The Simple Life
Anonymous
Poetry Contest Description
The Classic Corner: Wendell Berry Tribute
Co-Hosts - Ahavati & JohnnyBlaze
Part XVIII in an ongoing series introducing serious writers of DUP to the most well-known poets, both classical and modern.
Wendell Erdman Berry (born August 5, 1934) is an American poet, novelist, and environmentalist living on a farm in Port Royal, Kentucky near his birthplace for over 40 years. Mistrustful of technology, he holds deep reverence for the land and is a staunch defender of agrarian values. He is the author of over 40 books of poetry, fiction, and essays.
His poetry celebrates the holiness of life and everyday miracles often taken for granted - that he is also willing to fight for with principle and through activism.
Guidelines
Write a new poem honoring Berry inspired by any one or more of his poems. We feel listing particular poems may be constricting, and want you to follow the inspiration wherever it leads.
Do your best to make us feel as though we are reading poems by Berry. 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. One entry 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. Hashtag your poem #WendellBerry and link to your poem here. Do NOT copy paste your poem to the competition. The point is to eventually direct visitors searching for Berry to your poem via the hashtag we hope will eventually be implemented by the Webmiss.
6. In your poem's notes, provide links to the poem by Berry that inspired yours. Without these, we have no way of determining if you were truly inspired by Berry or simply swapped fresh words into his existing poetry.
Comp will be judged by Ahavati & JohnnyBlaze.
You have one month; best of luck to all entrants!
NEW: The competition will be promoted across our social network sites, and winners will be published on our Website:
http://poeticmedics.com/.
Ahavati
Tams
Forum Posts: 16703
Tams
Tyrant of Words
122
Joined 11th Apr 2015Forum Posts: 16703
August's Classic Corner poll is now live! Be sure to vote for next month's Female Feature to run alongside E.E. Cummings!
https://deepundergroundpoetry.com/forum/speakeasy/read/10870/
https://deepundergroundpoetry.com/forum/speakeasy/read/10870/
Anonymous
Related submission no longer exists.
Ahavati
Tams
Forum Posts: 16703
Tams
Tyrant of Words
122
Joined 11th Apr 2015Forum Posts: 16703
The Apple Tree ( After Wendell Berry )
Heavy in native headdress,
blossoms preside
over barren forsythia,
while cork-vined Chinese wisteria
gnarl about branches
English Ivy accessorizes the trunk;
some things are pruned,
while others grow deep
tango wildly
between fire and root
They solder one ring
after another outward
from below;
an ancient womb
of knowledge and lore
the first humans tasted
lifetimes ago:
one in trust
the other, love
~
#WendellBerry
blossoms preside
over barren forsythia,
while cork-vined Chinese wisteria
gnarl about branches
English Ivy accessorizes the trunk;
some things are pruned,
while others grow deep
tango wildly
between fire and root
They solder one ring
after another outward
from below;
an ancient womb
of knowledge and lore
the first humans tasted
lifetimes ago:
one in trust
the other, love
~
#WendellBerry
Written by Ahavati
(Tams)
Go To Page
non-entry
Heaven_sent_Kathy
Forum Posts: 177
Thought Provoker
9
Joined 1st Nov 2017 Forum Posts: 177
A Small Town in its Last Summer
( after Wendell Berry )
There is a darkness that changes a town.
And shades of transgressions that remain,
even after the night has relinquished.
The pale, fading crescent of its moon
watches the same lone farmer,
out before the first streaks of dawn.
He carries a bucket in each hand,
heading to the barn on his farm
on the outskirts of a town
who’s residents were raised
on a privilege of fear,
King James verse, and the Almanac.
He follows his quiet thoughts, and shadow
that stretches before each step he takes
for the early morning milking.
Low-lying mists hover, and
slowly curl among gravestones,
and the rest of the town begins to
reluctantly show signs of stirring.
Shaking off, while the sun rises up,
the inertia and shame, in its own waste,
like the pigeons in his hay loft.
There is a darkness that changes a town.
And shades of transgressions that remain,
even after the night has relinquished.
The pale, fading crescent of its moon
watches the same lone farmer,
out before the first streaks of dawn.
He carries a bucket in each hand,
heading to the barn on his farm
on the outskirts of a town
who’s residents were raised
on a privilege of fear,
King James verse, and the Almanac.
He follows his quiet thoughts, and shadow
that stretches before each step he takes
for the early morning milking.
Low-lying mists hover, and
slowly curl among gravestones,
and the rest of the town begins to
reluctantly show signs of stirring.
Shaking off, while the sun rises up,
the inertia and shame, in its own waste,
like the pigeons in his hay loft.
