me.html

    Reply
  6. Mary on September 3, 2010 at 12:47 am

    Defnitely a challenging prompt –

    http://inthecornerofmyeye.blogspot.com/2010/09/end-of-summer.html

    Reply
  7. Francis Scudelari on September 3, 2010 at 12:55 am

    Here’s my idiosyncratic take on the prompt:
    A quantum vinaigrette over lightly mixed greens

    Reply
  8. pwf on September 3, 2010 at 12:59 am

    Not many words came my way.

    http://wysfool.blogspot.com/2010/09/fetch.html

    Reply
    • Deb on September 3, 2010 at 8:21 am

      Welcome to the Big Tent, pwf!

      Reply
  9. twitches on September 3, 2010 at 1:23 am

    Here ya go!

    Simon and Julie Love Leather Leggings

    Reply
  10. barbara on September 3, 2010 at 2:01 am

    I have a couple of small ones.

    Reply
  11. vivienne blake on September 3, 2010 at 2:13 am

    Mine fulfilled two prompts. http://vivinfrance.wordpress.com/2010/08/31/journey-into-sorry/

    Reply
  12. Stan Ski on September 3, 2010 at 2:24 am

    Here’s mine: WHERE THERE’S LIFE

    Reply
  13. gautami tripathy on September 3, 2010 at 3:21 am

    Here is mine:

    http://firmlyrooted.blogspot.com/2010/09/pavement-musings.html

    Reply
  14. rob kistner on September 3, 2010 at 3:31 am

    Soulfruit

    Reply
  15. Tilly Bud on September 3, 2010 at 4:08 am

    Mine’s an old senryu but I do have a story about a conversation I overheard on the telly. http://thelaughinghousewife.wordpress.com/2010/09/03/in-the-news/

    Reply
  16. Rallentanda on September 3, 2010 at 4:39 am

    ‘First Day Of Spring’

    which was actually written the day before Spring.I also put a video on of Spring music to accompany the poem.

    http://rallentanda.blogspot.com

    Reply
  17. Donald Harbour on September 3, 2010 at 6:24 am

    Don’t text message me….call me and offer up The bouquet of your mind.

    Reply
    • vivienne blake on September 3, 2010 at 7:34 am

      Donald, I couldn’t work out how to comment on this fabulous poem. It should be printed in millions and distributed to te text-addicted young of the world. The message in your words is (in the proper sense) powerful text.

      Reply
      • Donald Harbour on September 3, 2010 at 3:32 pm

        You are too kind. Thanks Viv for the comment. I do not answer text messages. It drives my daughters to distraction and that gives me hours of joy and pleasure.

        Reply
        • Elizabeth on September 3, 2010 at 4:00 pm

          My daughters wouldn’t bother, they know I wouldn’t know how to respond. And I’m comfortable with that. They have friends to text with. I am their mother and they just have to deal with it. I loved the poem as well, can you tell?

          Elizabeth

          Reply
  18. nan on September 3, 2010 at 6:28 am

    Here is big money transaction.

    Reply
  19. Rachel Barenblat on September 3, 2010 at 6:44 am

    I didn’t manage to write to the prompt this week, but here’s what I did write:

    Fever
    http://velveteenrabbi.blogs.com/blog/2010/09/another-mother-poem-fever.html

    Reply
  20. Linda Watskin on September 3, 2010 at 6:51 am

    Here’s my poem with a title change to reflect where the poem went—

    http://word-painting.blogspot.com/2010/09/holiness.html

    Reply
  21. pamela on September 3, 2010 at 7:11 am

    Thanks for an interesting prompt!

    http://flaubert-poetrywithme.blogspot.com/2010/09/weather-is-changing-big-tent-poetry-18.html

    Reply
  22. Weasel on September 3, 2010 at 7:20 am

    http://systematicweasel.blogspot.com/2010/09/observance-with-teacoffeebeverage-of.html

    It’s interesting when you stop and observe the world around you. Thanks for the prompt!

    -Weasel

    Reply
  23. Cynthia Short on September 3, 2010 at 8:07 am

    Not sure how successful my little experiment turned out…but you can find it here:
    http://cynthiashort.blogspot.com

    Reply
  24. Nathan Landau on September 3, 2010 at 8:20 am

    Sometimes conversations can be poetic on their own.


