POETRY CHICKEN

Easy! We schedule sessions, and no one person is really in charge, so write to Verbivore and ask to be put on the informal mailing list that we are passing around. When the mood strikes, someone sends mail, and we chicken!

Finding us is simple, we meet in irc, usually on #write, though sometimes the channel isn't available. Just /notify Verbivore or hnt, and go where we can be found. If you don't know what I'm talking about, find out about irc at irchelp.

  1. We agree on a topic/image or phrase
  2. Take a few minutes to compose, (5 - 15) The poem doesn't need to rhyme or have meter unless you want it to.
  3. Participants signal when done.
  4. Participants post their works.
  5. If wanted by the gamers, critiques and comments are given.
  6. Start the next round!

Here is an example round to show you how. The topic is: drops of wine on a broken wineglass.

Abbenay:

Drops and rivulets
of vibrant purple-red
flow into 
wicking white linen

Spreading out
between us
like a secret
revealed

My clumsiness
upsets me
and the color from the table
takes my face

I look into your gaze
where humor and affection
make it better
and worse


hnt:

4 AM: just ashes left
  in the fireplace...
Long night -- reading.

Broken glass,
  on the floor somehow...
don't recall
  how that happened?
Uh..some fragmented dream,
  wet with wine..
Yeah...but heck,
  I must've just spilled it.
Couldn't have had
  anything to do with..

Whoa!
  It's still here,
INSIDE 
I feel it..

Jeezus!
  I'm cut!  I'm cut!

Hell, don't panic..
  must be an explanation
..something...
Gotta stop drinking,
  Today even.

But, gee,
  I sure need one now!
Gawd!


Maizesun:

Blessing that flowed 
under sharp breath
and the holy man's 
softly uttered curse
This spirit wine bought
with the marital purse.
One man gave me away
And another crunched the glass
Such sweet sharp alterations
I am changed forever
My troth stitched
My future sewn
Lift my veil.
LIft my veil.


`Robin

The Ninth Wonder

It surprised me
There must have been something
In the air that night
I never expected to see
He dropped the glass.


It was the same as any Friday night at home
He'd return, around eight,
Halfway there already
I had roughly four hours of peace
Following the school day

When I was smaller
I would hide under the bed
Waiting for him to go out again


There was no solace after he'd gone
I worried too much about what would happen
When he returned for the second time that night.


It was no different
He was in a rage
He was out of control
He was going to hurt one of us.


Have you ever seen a drunk drop his glass?
I've always wondered why it seems to never happen
Given their contition
And how easy it should be to spill something
When they're in it
I say it's the ninth wonder


We watched as he swung around the ditchen
losing his balance
As his fist crashed through the back window
and the glass crashed to the floor.

===Robin/97===

Here are a few more examples.

Topic:  Hard headed woman

Abbenay:

There is a woman
shaped hole
in that man
over there

Another in
the wall behind him
where the sunlight
columns in through dust

She had that look
that steady burn
that says 
beware

The one thing that could
have saved him
was to show her
his heart

Instead he showed
his own hard head
and she took the heart
when she left


Topic 2: on the toilet

Hnt:

          Florida mid-day 
              swelter... there for 
               water, I guess 
         a tiny toad squats
                                on 
             porcelain. Puke green 
               spot coiled on 
                  crazed yellow.

      Bursting in, I glance and recoil.
                  But lurch!
                         my own toadness grips 
    me.
     "OK, you first...go ahead", I said,
             then turned and grabbed the other 
                    stall, - half for support.

                Two parts horror, admiration - one.
                     A cosmic smirk swirling
                         in sweat stink...
                        My laugh came deep but 
                     foul.


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All poetry created in chicken poetry sessions remains the property of the writer.

Chicken Poetry (c)1996, J.L.Dunkle

Last updated 3/28/99