Written by Heaven_sent_Kathy
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ImperfectedStone
The Gardener
Forum Posts: 1347
The Gardener
Tyrant of Words
28
Joined 10th Oct 2010Forum Posts: 1347
Related submission no longer exists.
snugglebuck
Forum Posts: 1873
Dangerous Mind
77
Joined 3rd Feb 2014Forum Posts: 1873
Were You a Success?
Your time is done
The hour is late
Soon you'll discover
If an afterlife awaits
But before your last breath
You need ask yourself
"Were you a success?"
Did you give more than take?
Was your love brighter,
Than your hate?
Were you tolerant
And did you respect
Those of different
Lifestyles and habits?
Did those who loved you
Benefit from your existence,
Or were their lives impeded
And troubled because of it?
Did you plant a tree
And sow some seeds
To replenish what
You took from the earth
To satisfy your needs?
Were you never to proud
To do the most menial labor,
But not so meek and pliant
That you didn't demand
Fair compensation for it?
Did you hug a crying child,
Comforted a troubled stranger?
Adopt a stray dog,
Helped a needy neighbor?
Did you realize
There is more in the universe
That we don't know
Than we do?
Were you a lonely voice
Of dissent
When your family
And community
Marched lockstep?
Did you love your neighbor
As much as you loved yourself
Especially the neighbor
Who was sleeping next to you?
Did you ignore the pious,
Defy convention,
And resist selfishness of celibacy
To make passionate love
To a lonely person?
Most important,
Did you forgive others
And did you ask them
To forgive you?
When you transcend
From this demenion to the next
It will be what good you've done,
Not your wealth or conquests
That will be the measure of your success
Godspeed!
#WendellBerry
The hour is late
Soon you'll discover
If an afterlife awaits
But before your last breath
You need ask yourself
"Were you a success?"
Did you give more than take?
Was your love brighter,
Than your hate?
Were you tolerant
And did you respect
Those of different
Lifestyles and habits?
Did those who loved you
Benefit from your existence,
Or were their lives impeded
And troubled because of it?
Did you plant a tree
And sow some seeds
To replenish what
You took from the earth
To satisfy your needs?
Were you never to proud
To do the most menial labor,
But not so meek and pliant
That you didn't demand
Fair compensation for it?
Did you hug a crying child,
Comforted a troubled stranger?
Adopt a stray dog,
Helped a needy neighbor?
Did you realize
There is more in the universe
That we don't know
Than we do?
Were you a lonely voice
Of dissent
When your family
And community
Marched lockstep?
Did you love your neighbor
As much as you loved yourself
Especially the neighbor
Who was sleeping next to you?
Did you ignore the pious,
Defy convention,
And resist selfishness of celibacy
To make passionate love
To a lonely person?
Most important,
Did you forgive others
And did you ask them
To forgive you?
When you transcend
From this demenion to the next
It will be what good you've done,
Not your wealth or conquests
That will be the measure of your success
Godspeed!
#WendellBerry
Written by snugglebuck
Go To Page
slipalong
Forum Posts: 852
Dangerous Mind
41
Joined 1st Jan 2018Forum Posts: 852
Terra Firma
For he stood so tall so square and looked across the acreage
Countenanced all that panorama, it seemed endangered
The heavy horse the last to graze straw bales
He lifted up the old straw hat and scratch his pate
His disquiet, wrinkled brow like furrows in the field
The bees that seek the pollen, a wasp that agitates
We must he thought, let nature evolve at its own pace
But short term gains mean fields turned into plains
The engines belched out smoke, the crows flew up and squawked
Divorced from dirty hands the reaper smash the blackbirds nest
The field mouse massacred upon the stalk
Carnage it all drowned by the roar of the exhaust
He with perception heard the screams the mantle chimes
The discord in the harmony's its balances and checks
Iron grid upon the land weighed heavy under human hand
For with each gain there is a pestilence profane
The inheritance that DDT had left upon the soil, the earth
For each sod holds a microcosm
To be preserved and not downtrodden
Not a cocktail of chemicals of false parlance
The spreader with its Nitrogen to grow the crops so muscle bound
A vowed to stand firm and make a case, take the higher ground
brief to challenge false ideals, not put dead flowers on a living grave
To leave a better world, that true agronomist
For I speak of Shipwreck's with such a figure head
To know the simple life could count and not be invalid
That conglomerates sold a greener dollar for you to chase
Spawn a farm where crops and stock are all disgraced
Countenanced all that panorama, it seemed endangered
The heavy horse the last to graze straw bales
He lifted up the old straw hat and scratch his pate
His disquiet, wrinkled brow like furrows in the field
The bees that seek the pollen, a wasp that agitates
We must he thought, let nature evolve at its own pace
But short term gains mean fields turned into plains
The engines belched out smoke, the crows flew up and squawked
Divorced from dirty hands the reaper smash the blackbirds nest
The field mouse massacred upon the stalk
Carnage it all drowned by the roar of the exhaust
He with perception heard the screams the mantle chimes
The discord in the harmony's its balances and checks
Iron grid upon the land weighed heavy under human hand
For with each gain there is a pestilence profane
The inheritance that DDT had left upon the soil, the earth
For each sod holds a microcosm
To be preserved and not downtrodden
Not a cocktail of chemicals of false parlance
The spreader with its Nitrogen to grow the crops so muscle bound
A vowed to stand firm and make a case, take the higher ground
brief to challenge false ideals, not put dead flowers on a living grave
To leave a better world, that true agronomist
For I speak of Shipwreck's with such a figure head
To know the simple life could count and not be invalid
That conglomerates sold a greener dollar for you to chase
Spawn a farm where crops and stock are all disgraced
Written by slipalong
Go To Page
Jade-Pandora
jade tiger
Forum Posts: 5134
jade tiger
Tyrant of Words
154
Joined 9th Nov 2015 Forum Posts: 5134
A Rhapsody’s Silhouette
( after Wendell Berry )
Overhead,
a crow and I connect
as his black silhouette
wings its way
by glory of midday.