    Eavesdroppings

    Reply
  25. Deb on September 3, 2010 at 8:23 am

    Good morning!

    I have yet to catch up (still on a tough work schedule) on writing and reading but am excited to see you all here!

    Reply
  26. angie on September 3, 2010 at 8:39 am

    there is way too much dr. phil in my everyday life!
    http://another2doors.wordpress.com/

    Reply
    • angie on September 3, 2010 at 8:57 am

      oops — wrong poem.
      this is the one for the prompt — http://another2doors.wordpress.com/2010/08/31/were-here-today-waiting-for-free-delivery-set-up-and-removal/

      Reply
  27. john on September 3, 2010 at 9:55 am

    I wroteThe Final Seaside Trip using the words and phrases I observed from a couple by the seaside.

    Reply
    • Deb on September 6, 2010 at 10:02 pm

      Hi John! Welcome to the BT.

      Reply
  28. RevAllyson on September 3, 2010 at 10:20 am

    And here’s my response to the prompt. It’s a bit different than my usual fair…

    http://ambertemple.blogspot.com/2010/09/more-poetry.html

    Reply
    • vivienne blake on September 3, 2010 at 12:53 pm

      Sometimes my Google account works, and more often it doesn’t: this is one of those times. Do you not have an option for Open ID – which is NOT anonymous?!

      A delicious poem, in more ways than one. Thank you. Here in France they only feed corn to the cattle, so we tried cooking some once, that we picked in a neighbouring field. Never again – it was like bullets. I hark back to the days when I used to grow it in my English cottage garden: yummy.

      Reply
      • RevAllyson on September 3, 2010 at 1:05 pm

        I have had the unfortunate joy of being stalked online, and so I keep my stuff very closed down. Nothing against anyone here! Just long experience (8+ years of very nasty harassment of me and my young daughter). I’ll see if the Open ID thing will work without turning on other things that I don’t want on, though!

        As to cow corn, yeah, you don’t eat that. No sugar content at all LOL… We have cow corn in our lower field, which we rent out to a local farmer, and we snag a few pieces for our chickens. It’s okay for drying and grinding into cornmeal, though!

        Reply
  29. Ruth on September 3, 2010 at 10:26 am

    Nice prompt. I found many a word at the supermarket where I do my grocery shopping – surprising, the things you hear!

    http://turtlememoir.wordpress.com/2010/09/03/one-bad-apple/

    Thanks!

    Reply
  30. Tumblewords on September 3, 2010 at 11:49 am

    Thanks for the prompt and the site!

    Notes

    Reply
  31. Christopher Hileman on September 3, 2010 at 12:10 pm

    Holding My Place

    I hold certain things
    in my grasp, in my orbit
    as they circle you,
    as I circle you.

    The gravel of my long path,
    all this way I’ve come
    to be here with you,
    these stones click beneath my feet
    as I shift, restless
    waiting for notice.

    Reply
    • Elizabeth on September 3, 2010 at 8:12 pm

      Like this Christopher, especially “the gravel of my long path.”

      Elizabeth

      Reply
    • Rallentanda on September 5, 2010 at 10:15 am

      Wistful,moving and a little sad.Well done.

      Reply
    • Deb on September 6, 2010 at 10:17 pm

      Love the sounds of gravel in your poem. How they are a character. Lovely.

      Reply
  32. Marian Veverka on September 3, 2010 at 12:30 pm

    My poem “recipe from the devil’s cookbook” can be found under “Poem for Big Tent Poetry”
    http://Marianv.blog.co.uk

    Reply
  33. the odd inkwell on September 3, 2010 at 12:40 pm

    My poem on the absurd
    http://theoddinkwell.com/2010/09/03/absurb-amazon-pay-phrases/

    Reply
  34. Carolee on September 3, 2010 at 12:51 pm

    hi, everyone! what a great turn-out!! can’t wait to read your poems. i am behind and haven’t written one of my own (in quite a while) but i am determined to write to this prompt and so i’m going to hold off reading your poems until i either (a) write one of my own or (b) give up on writing one of my own this week. :)

    Reply
  35. EKSwitaj on September 3, 2010 at 3:44 pm

    Botanic Gardens, September 1st

    Reply
    • Marian Veverka on September 5, 2010 at 4:47 pm

      A tinge of melancholy in the garden. Really liked it.

