Gather, a spring challenge

[MirrorsImage]

I can't decide I'm struggling,

WHAT I WANT To KNOW Is, Why Some Of These Writers Crop Up Now and throw out these amazing pieces and then leave here as such a ghost town??

In defense of some of us ... I never knew that there was writing in the forum until I saw the link for the challenge. It's been delightful going through some of the threads and enjoying the works put up by many of you!!!!

 

[MirrorsImage]

Ok ... I voted ... wow, that was tough to narrow down!

 

[todski28]

Ok ... I voted ... wow, that was tough to narrow down!

I think I need a drink I'm nearly there but am still enjoying the journey

 

[butters]

I thought C, "Somewhere, Something Incredible," was very good. (Sorry, pelegrino. I'm not the poet; I wish I was.)

Carl Sagan, the TV celebrity astronomer, starting the poem set the tone of the narrative. When I think of astronomy, I think of the universe expanding and contracting, and the poet is very expansive at the beginning of the poem but the end left me with an image of intimacy between two lovers.

Intended or not, I thought a few longer lines with shorter ones was a neat visual reminder as well.

I confess I was puzzled by the inclusion of "Mr. T," given how effective Sagsn, that other TV icon was in the context of the poem.

A very enjoyable read nonetheless.

I agree with this. It is...somewhat misplaced. But it is such a good line. Could you cut it?

It's his cosmic pity--television signals on weary legs, old episodes of the A-Team sending gold-chained B.A. Baracus bouncing off of planets in other solar systems, pontificating about his empathy for fools light-years away.

At least that's how I read it.

i kind of liked that concept, though, of endless versions of B.A's 'pity the fools' flowing through space and time, introducing us to unknown civilisations as we explore our own limited but expanding knowledge of space. makes me wonder how that message might be interpreted, given some of our other material being beamed out there.

i'd keep it in because it taps into a common reader-experience, plus gets me thinking/visualising beyond the words right there on the page.

 

[stlgoddessfreya]

In defense of some of us ... I never knew that there was writing in the forum until I saw the link for the challenge. It's been delightful going through some of the threads and enjoying the works put up by many of you!!!!

I've been posting stories to Lit or about a year now and I just started posting poems in January. I'm so used to the environment of the AH being toxic posturing, with some notable exceptions, that it didn't occur to me that there was actual writing going on in the poetry forums until recently, either. I've gotten some great comments on my poems and my prose from many of you in the Gather Challenge since I started posting and I really appreciate it.

I also agree that my first cut was a lot easier to do than my second gut will be. So many great poems, with such a range of images, emotions, and styles. It's been a lot of fun!

 

[butters]

Ok ... I voted ... wow, that was tough to narrow down!

fun though, right? hope so anyway!

I think I need a drink I'm nearly there but am still enjoying the journey

*waves*

*pours*

cheers!

 

[butters]

I've been posting stories to Lit or about a year now and I just started posting poems in January. I'm so used to the environment of the AH being toxic posturing, with some notable exceptions, that it didn't occur to me that there was actual writing going on in the poetry forums until recently, either. I've gotten some great comments on my poems and my prose from many of you in the Gather Challenge since I started posting and I really appreciate it.

I also agree that my first cut was a lot easier to do than my second gut will be. So many great poems, with such a range of images, emotions, and styles. It's been a lot of fun!

yeah, gonna get bloody
if that was a typo, it was apt

 

[todski28]

fun though, right? hope so anyway!


*waves*

*pours*

cheers!

*chinks glasses edge*
downs a shot of tequila

I'm thinking the odd gifts to ballerinas is Tzara's

 

[greenmountaineer]

I agree with this. It is...somewhat misplaced. But it is such a good line. Could you cut it?

It's his cosmic pity--television signals on weary legs, old episodes of the A-Team sending gold-chained B.A. Baracus bouncing off of planets in other solar systems, pontificating about his empathy for fools light-years away.

At least that's how I read it.

Funny, I thought you might have been the poet.

 

[butters]

*chinks glasses edge*
downs a shot of tequila

I'm thinking the odd gifts to ballerinas is Tzara's

i was leaning in that direction too, and one other.

spot mine?

 

[AMoveableBeast]

Funny, I thought you might have been the poet.

I wish. Someone who knows me well thought the same.

Honestly, I'm a little clumsier. It's a poem I would have liked to have written. The edges are too sharp, too refined, for me. My hands aren't that deft.

 

[todski28]

i was leaning in that direction too, and one other.

spot mine?

I am pretty sure I have but there are some writers here that have totally thrown me out of whack thump me upside the head would ya see if that helps

 

[butters]

I am pretty sure I have but there are some writers here that have totally thrown me out of whack thump me upside the head would ya see if that helps

*smack*

howszat?

and what about A? i'm thinkin' gm

 

[Lyricalli]

glad to
i wrote down the letter if i kind of liked it, with a question mark next to those i was less sure of. by the time i read them all i had about 28, so i revisited the q-marked pieces and eliminated most of them. that left me with 22, so then i read through them all again, ticking those i definitely wanted to vote on till i found one i liked but not as much as the rest. strike. job done.

trouble is, the next round is going to be way harder and i'll have to be a whole lot stricter in able to choose! there'll be blood on the forum's floorboards as we all cull.