But he won’t know
about you and I, my love
in his trajectory above.
Made closer by his tack,
he knows not of us
nor we of each passing,
with black wings
beating a message
in the sun.
Though far apart you & I
we share the sight
of one sweeping
blue & midnight sky,
beyond the tops of
trees, the crested hills.
Until, and always,
the curve of the earth,
its horizons
as the crow flies;
the rhapsody
that draws us still.
Overhead,
a crow and I connect
as his black silhouette
wings its way
by glory of midday.
But he won’t know
about you and I, my love
in his trajectory above.
Made closer by his tack,
he knows not of us
nor we of each passing,
with black wings
beating a message
in the sun.
Though far apart you & I
we share the sight
of one sweeping
blue & midnight sky,
beyond the tops of
trees, the crested hills.
Until, and always,
the curve of the earth,
its horizons
as the crow flies;
the rhapsody
that draws us still.
Written by Jade-Pandora
(jade tiger)
Go To Page
PoetsRevenge
Forum Posts: 749
Dangerous Mind
29
Joined 30th June 2016Forum Posts: 749
What We Need Is Here (Found Within)
The land in the eye is clear
not clouded, like the
numerical sum of its parts
Here, in the ancient waters
free of tallied reasons,
free in the mind's vastness.
Fearing not the infinite,
Heaven within The Earth
hides in a hill, unremarkable;
Faith appears above
as a bird, flying
into a sky which closes
Around it hiding reasons
to try for that which it needs.
Its abandon, it finds,
is hidden but everywhere,
embedded in everything.
.....
#WendellBerry
not clouded, like the
numerical sum of its parts
Here, in the ancient waters
free of tallied reasons,
free in the mind's vastness.
Fearing not the infinite,
Heaven within The Earth
hides in a hill, unremarkable;
Faith appears above
as a bird, flying
into a sky which closes
Around it hiding reasons
to try for that which it needs.
Its abandon, it finds,
is hidden but everywhere,
embedded in everything.
.....
#WendellBerry
Written by PoetsRevenge
Go To Page
Josh
Joshua Bond
Forum Posts: 1820
Joshua Bond
Tyrant of Words
41
Joined 2nd Feb 2017Forum Posts: 1820
Anonymous
Related submission no longer exists.
PoetsRevenge
Forum Posts: 749
Dangerous Mind
29
Joined 30th June 2016Forum Posts: 749
The Silence (Of All Things)
Let me not mourn the
silence of the passing
on of the seasons
Of fruiting, of branching out;
the unnaming of leaves
and a language thereof
Speaking into the world's ear,
golden to itself in color.
It lives in the death
rooted in the incomprehensible,
singing aloud its call
to be harvested.
Let the world not name
This song, but receive
its muted melody.
Let the trifles of words
not belabor this:
Its speech that has no sound
Remains undefined in
Mans' concrete terms
in this silence where
all things dwell.
.....
#WendellBerry
(a non-entry)
silence of the passing
on of the seasons
Of fruiting, of branching out;
the unnaming of leaves
and a language thereof
Speaking into the world's ear,
golden to itself in color.
It lives in the death
rooted in the incomprehensible,
singing aloud its call
to be harvested.
Let the world not name
This song, but receive
its muted melody.
Let the trifles of words
not belabor this:
Its speech that has no sound
Remains undefined in
Mans' concrete terms
in this silence where
all things dwell.
