Wordgrove Post & Review

Quoted in the Grove:

The creative impulse comes from the dark side of the personality.
~Don Henley

Deep into that darkness peering, long I stood there, wondering, fearing, doubting, dreaming dreams no mortal ever dared to dream before.
~Edgar Allan Poe

We work in the dark – we do what we can – we give what we have. Our doubt is our passion and our passion is our task. The rest is the madness of art.
~ Henry James

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Announcements:
The words for this week’s Prewritten are: impingement; persnickety.

 ~.~.~

On the Glass Table:

BarTalk:  Nexus: A seasoned collection of stories, poems and essays.
http://www.wordgrove.com/nexus.html

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Greenie:  “A Petal At A Time” (qip)

I open myself
A petal at a time
Showing the world, and you
This heart of mine.
One petal shows the pain
Another, how I like sunshine
And walks in the rain.
Slowly I bloom
Open a little more.
You glimpse me here
On a distant shore.

 ~.~.~

Prewritten (Feb 19): mayday; levelheaded.

Whitefeather:  “Special Weather Statement” (qip)

Brace yourselves… everyone is about to forget how to drive! Mayday, mayday, rush right out and get the milk, get the bread, get the water, get the toilet paper, it’s a winter apocalypse! Check on your neighbors; if you see an ice sculpture in your neighbor’s yard, make sure it’s not your neighbor! Microwave your underwear before putting them on and going outside. The amount of snow you may receive, depends on which side of the drift you live on.

~

BarTalk:  “maestro’s lament” (qif)

cries of mayday cover the land
kneading clay wrecks the hands
blowing glass burns the lungs
paint fumes taint the brain
wrangling words bend the mind
give me a day job nine to five
a levelheaded paid job
drone in a hive

~

Greymane: “Lies” (qif)

The nightmare threaded dreams-regretted deep into my vein
The level-headed lies embedded somewhere in my brain
Now it seems the pointless dreams I somehow left behind
were endless streams of silence screaming mayday in my mind
I’ll ride each tear from fear to fear upon a failing wind
and disappear when I get near the sins that I have sinned
A journey through each hell that knew the seasons of my soul
Too far and few between what’s true, I’m losing all control

~

Piffin:  “Candy Cain” (qip)

How I revel when depressed
Unlevelheaded and undressed
‘Til I’m slipping and I’m sliding
Devil-bedded, lunar-blessed
I gave up my self-control
The same year I sold my soul
For a reckless rebel romance
And a lonely heart I stole
Some night I’ll face that payday
But for now it’s one more pray day
My contrition mere attrition
My novena more a mayday

~.~.~

Impromptu (Feb 19): calcium; berserk.

Bartalk: Untitled (qif)

hunger frenzy mad berserk
teeth a great white shark
penguin ice sneak-attack
crunchy fur calcium snack
taste but don’t look back

~

Greymane:  “Out of the Closet” (qif)

Calcium corsets of sinew and bone
The skeleton king sat alone on his throne
He called for his warriors, ancient and brave
Awakened from slumber they crawled from the grave

They promised allegiance for freedom from death
and he granted it laughing with each dying breath
Unleashing his army and dastardly plan
He sent them to gather the spirit of man

They marched into daylight and fell to the fire
of man’s disrespect of his own dark desire
The penance they paid drove them madly berserk
While the Devil sat silently watching his work

~

Piffin: “Say Gamalost!” (qif)

Sven the bold berserker
Was no field duty shirker
Drenched in blood
He was a good warlord
Though frenzied and proficient
He was calcium deficient
Dentition terrifying more than sword
When not out frontline steppin’
He sheathed his other weapon
In shield-maiden and Valkyrie for miles
Though trophies filled his shelf, he
Lacked in Facebook selfie
The few he had were absent any smiles

~.~.~

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How to Choose the Winner of a Writing Contest

Should emotional impact count most? If the world and love were to come together in one transporting moment of joy, or should they shatter into memories and a thousand cutting pieces; and should that moment be given to you as fresh as your own first time, how can the tears from that not weigh heaviest in the count?

But what chance is there for a crucible of hot tears when faced with an eye-widening inventiveness, a creative and startling new way of looking at things? In art, in love, in life, there are those few dawning moments, flashes of realization that cannot be unlearned, forgotten or gainsaid. What could matter more?

… unless the work itself is that rare anomaly that grows from confessional seed into new leaf and full life, into a populated universe unto itself, a revelatory epic achievement.

The problem: which of the Authors and which of these components of the writer’s craft aren’t deserving of Gold Torch recognition? It does not dilute the value of a prize if the winners are worthy and the prize is shared. With that understanding, it gives the sponsor great pleasure to announce a three-way tie for the 2015 Wordgrove Prize.