That's the way I made my selections, too. The next round will definitely be harder, but there are a few that I know for sure will be getting my vote then, because they're still floating around in my brain today. The rest... difficult decisions and cuts are looming ahead.

 

[todski28]

*smack*

howszat?

and what about A? i'm thinkin' gm

Possible I also had him pegged for gg

 

[todski28]

That's the way I made my selections, too. The next round will definitely be harder, but there are a few that I know for sure will be getting my vote then, because they're still floating around in my brain today. The rest... difficult decisions and cuts are looming ahead.

Funny the way some poems do that

 

[butters]

Possible I also had him pegged for gg

hmmn. i don't feel that but i'm often wrong

 

[Lyricalli]

Funny the way some poems do that

It is.

One of them was clearly my favorite, so it will be interesting to see if that still holds when I revisit them later. It's always interesting to see what still speaks to you or loses charm after being read several times.

 

[AMoveableBeast]

It is.

One of them was clearly my favorite, so it will be interesting to see if that still holds when I revisit them later. It's always interesting to see what still speaks to you or loses charm after being read several times.

A fantastic point. I made my selections much like you did. I had about five outliers at the finish, ones I wanted to include, but couldn't, and were pretty much tit-for-tat with the final ones that sneaked in for me. It was difficult, but the ones that really garnered my love sailed in.

Now, the next round will be much harder, and the one after that may draw some tears from me. I'm actually hoping the rest of you murder some of my babies, so I don't have to kill them myself at the end.

 

[greenmountaineer]

Funny, I thought you might have been the poet.

I wish. Someone who knows me well thought the same.

Honestly, I'm a little clumsier. It's a poem I would have liked to have written. The edges are too sharp, too refined, for me. My hands aren't that deft.

I thought I saw some similarities with "Flight of the Intrepid Goddess," which to me was well woven, not clumsy at all; also the allusion to "Barbarella," an icon used much the same as Carl Sagan and Mr. T. (oh, those young male fantasies before she became "Hanoi Jane!"(LOL))

As long as folks are starting to play the guessing game, I'm going with Tzara unless the poet's a newcomer whose style I'm unfamiliar with. I hope some of those poets will stick around after the challenge is over.

 

[AMoveableBeast]

I thought I saw some similarities with "Flight of the Intrepid Goddess," which to me was well woven, not clumsy at all; also the allusion to "Barbarella," an icon used much the same as Carl Sagan and Mr. T. (oh, those young male fantasies before she became "Hanoi Jane!"(LOL))

As long as folks are starting to play the guessing game, I'm going with Tzara unless the poet's a newcomer whose style I'm unfamiliar with. I hope some of those poets will stick around after the challenge is over.

You are an insightful one, aren't you, GM? I made this same observation earlier today to the person who thought the poem was mine.

Almost like a response.

And I hope they will too. I will. I never came here much before because the group seemed insular and I just assumed, incorrectly, that it would be more of the same sniping and general bemoaning and antagonism that goes on in the AH, a place I sometimes visit like a gopher poking his head into a war zone.

So far, I have been pleasantly surprised by the sense of camaraderie and general affection most of you seem to have for each other.

 

[pelegrino]

I have finish my selection of the 21 poems that I think should go to the next round (regretting very much the ones I left behind), but I want to clarify a point:
I will pm my ballot as a catalogue including 21 entries but not in order of any evaluating preference as yet, as I think this does not matter until we go for the final and by then preferences may change by voting factors etc.

Is this ok, Harry?

 

[butters]

I have finish my selection of the 21 poems that I think should go to the next round (regretting very much the ones I left behind), but I want to clarify a point:
I will pm my ballot as a catalogue including 21 entries but not in order of any evaluating preference as yet, as I think this does not matter until we go for the final and by then preferences may change by voting factors etc.

Is this ok, Harry?

were we supposed to do order of preference? i didn't - just went through first to last, eliminating as i went.

 

[Lyricalli]

were we supposed to do order of preference? i didn't - just went through first to last, eliminating as i went.

Yikes! I hope not. I didn't even consider weighted voted yet. Mine is most definitely not in preference order.

 

[HarryHill]

I have finish my selection of the 21 poems that I think should go to the next round (regretting very much the ones I left behind), but I want to clarify a point:
I will pm my ballot as a catalogue including 21 entries but not in order of any evaluating preference as yet, as I think this does not matter until we go for the final and by then preferences may change by voting factors etc.

Is this ok, Harry?

were we supposed to do order of preference? i didn't - just went through first to last, eliminating as i went.

Oh no the 21 numbers were in no means thrown out as an indication of any preference one over another, go willy nilly as you will, it's going to be hard enough just whittling it down, sorry if there was any confusion