I had an absolutely WONDERFUL time reading through all 30 entries to my
25th Birthday Contest! Thank you to everyone who entered and left birthday wishes in their artist's comments.
It has been difficult narrowing it down to just these three winners. But it had to be done, and here they are!
To Any Good Teacherthere was a patient man
who read my words and said
you could be anything
when i held no ambitions;
i will make him proud.
County LinesFog swallows the corn,
an unlit farmhouse eaten;
stars shine scarce
in the dark heather sky,
inconsequential fires.
Dim lamps guide the road,
but each creates
a separate jaundiced clarity:
sight and blindness passing
in fewer frames per second,
confused Vaudeville captures.
Your eyes look blue tonight
when I can see them;
shadows fill your mouth and
fine lines.
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naked kneesin high school,
you tore your acl playing
a sport you didn't care for,
and you hate that scar: pale
thick and protruding, saying,
"look here. ignore the golden
hair that collects at his thighs,
ignore the bruises from kneeling
on the floor. ignore his calves,
the sharp angle of them and look
at me. look at his knees, how
ugly they are. the thick skin
callused pale and littered with
black hairs."
at work,
you don't have to stand but
in lines you get uncomfortable
and you never wear shorts which
is okay. i don't wear them either
[for more irrational reasons] and
i think your legs are my favorite
part of you, contending wi
XXVmy hands will immerse: settle into a new sea, dig
in to find roots that swing far and wide
and up as a banyan tree.
RiverdrumMany things have been handed to me over years:
a drum full of water, once. I threw it away,
of course, but it returned, again, again,
until I took it under my arms
and called it mine.
My riverdrum is full of water that is full of light,
but it cannot scoop up a brook of stars.
I have two children. They have made
a game of watching the cows below that
walk towards me and never reach me. The first
one to spot the cow closest to me calls out 'Cowherd!'
I have a wife. I lose her like one loses grey hairs –
achingly, and with sadness. Perhaps these hairs
float over the river of oil and water that keeps us
away. Perhaps she l
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Thirst of a Poetthe bards have bumblebees in their mouths,
for language is babbling,
a brook in a bowl, joy brimming;
billowing, rippling, surging –
and spilling; sashaying down,
with a swaying sound (oh-so wistful, oh).
language is burbling,
an impish kiss of mouth from mouth;
bewildering, baffling, bemusing –
and tricking; tumbling round,
to touch a fellow Fool and his nought (so wistful, oh),
and disturbs a Poet, who slips
into a dream of a vagabond –
"where are you calling from?" he murmurs,
in his sleep, and the newspaper flutters
with a snore; then rests on his chin (just so, oh),
and language sidles past him up to me,
and places
By Fifty,I'll publish or perish;
find someone to cherish;
move someplace phenomenal;
display an abdominal
physique to inspire,
which I shall acquire!
. . . Or perhaps, just retire.
Apotheosis: Prometheus Re-BoundI thought I saw each day flow by,
from final rest to birthing cry:
the total sum of deeds undone
are bleached beneath the blazing sun
and offered up to passers-by.
The crows will claw, the seagulls cry,
the terns will carry tidbits high,
the pterodactyls catch and run—
I thought I saw.
But vivisect or vivify,
the price will never be as high
as back when I had purchased one
brand-new, and clearly underdone;
to Zeus in gratitude, I'll testify:
"I thought I saw."
Much Ado About Sound and Fury"His majesty seemed in a better mood this eve. One might almost say he was amused."
"King Claudius, amused? I was standing beside you, my friend; but I noticed no such thing."
"Did you not hear him chuckling as we took our leave?"
"That was a chuckle? To me it sounded more of a chortle."
"A chortle? Don't be ridiculous. It was quick and free, with a bit of a lilt at the end. Such clearly denotes a chuckle."
"A lilt it may have had, I'll grant; but 'twas also deep and throaty. Almost sinister. If anything bespeaks of chortling, 'tis that."
"Sinister? My dear friend, I love you like a brother: but such utter foolishness has never before f
Religion Free DVD PlayerAs an avowed atheist, I've always despised overt religious subtext in my movies. So when I ran across a back-alley electronics shop offering "Religion Free DVD Players", I snatched one up faster than a Southern Baptist preacher could call out, "Hallelujah!"
Set-up was a breeze, thank Nobody. So the first movie I popped in was one of my favorites, The Wizard of Oz.
Well, by the time the angelic Glinda introduces herself to saintly little Dorothy in front of the Munchkin choir, I was already beginning to suspect that something might be off. And it only got worse, as her ragtag band of pilgrims undergoes their yellow-brick hajj to the Emerald
Congratulations! And thank you all again for helping me celebrate!
Sta.sh
ing this News Article.
the features and congratulate the artists!
For all of the featured artists: If you receive a DD for one
with the subject "Demonstrably Deviant".
" Alf lives in Belgium, his profile picture suggests he enjoys drowning young children in several inch
All winning pieces and artists are amazing!