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National Poetry Day challenge

edited October 2010 in - WM and WN
It's National Poetry Day!
Is anyone doing anything special to mark the occasion? Let us know.
The theme this year is Home, so we thought we'd have a little competition on here, with a poetry book for the best entry.
Perhaps working from this first line... "There's no place like home"
Hope to see some interesting entries. Good luck!
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Comments

  • Thank God!

    Only joking. :)
  • "It felt more like home than home did." Sorry. Couldn't resist quoting myself.

    Does jeroboam [sp?] rhyme with home?
  • I'm sure Pam Ayres could make it so!
  • Ooh is she here on Talkback? Pam Ayres?
  • Is Lolli going there? Hasn't it changed its name, though?
  • I saw her last Sunday. She was great! Do you have a deadline Webbo? Is it 12pm? i hope so as I have a lot of housework to do...
  • Is that midday/noon or midnight? I can never remember.
  • I was meant to be reading my poem theme home- mine was about a tramp- on Speaker's Steps today but it has been put off to November as the House of Commons are in recess.
  • edited October 2010
    [quote=Webbo]could make it so![/quote] [quote=Webbo]Uluru?[/quote]
    Why does Star Trek keep popping into my head?
    I think we'll be pretty slack about a deadline Liz! – there aren't that many hours left in the day now.
    (I think 12pm is usually noon, Jay, but technically, isn't it neither? It should just be "M" )

    Anyway... poems!
  • That's a shame Kateyanne - isn't that something they could have planned for?
  • You'd think so wouldn't you. This is the John Clare Poetry Trust comp , I'm shortlisted.
  • Dear Webbo, when you say 'Perhaps' working from this first line, does that mean you don't have to as long as the theme is home? Otherwise every poem will have a very similar structure. And the other question is, is prose allowed?
  • I'm in two minds. Think giving the first line is a bit restrictive, as you say - so let's just make it straightforward Home theme. Think I'll have to say no to prose though!
  • Webbo, whose mind have you taken over as your second one? Is there a zombie walking around the WN offices at the moment? If so, should they not have their mind back before the end of the working day?
  • There's no place like home
    be it cubic or dome
    made of redbrick or timber or ice.

    Whether stately or small
    it's the best place of all
    for, to you, it's your own paradise.

    (Now you tell me we don't have to use the first line!!!!!)
  • That's lovely Heather, an early leader!
  • Hurrah!
    I'm currently in first place ...... out of one!
  • First Among Equal(s).
  • Who remembers The Equals, then?
  • I've got a letter from Mr Archer.
  • There's no place like home
    Hairclipped to where I was born
    I always navigate back
    Through satellite and storms
    To the place where I belong.
  • War-zone Wishes

    Different ideas to different minds,
    Different concepts to different kinds,
    I see home in the words perfumed in my mail,
    Grabbing that feeling and building its scale,
    I'm coming home in one of two ways,
    One's in a box if I can't survive some more days,
    I'm sorry my love if the way is the latter,
    You and our kid, you're all that does matter.



    Awww, rhyming's fun.
  • edited October 2010
    I'm not comin' home, I haven't done my time


    :(
  • I specifically told them not to give you parole.
  • [quote=LeeH]I specifically told them not to give you parole. [/quote]

    Looks like the copyright police heard you. :(
  • Our home

    I wish it was still there,
    our cottage in the woods,
    but there's a brand new town
    where our dear home once stood.

    I wish it was still there
    the beech trees standing tall,
    but tap roots have withered
    beneath the urban sprawl.

    I wish it was still there,
    remember cuckoo song.
    I weep like a Moorish king,
    my paradise has gone.
  • edited October 2010
    [quote=Webbo]I'm sure Pam Ayres could make it so! [/quote]

    Okay - so the mention of Pam Ayres inspired me to write this!

    There’s no place like home
    said the spider to the fly
    It’s unique, it’s stand alone
    come look and you’ll see why.

    There’s no place like home
    come and see my filaments
    There’s no place like home
    come see its accoutrements.

    There’s no place like home?
    The fly was tempted to explore
    He circled, glided, roamed
    then he flew into her maw.

