literary greatness

PROVERB 3681

'Tis a lesson you should heed: Try, try, try again.
If at first you don't succeed, Try, try, try again’  - Thomas H Palmer

Tis a fine proverb, helping spirits rise
In certain situations it may not be that wise;
Crossing a busy road blindfolded attempting to use the force
Catching lightning by holding in the air a long metal pole
Hitting yourself hard on the head with a heavy meat mallet
Playing Russian roulette in a Vietnamese prison camp
Attempting to have sexual intercourse with a rabid wolverine
Bungee jumping from a great height using a thin piano wire
Waking a hungry polar bear, challenging him to a game of chess
Skydiving, replacing your parachute with your camping rucksack
Drawing a deeply offensive cartoon of the prophet Mohamed
Climbing the safety barrier at the zoo and slapping a tiger
Tap gracefully tap dancing like Fred Astaire in a Syrian minefield
Telling a woman her ass looks fat, no matter what she wears
Any and all types and forms of suicide
Despite our adventures, trying different stunts
Some things should only ever be attempted once
(or maybe never)

When war is declared, Truth is the first casualty - Aeschylus.

/* This could sound offensive for someone but it is not the purpose

Obsessed about a freedom you never had.

Not 100 years were past from your indipendance,
Your country was going already in war, claiming freedom.

Oh yes it is a civil war,
We have to bring freedom to the south so let's bomb them,

And from that event, every war you made,
Was in the name of a freedom you never had.

Still now, let's bomb here,
Let's bomb there,

In the name of the freedom.

Let's make a genocide here,
In the name of a freedom,

You never had but in a massive speaking dream.

IronFears said:When war is declared, Truth is the first casualty - Aeschylus.

/* This could sound offensive for someone but it is not the purpose

Obsessed about a freedom you never had.

Not 100 years were past from your indipendance,
Your country was going already in war, claiming freedom.

Oh yes it is a civil war,
We have to bring freedom to the south so let's bomb them,

And from that event, every war you made,
Was in the name of a freedom you never had.

Still now, let's bomb here,
Let's bomb there,

In the name of the freedom.

Let's make a genocide here,
In the name of a freedom,

You never had but in a massive speaking dream.

uneducated rhetoric--

thanks for all the great entries so far! there is still time to get in on this greatness!

"Do your own bit of saving, and if you drown, at least die knowing you were headed for shore." -Ray Bradbury ( Fahrenheit 451)

The key
is seeing
beyond your own -
find someone's hands in the water
and pull them
up.

"First they came for the Socialists, and I did not speak out—
Because I was not a Socialist.
Then they came for the Trade Unionists, and I did not speak out—
Because I was not a Trade Unionist.
Then they came for the Jews, and I did not speak out—
Because I was not a Jew.
Then they came for me—and there was no one left to speak for me."-
Niemöller

                    Inferno Home
The blood foamed at the tips of the blade.
Dripping to the ground and watering the flowers.
A wandering stranger is where these men are born.
With a tattooed eye.
And plucked feathers about their ears.
They walked in with blood dripping off their staff.
Their eyes were long, their nails were cut.
Their eyes were stained with Amber.
For these are the men of other faiths! The people cry.
All the flowers burned down into flames.
Fire lilies never to be seen again.
For now they have found the rebel in their eyes.
And they kissed their sweaty lips against a tree, only for it to crumble.
Oh great men! What have you done to your home?
A bed of soot is where the men lie.
The sky is now eternal black smoke.
For it burns, eternal inferno.

