Gods Change, Prayers Stay the Same

NOTICE: DUE TO NAPO, THIS WILL BE THE LAST CC COMPETITION UNTIL JUNE.  

Co-Hosts - Ahavati & JohnnyBlaze  

Part XXVIII in an ongoing series introducing serious writers of DUP to the most well-known poets, both classical and modern. 

Yehuda Amichai ( ‎May 3, 1924 – September 22, 2000 ) was born Ludwig Pfeuffer. Amichai is considered, both in Israel and internationally, as Israel's greatest modern poet, and one of the leading poets worldwide. He also wrote two novels and several short stories, and was one of the first to write in colloquial Hebrew.

Amichai's poetry deals with issues of day-to-day life and with the meaning of life and death. His work is characterized by gentle irony and original, often surprising imagery. He struggled with religious faith; his poems are full of references to God and the religious experience.

Amichai's work was popular in English translation, but admirers of his poetry in the original Hebrew claim his innovative use of the language is lost in translation. Subtle layers of meaning achieved using an ancient word rather than its modern synonym to impart a biblical connotation cannot always be conveyed. In Amichai's love poem In the Middle of This Century, for instance, the English translation reads: "the linsey-woolsey of our being together." The Hebrew term, shaatnez, refers to the biblical taboo on interweaving linen and wool, which a Hebrew reader would grasp as an image of forbidden union.

It was said of him, ""Almost every poem by Amichai is a statement about the general human condition and Amichai, in a certain sense, is always a philosophical poet."

For more information regarding Amichai, please visit the Poetry Foundation: https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poets/yehuda-amichai

Guidelines 

Write a new Poem honoring Amichai inspired by any one of his poems.

While you are allowed a maximum of 2 entries, only the best of your entries is considered viable for the trophy.

Do your best to make us feel as though we are reading poems by Amichai.  The more we feel you "capturing his essence" in "your own words" , the higher you will score. This will involve choice of wording, delivery, subject material, formatting, target audience - a wide range of factors.   

The Rules 

1.  Two entries per DUP persona.

2. No erotica; this is open to all ages and can't be viewed with an ECW ( Extreme Content Warning ).   

3. No exact word limit; however, attempt to keep it no more than 250 - 300.   

4. Any form is acceptable ( but studying the poet is advised ).   

5. Webmiss will be creating #YehudaAmichai in the theme list.  The page will automatically generate as soon as eight entrants hashtag the theme.  In the interim, #hashtag #YehudaAmichai at the bottom of your poem.

6. In your poem's notes, provide a link and a title to the very poem by Amichai that inspired yours. Without such, we have no way of determining if you were truly inspired by Amichai or simply swapped fresh words into his existing poetry ( which is a form of plagiarism ).

ALL NON-ELIGIBLE ENTRIES WILL BE REMOVED, AS WELL AS THOSE WRITTEN BY UNDISCLOSED ALTERNATE PROFILES. This is not a competition to deliberately ignore guidelines so as to advertise your work or sneak more entries in under a guise. And even If ypu have a profile that is violating site guidelines regarding disclosure, all of your profiles in this comp are rendered ineligible.

Comp will be judged by Ahavati & JohnnyBlaze. As in the past and in the event there is a tie, we will call in third ( and possibly fourth ) judge.

You have one month; best of luck to all entrants!

“I do not understand this squeamishness about the use of gas . . . I am strongly in favour of using poisoned gas against uncivilised tribes. The moral effect should be so good . . . and would spread a lively terror.”  (Winston Churchill, 1919, presiding over the British Air Council)


Gassing Beliefs at the Pedestrian Crossing

Old Palestinian shuffles slowly across road
aided by his stick.
Mortality snags me through the windscreen —
I clutch the steering-wheel, eyes squinting the future.
Engines idle time
counting down incessantly, fuming with urgency.

Is he a world to be conquered?

The car behind toots impatiently —
window wound down
driver blows smoke at the wind’s leisure; flicks ash.
Ahead, a flock of starlings swarms in classic unity,
a movement of music
ethereally painted on the backdrop of a grey sky.
Two scavenging dogs sniff odd smells amidst the traffic
then fight for a bone. Increasingly lost to an obscure world
paradise questions progress,
poverty cross-examines plenty.
Each moment rests in unique potential
anticipating, hovering —
every electron, every drop of water, every human — sacred:
but God is on holiday
and scared we stumble in a foggy muddle
by and by.




#YehudaAmichai


Comp entry for “Gods Change, Prayers Stay the Same”, hosted by Johnny Blaze. Reference Amichai’s poem “Half the People in the World”, found on-line here: https://kaitlinsgill.wordpress.com/2013/04/12/yehuda-amichais-half-the-people-in-the-world/

We now have #YehudaAmichai thanks to Webmiss. Please edit your themes accordingly.  

Ahavati and I promise we will eventually award a trophy in this challenge as soon as we can get a free moment to beam ourselves down from the USS Stanza! LOL

Thank you all for your patience; we'll be announcing the winners today.

A big thank you to all who paid tribute to this month's featured poets. As in previous months, these are very difficult to judge, and sometimes come down to a simple typo or grammatical error breaking a tie. This month was no different.

Call it emulation, we seek the essence of the classic author in the entrant's own style - not just replacing words of existing poems, but writing as though they were those classic authors ( regardless of form utilized ).

Our Classic Champions, as we like to refer to them, work HARD, and it shows in their writing. They study and deliver fresh poetry as opposed to borderline plagiarism. They double-check spelling, grammar, form, guidelines, and put forth their heart into these comps.  

We recognize that effort and award accordingly, judging on a scale of 1-5 spelling, grammar, punctuation, form, and content - while the most important question we ask ourselves is this:  Did we feel like we were reading a classic poet?

All that being said, congratulations to the following winners!

First Place: PoetsRevenge

Merely from words, your entry makes one ache to have the kind of vivid experiences that Yehuda was a master of framing into memories he could later write about.  We are literarily in your world of rain with its voices on the thunder clouds!

Second Place: EdibleWords

You did a great job of illustrating the disconnect experienced when encountering unfamiliar words during a poem. The poem is then like one of those aforementioned shattered graveyard stones in Amichai's that through acceptance, you make the best of what you're given to work with.

Third Place: Sex_on_the_Joe

You created a uniquely layered poem by incorporating the relationships between so many sons and fathers. The inspiration poem conveys a reverence for Jerusalem, while yours is of family likewise not to be taken for granted.

And a round of applause to everyone else who braved Amichai!

Congratulations to everyone for quality entries; thank you again for honoring the classics.  We hope to see you June 1st for our next Classic Corner challenges!