    There’s no place like home
    The spider wrapped the fly
    There’s no place like home?
    She stifled his last cry.
  • THE ONE THING

    She’s a skinny ballerina,
    dancing, desperate with thrall.
    Today she’s here,
    tomorrow, and the next,
    there’s an absence as
    she fails to grace
    her classroom chair.

    Eight years old.
    Darling of the corner shop,
    Mummy’s money.
    Grown-up girl does it all,
    sweeps the floor,
    washes dishes,
    cares without care.

    Teacher spots the crawling hair,
    lice the size
    of planets in
    Delilah’s fine red curls,
    Appalled, she sends her home.
    The letter
    Says it all.

    Breaking down the family door
    they find the truth,
    how she’s survived
    on pizza,
    squeezy cheese.
    The washing up’s all done,
    ironing, left creased.

    With Mummy dressed in rose-pink satin,
    curled up in cold
    arms Delilah scratches
    at her scalp.
    Mummy gone, the nits -
    one thing
    she couldn’t do herself.
  • Albatross

    Just the sky
    stretched white
    above the sea,

    and one albatross,
    rising and falling
    with the breath
    of the tide,

    wings spread,
    feathers lifting,
    strong with
    the memories
    of sun, moon,
    storm, wind,
    and the plunge
    for fish,

    each wing tip
    grey dipped,

    circle, soar, swoop.

    What calls him?
    He is already home.
  • The sink is full of dishes,
    There’s dog hair on the couch,
    The bed sheets all need washing
    But I’m feeling such a slouch

    We can’t see through the windows
    And cobwebs drape the walls
    The bin is overflowing
    But the thought of cleaning galls

    The stove is indescribable
    The fridge, a lab for mould,
    But I really can’t be bothered
    I must be getting old.

    My kids, though, all seem happy,
    They’re always washed and fed
    They always have a story
    When they’re going off to bed

    They always do their homework
    They’re not allowed to roam
    It’s their giggles and their laughter
    That makes this house a home.

    I know my house is messy,
    In fact, it's quite a sight,
    But I’m busy doing other things
    Come on, kids, where’s the kite?
  • Wow, I didn't expect such polish. Thanks everyone!
    These are all really good! I wonder how many books we've got... Will seek colleagues' comments on favourites.
  • edited October 2010
    The results are in...
    The office favourite was Nena's warmhearted portrait of home life... so well done Nena. Please whisper me your address, and we'll sort out a prize for you. Course, you're in Oz, so with our post you'll probably get it just about in time for next year's National Poetry Day!
    There were other great ones too though, and I must admit I nearly had to wipe away a tear at LilyC's (but I'm just a sentimental old fool really).
  • Well done Nena!!

    Sorry to make you (nearly) sob Webbo!
  • Well done, nena.
    That's a lovely poem.
  • Well done, Nena!
  • It is, congratulations Nena! I loved the lab for mould... especially as I just had throw away a yogurt!
  • congratulations, Nena, and Lily!
  • Gosh! Thanks Webbo! Being honest does pay! :D

    I'm going to have sweet dreams tonight (it's late here).
  • Congratulations Nena!
  • Well done Nena.
  • Well done, Nena. Have to say it was my favourite too!
  • Well done Nena!
  • Only just saw this thread, and too late to enter, but well done Nena.
    As to webbo's original question about what we did for NPD - I spent yesterday morning with 18 children under five, reading rhymed stories and singing nursery rhymes - at that age, rhymes are their poetry! And I had sent off 10 children's 'My favourite things' poems to a 'My First Poem' competition a few weeks back, and just found out today that they will all get published in a book - the usual 'try to get the parents to buy an expensive copy to see their kids work in print' kind of a book, but at least I got 10 tiny kids to have a go at writing a poem!
  • Well done, Nena - that resonated with me! :)
  • edited October 2010
    A great assortment of poems there. Congratulations, Nena!
  • WHat a lovely initiative, Webbo - sorry I missed it until now.
  • Just being nosey here, Nena and wondering what poetry book you received for your prize?
  • Yes, have you got it yet?

    I really enjoyed all these poems, especially Lily's and Nena's.
  • Thanks, Lou!

    Er, no, the book hasn't arrived yet. But considering how late Writer's Magazine arrives in the Aussie shops each edition, I expect it's on the same boat as them - and heading here via Mongolia and the South Pole. :D
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