      Reply
  36. irene on September 3, 2010 at 8:12 pm

    The words gathered.

    Only say the word

    Reply
  37. maria on September 3, 2010 at 11:08 pm

    Here is my poem, inspired (if not exactly based on) the prompt:

    http://www.smallchangeblog.com/smallchangeblog/2010/09/en-pointe.html

    Reply
  38. Jeeves on September 4, 2010 at 12:37 am

    http://poemsotherwise.blogspot.com/2010/09/eavesdropping.html

    Reply
  39. SarahJ on September 4, 2010 at 6:45 am

    “Papergown,” here -
    http://bluehookah.blogspot.com/

    Nice to jump in on a prompt again, finally!

    Reply
  40. Iain D. Kemp on September 4, 2010 at 7:31 am

    Hi there circus goers!

    I’ve been travelling this week and a bit short on internet hook-up so I didn’t see the prompt until yesterday. Not being able to collect words and phrases for a poem I thought I’d try and stay as close to the theme as I could. These are two short poems wriiten “in the moment” last weekend in café in Cambridge (UK) last Saturday, both relating to people watching. BTW the reference to the “first floor” in the second is UK English so second floor to my North American friends.

    My podcast this week is “Extra Sensory Perception” – just click my name to go listen.

    Eyes & Ears

    My eyes dart left
    and quickly avert
    my ears pricked up
    eavesdropping
    trying so hard not to stare
    not to listen in
    not to read and re-read
    the body language
    the facial expressions
    not decipher
    the lies and deceit
    from the heart-felt honesty
    the guile and wit
    from the sincerity

    My ears still open
    my eyes revert to the screen
    fingers flying
    mind twisting
    transforming snippets
    and whispers
    while I write
    and absorb
    absorb myself in others’ lives
    absorb myself in my words
    discreetly depicting the scene
    yet keeping the content
    entre-nous

    &

    The Child’s Eyes

    First floor dreams
    conjure boyhood schemes,
    the fruit juice is exciting, tingly,
    the chocolate mousse tastes tomatoey
    and sharing mummy’s croissant,
    is such a grown-up treat:
    yummy, yummy, in my tummy!

    First floor scenes
    conjure boyhood dreams,
    Can I have some more please?
    oh-so polite grown-up,
    kissing little sister,
    We’re very high in the sky,
    I wish we could be in the clouds!

    Best to all

    Iain

    Reply
    • Deb on September 6, 2010 at 10:51 pm

      Oh, but you should eavesdrop. Be that voyeur! Discrete? Nah!

      Reply
  41. Everyday Encounters with a Changling | Amputated Moon on September 4, 2010 at 8:56 am

    [...] Big Tent Poetry’s prompt, [...]

    Reply
  42. Pam on September 4, 2010 at 8:59 am

    Here is my try. My church has a vibrant ministry for children with autism and their families. This poem is for all those who may have encountered someone with autism.

    Everyday Encounters with a Changling

    Reply
  43. Christine on September 4, 2010 at 6:00 pm

    http://ibrewhaiku.blogspot.com/2010/09/big-tent-word-pool.html

    A lousy raise communicated by e-mail: that was my inspiration for the prompt. All words straight from the boss’s e-mail; just shuffled up a bit. :-) The spirit remains the same.

    Reply
  44. Carolee on September 4, 2010 at 8:14 pm

    happy saturday evening, everyone! keep the poems coming tonight and tomorrow!

    monday we’ll have a new prompt even though it’s a holiday in the u.s. (everyday’s a holiday under the big tent!)

    Reply
  45. Uma Gowrishankar on September 5, 2010 at 1:19 pm

    I think I am just in time before the train pulls out. I have been shoring words with so much of love through the week that I didn’t want to miss the train. Thank you so much for such a wonderful prompt.
    Here is my link – http://umaathreya.blogsome.com/2010/09/05/desert-flowers/

    Reply
  46. Mr. Walker on September 5, 2010 at 6:58 pm

    My poem is at http://sadlywaiting.blogspot.com/2010/09/if-only.html. I used a couple of words from my everyday life as a teacher.

    Reply

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