"Faeries, come take me out of this dull world, For I would ride with you upon the wind, Run on the top of the dishevelled tide, And dance upon the mountains like a flame. W.B. Yeats, The Land of Heart's Desire


When Im gone I'm gonna remember these mountains

I can see the voices and I can hear the visions, my heart can smell
the seventh fire in my soul, in my spirit I feel I have been here and
in myself theres a light that is yearning and not yet for the past,
the bells louder are ringing out clear in my silence

Faeries, come take me out of this dull world, For I would ride with you upon the wind, Run on the top of the dishevelled tide, And dance upon the mountains like a flame

when Im gone im gonna remember these mountains?

this is a new clear world that I will now enter, the smell of dejavu
will be breath to my soul, I will be in the scene of "again" when earth has swallowed me, when its pockets have tuched me in

I hope on my way to Hydess or Paradise I will look to these
mountains and say

Oneday I told you that I will see you when I'm gone, I hope, that,
memory too in that time I could share, display you its pictures in the airm and I hope all the deep
moments in my life in that journey could be flair'd

i hope a flash of my spirit can pass by those whom I loved whenever they are feeling sad and alone cause when I have disapeared from the eye I will leave my existance only in the hearts of those who cherished and loved me with truth

I wont last forever there too cause even in their hearts I will be gone when earth too has swallowed them, and when I am spirit and without flesh I want to bough to these mountains for once they made me believe I can touch the sky

from a distance the peak of these mountains once made me think I were the only one that exist in this space cause when I was a kid, I tought I could touch heaven when I reached the top

when I'm gone will I remember these mountains cause It looks like the clouds take off their shoulders to pick up the morning
and open the curtains of mist to its greens that are a just a frill

when I'm gone I'm gonna remember these mountains? Cause I know for every sunset I have met only the mountains can
rest the sun

I will remember these mountains when im gone, I know cause I'll see them when my character is absent cause my body rest, and in the spirit present

for that I know I will see these mountains cause my spirit will be moved towards enlightment, and as far as I yet know only the mountains can rest the sun...

Im gonna remember these mountains

    "The world breaks everyone, and afterwards, some are strong at the broken places"
     - Ernest  Hemingway-

    UNTIL THE END

Life is tough. We don't go down easy.
each hit a scar upon my soul
each time it makes me bolder
more battered and older
The battle grows longer
as I grow stronger
I know that you will beat me eventually
defeat me. Eat me,.
Tearing me asunder with unmerciful thunder
Tearing me apart with your steely claws
biting down within unwavering mist
with jaws like broken shards of glass
shattered years before by my steely fist
Until that day, dear Death,
I will continue to kick your ass

this is going to be a hard one to judge! thanks so much for all the entries. there is still a bit more time to get entered if you want in on this greatness!

“A man can be destroyed but not defeated.” Earnest Hemingway



the commander

a goliath amongst real men
in both stature and presence


the lines drawn on his face
mimic the marks across his shoulders
scars won in the heat of battle
are a test of iron will
because it takes more than bravery
to walk out alive from the inferno


the men stand by the commander
and look him in the eye
they call him, sir
and say it with conviction
they have more trust in their leader
than in their wives


because these men know
the destruction of hellfire
flames that consume buildings
and turn bodies to ashes
forge comrades and anneal heroes


they've heard the stories
when their commander was just a man
breaking down smoking doors
risking his own life to save another


firefighters are all wired the same
but the commander's mould broke long ago


the men joke about tomorrow's controlled burning
to the bushland by the town brewery
but no one mentions the malignant scar
near the commander's right temple



Written by Alexander Case
 

it's going to take me awhile to get through all these! there are so many good ones. so don't get too impatient with me, please.

i have been working through these entries, writing up feedback for everyone, and waiting on some judges feedback. but was reminded, twice, that my comp had moved to the abandoned category and that i needed to pick a winner. i'll get the feedback up in the next few days.

congrats to everyone! i loved this comp and the entries were completely fantastic. thanks for making this a great one!

Congratulations Alexander, Katja and Whale! Katja, the Jarod Kintz quote, ""I’ll be your Dostoevsky, if you’ll be my Tolstoy. Our life together will be so full of despair that death will be like a gulag full of joy," gave me a much needed reason to laugh...thank you.

Wow! Didn't expect this honour. There were so many great entries here, and the quotes being used for inspiration were cool! Congrats Katja and whale [mate, your poem was the outstanding entry for me] and well done to all the poets who got drunk, stroked their muse or robbed the library to find the inspiration to write a poem for this excellent comp.

Thank you judges and well done Minerva for being such an excellent host and for inspiring us all.