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Bonus: Poetry - Etheree

Etheree

Contest ended 5 years ago 10/20/2006 12:00:00 AM EDT

Contest Info

Cost: 10 credits
Jackpot: 100 credits

Contest Options

30 Contest Entries

# 1

1 plus 1 = 1

By leonardjk (Score: 8.139)

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Author's note: Please read each of the following Etheree's separately, on their own, before reading them as a combined poem.

Leaves........Dancing on the swirling winds of autumn
Red and..........Brown and sere they flutter to the earth
Golden hued..........Harbingers of the coming snows
Rustling above..........They dance and flit round my head
A crown of glory..............Filling hearts with laughter
Draping the mighty ash........Landing soft on grass
Setting the forest afire.................To spark my joy
Nature paints the woods with wonder.......Seasons turn
My soul is filled for the dark to come..............Winter
With the promise of a new beginning.................Spring

Word count: 104

Sponsored by Merbley

# 2

Childlike

By cejarrood (Score: 7.179)

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A
trusting
face below
tightens in fear
when the growling dog
leaps on creaking chainlink,
barking sharply in our ears.
Her soft blue eyes turn to my face
to see if my reaction is fear,
So she can learn how to deal with the world
She has so suddenly found herself in.
I smile at her, laughing “Silly dog!”
and she laughs back, believing that
with me she is always safe.
My heart tightens in love,
knowing that for her
I would battle
far larger
beasts than
dogs.

Word count: 88

# 3

Player Piano

By Lemmiwinks (Score: 7.02)

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Today I danced with you for the last time
We walked through the hospital lobby
Our pilgrimage of the past month
Today, your steps were slower
Your breathing, more labored
Yet you held my hand
With conviction
Finally
You feel
Peace

Still
Your hand
Upon mine
My tears begin
As I realize
This is our final walk
My heart completely shatters
Right there in front of everyone
And you, my rock, my love, my always
Your frail frame finds a way to hold me up

We shuffle together, through the lobby
Past that awful player piano
“A gift from Warner Music Stores”
Says the affixed brass nameplate
Each day this annoyance
Mocked your cruel disease
With Christmas songs
Even though
It is
June

Yet,
Today,
The music
Soothes our despair
In that cold lobby
We hold each other tight
And gently, begin to sway
The rhythm numbs my broken soul
Farewell my rock, my love, my always
Today I danced with you for the last time

Word count: 166

Portrait of the Artist as a Raving Looney

By acseverson (Score: 6.886)

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The
blinking
cursor is
the enemy
revealing my lack
of inspiration on
a white field of nothingness.
It waits impatiently for me
to unleash my ineptitude in
all its twelve-point Times New Roman glory.

But I will not be mocked by a black bar!
I have overcome worthier foe.
Hastily approaching deadlines
and lack of appropriate
volumes of reference
have ne’er been able
to stanch the flow
of keystrokes,
swift and
sure.

Oh,
who am
I kidding?
My muse flew the
coop a while ago.
She was likely weary
of my hackneyed prose and the
dry ruminations I professed
to be verse. In full disclosure, the
thesaurus did the work most of the time.

I must throw off the bonds of self-doubt and
thrust headlong into the task at hand.
Who needs a stinkin’ muse when they
have pure talent on their side!
What is inspiration
if not suddenly
realizing
genius and
using
it?

I’m
really
in trouble.
If I have to
rely on latent
genius to finish this
project then I might as well
drink myself into a coma.
There’s nothing like succumbing to your
demons to put things into perspective.

But maybe that’s the answer after all.
Hasn’t history proven that the
most exquisite of works have been
penned under the influence?
Shouldn’t I style myself
after the masters?
I’ll just have to
work on not
dying
young.

Word count: 230

How It Works

By bevissimo (Score: 6.664)

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Why?
You laugh.
I like it.
It makes me smile
To hear the laughter.
Laughing revs up my wit,
Accelerating my brain.
Connections fly inside my head,
In the moment then, but afterwards
My fingers feel the gush of flowing words.
Pounding at the keyboard and the paper;
Flushing thought becomes a vapor.
I’m exhausted to a stupor,
Now with an idea tumor.
Metastasizing to
More bits I can do
So folks like you
Laugh again.
And then
BAM
Ha!
Once more!
The laughs pour
Into my soul;
Giving me ideas.
Refracting through my brain
To scenarios insane;
Opening yet another vein
Of rushing words that spray blank paper
With some plot, any intricate caper.
Some exotic ploy to escape or
Make reality much safer
By figuring out the stuff
That earns my firm rebuff
Makes me understand
The things not planned
So I can
Make you
Laugh.
Then -
You think;
From that ink
Typed in a wink
From my roller rink.
Those little ideas twink-
ling through my prism, the brink
Of brilliance I might chance upon
That you catch and chance to ponder on.
Like me, you twist it in your conscious thought
And it becomes a thing that it was not.
At least, before you heard it from me.
Then checked yourself, and now you see
What was hard to understand
Is now somewhat more bland.
Your mind does expand
More than you planned
Or thought could.
You learn.
Good.

Word count: 243

Pain

By Bane123 (Score: 6.31)

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Pain
One word
But much more
An emotion
That cuts like a knife
Wounding more than the flesh
Gnawing at the heart and soul
A sorrow born of grief and loss
From which no refuge can be taken
For darkness only brings more pain to bear.

A love so perfect brought to bitter end
Just one moment and a life erased
A life that lit the darkest days
Now uncompromising void
With naught to numb the ache
And nowhere to hide
To face the truth
And let go
They come
Tears.

Word count: 91

Sponsored by Merbley

Death Comes

By leonardjk (Score: 6.186)

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Still
Silent
Gathering
Death comes nearer
Nevermore to feel
Nevermore to know joy
Descending into darkness!
Spiraling towards life's bitter end
Lost in a sea of timeless questions
Have I lived up to the gifts that were mine?

I have touched many along the journey
Surely the world will mark my passing
As I join others before me
Who have crossed into the light
Beckoning me onward
I come now, freely!
Embracing Death
Gathering
Silent
Peace

Word count: 76

My Mother's Garden

By cshutt (Score: 6.046)

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MY
Mother’s
garden, My
MOTHER’S garden
My Mother’s GARDEN.
Oh, what memories those
words bring especially at
the start of spring when winter’s snows
and frost have gone and crocus start to
crown the lawn in rich purples, golds, and whites.

MY Mother’s garden was carefully planned
for annuals and perennials
that now would share the same worked dirt
which we had weeded on hands
and knees, ready now and
finally seeded
with favorite
colors just
right for
show.

My
MOTHER’S
garden was
well composed with
ferns and poppies and
roses of various
kinds looking like they belong
on cards showing that her GARDEN
was full of grace as all the flowers
turned their faces up to catch the sun’s rays.

MY Mother’s garden, My MOTHER’S garden
My Mother’s GARDEN. Oh, what mem’ries
those words bring especially at
the start of spring when winter’s
snows and frost have gone and
crocus start to crown
the lawn in rich,
deep purples,
golds, and
whites.

Word count: 163

A Friend

By Hotstuff69 (Score: 5.871)

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gone
he died
quietly
forgotten man
a dull memory
the warm wisp of air fades
he lived his life day to day
a man no one will remember
a man no one will ever forget
he was you and me when we were youngsters
he could have been a kind and loving man
he could have been someone’s father too
he could have been your greatest friend
he lived alone on the streets
an ousted beggared man
he just couldn’t fit in
death visited
like a friend
his prayer
came