The Gold Torch goes to:

For its emotional impact; for dropping the innocent bystander dead-center into a tragedy; for leaving the reader to emerge wounded and bleeding honest tears…

~Jessalee: Provisions

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For giving hollowness a face, and nothingness a mask; for giving a 3D perspective to blackness and empty space; for turning sadness into a reason for grief…

~noxy: shadow

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For giving the larger vision its own canvas, then filling it with truth; for looking in the mirror and giving Hell its due; for mining treasure from the deep shafts of pain…

~Piffin: The Resurrection Machine

~

Congratulations to all who entered Wordgrove’s 2015 writing contest, and this year’s Silver Quill and Gold Torch winners!

~. .~

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Quoted in the Grove:
A note of music gains significance from the silence on either side.
~Anne Morrow Lindbergh

The right word may be effective, but no word was ever as effective as a rightly timed pause.
~Mark Twain

He who does not understand your silence will probably not understand your words.
~Elbert Hubbard

EndQuote:
Silences have a climax, when you have got to speak.
~Elizabeth Bowen

~~

Posted from the Grove:
Theme for 2015 Wordgrove Prize: The Being from another Dimension
Voting for the 2015 Wordgrove Prize has completed
List of Entries: Silver Quill winners are starred (*)

Poetry:
~Wizardofoz: The Unknown
~Greymane: Asylum in A Minor *
~GaryBob: Once and Forever

~

Prose:
~Wizardofoz: Strangers In The Night
~noxy: Long Distance Relationship
~Greymane: Silent Shadows *

~

Multimedia:
Three are entered, with links below. One introduction is included; one includes poem but with graphics online; one is self-contained.

~

~Piffin: The Resurrection Machine

The link furnished below will take you to The Resurrection Machine, a poetic narrative told in words and pictures. I hope you enjoy it.

WARNING: The Resurrection Machine details a dark, personal journey through loss, betrayal, sexual excess, and ultimately, redemption, and is intended for adult readers. As such, it contains themes and images of a decidedly adult nature. If this sort of art disagrees with you, please do not click the link below. Otherwise, dark as it is, may the journey be an enlightening one for you.

http://piffin.org/index.html

~

~noxy: shadow
http://s2.postimg.org/63w7ymw4p/shadow.png

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~GaryBob: Mother’s Milk  (qif)
https://www.dropbox.com/sc/8nt8yqs55oaeqhx/AADkjojSM0nQx8XcLXovvHJOa

Deep in distant jungle
Under ancient ruined stone
Waits a vigilant mother
Determined and alone

Silently she guards
Without break or rest
Hiding in the shadows
Guarding cherished nest

Elegant and tall
Her eyes filled with pride
Resolute and mute
Hiding fear inside

Hiding from the monsters
Out there beyond her hole
Wrapped around her eggs
Coiled around her soul

Watching.
Waiting.
Rustle.

Watching.
Waiting.
Hiss.

Crackling they come
Little serpents soon unfurled
Bursting from their eggs
From fractured womb to fractured world

~

The winner of the 2015 Gold Torch award will be announced in next week’s Post & Review. Advisory: Ties are allowed under contest rules. Due to down-scaled interest for this year’s contest, there will be no formal awards presentation ceremony. A small ceremony at our 02/26 Thurs Word Games will be used for the presentations.

~

Prewritten for Thurs (04/17) @6pm PT/9 ET is: levelheaded, mayday

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@Writers Platform
Glass Table: No new drops

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Prewritten: frigid, internship

~Greymane: Pilaf  (qif)

He said turn your head, please cough
the patient near ripped his hand off
a failed internship
with a fingertip slip
so frigid it froze his pilaf

~

~Piffin: “Igor A Go-Go”  (qif)

Waiting on the lightning
Balancing the dials
Waiting on the lightning
Shaking up the vials
Nerves frazzling as tempers flare
And pressure gauges fall
This frigid pile of body parts
Has not once moved at all
I thought I’d be a celebrated
Doctor of the brain
This internship to Frankenstein
Is making me insane

~

~BarTalk: briny yarn

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Impromptu: insincerity, dumpster

~Piffin: “Yonder Window Brakes”

Romeo, my Romeo
Why do you stir me so?
I’ve truths to learn before I wake
And many miles to go
Your voice beneath my window
‘Neath the trellis, raised with clarity
Are perfumed, though perfunctory
And ring with insincerity
I’d sooner rise to rain upon my pane
Sweet pitter pats
Or caterwauling of the mongrel
Dumpster alley cats
So Romeo, dear Romeo
Court someone else instead
Before my chamber pot
Finds a new home upon your head

~

~Greymane: Solace  (qif)

She passed between dreams with unrivaled dexterity
Splitting her seams with her own insincerity
Lost on the way to get back where she used to be
Sleeping in dumpsters she filled with eternity
Meeting with moments she bought with insanity
Forgiving herself with no lack of profanity
Searching for silence in buried serenity
Finding that solace is just an amenity

~

~GaryBob: haiku

Insincere dumpsters
Ironic thieving bastards
I loathe all hipsters

~

~BarTalk: Valentine’s Day

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