.....
#WendellBerry
(a non-entry)
Written by PoetsRevenge
Go To Page
eswaller
Forum Posts: 762
Dangerous Mind
31
Joined 22nd Dec 2015Forum Posts: 762
The Promise of Marriage (Wendell Berry Tribute)
I dreamt of you walking towards me
As you leave the shadows behind and
The lights within your soul are brighter.
I want to meet you alongside the river’s
Edge – my sanctuary and where I see
Us building our first home. My hand
Wants to touch your skin – an igniter,
A spark and something that delivers
Its promise of protecting us. I was just
A wanderer, lost and unsure of where
I was going next, but then you came
Wearing your heart on your sleeve.
Your willing heart craved wanderlust
Too. You are a woman with long hair,
A smile that goes with it and a name
Beautiful as a dove’s call. The leaves
On the tree become greener as you
Approach and meet me down the aisle.
There I vow to shield you as you did
It countless times, even when I was
Undeserving and with the clear blue
Sky above our heads I love every smile
Along with the tears that already slid
Down your soft face. We take a pause
To take it all in, enjoying all the early
Mornings and late evenings. We laid
Our love at the Earth’s feet. We look as
Fall, winter, spring and summer change,
But our love that sometimes turns curly
Stays the same. Are we what we prayed
For? We have love that is raw like topaz
People dig for and is a mountain range.
#wendellberry
As you leave the shadows behind and
The lights within your soul are brighter.
I want to meet you alongside the river’s
Edge – my sanctuary and where I see
Us building our first home. My hand
Wants to touch your skin – an igniter,
A spark and something that delivers
Its promise of protecting us. I was just
A wanderer, lost and unsure of where
I was going next, but then you came
Wearing your heart on your sleeve.
Your willing heart craved wanderlust
Too. You are a woman with long hair,
A smile that goes with it and a name
Beautiful as a dove’s call. The leaves
On the tree become greener as you
Approach and meet me down the aisle.
There I vow to shield you as you did
It countless times, even when I was
Undeserving and with the clear blue
Sky above our heads I love every smile
Along with the tears that already slid
Down your soft face. We take a pause
To take it all in, enjoying all the early
Mornings and late evenings. We laid
Our love at the Earth’s feet. We look as
Fall, winter, spring and summer change,
But our love that sometimes turns curly
Stays the same. Are we what we prayed
For? We have love that is raw like topaz
People dig for and is a mountain range.
#wendellberry
Written by eswaller
Go To Page
PoetsRevenge
Forum Posts: 749
Dangerous Mind
29
Joined 30th June 2016Forum Posts: 749
The Country Of Marriage (And Love)
' There are no unsacred places,
only sacred places, and desecrated places '
- Wendell Berry
I
In the country where arose
the soft grasses bearing your name
in their blooming stalks, I imagined
myself walking into the heart of
the yellow cover crop, bare.
II
Flitting by, a songbird was your spirit
Its chirping breaking the soft lull of
wind through your hair, dancing with
purple specks of tiny flowers barely known of;
their mystery that of you ascending in
my sleep. I didn't know of you fully in my
waking, but knew the tenderness of you in
my softened steps through the hottest field
in summer when the grass was high and
bent over in homage to its maturity.
III
Sometimes, I hold you in memory this way:
As an orchard, a house and a garden which
are always present and never leave.
I remember the colors of the flowers
like the words which bind our sacrament
each to the other.
IV
The level ground assured me I was
sure in you and led me forward to
comfortable shades at midday
and sheltered places at night.
Our bravery kept us going even
through life's storms.
I have trusted you as the gentle forest
is trusted by the woodland creatures
whom live their whole lives under it.
V
The planting of us was no guarantee,
yet I, as a farmer knew it was guaranteed
and well prepared for. I knew the crop
return was to be a grand reward of the
wild land reclaiming itself after being razed.
I knew our land would absorb all rains
and so would we absorb the unknowns,
the whys of how we came together
and flourished.
VI
When we drank from the well,
there was too much to not be filled;
our love overflowed and was a
never ending source of resurrection.
Like the wild fields, we embraced the
right season for our plants to bear fruit.
I never felt worthy of you but simply was
inclined to surrender and that letting go
was a blessed thing that seemed to need
no understanding to thrive, as great Sequoias
need no reason to live as long as they are
inclined to. I have sunk into you as
ancient humus into soil under a canopy
of trees. I am a hidden joy that you
discover lifting your branches and
feeding your roots.
VII
I gave you all this that I have,
which is little, but enough to satisfy
each cycle of our lives and dissolve
its own logic into a zero sum;
its economy is its beauty.
It has no fair market value and one day will
simply return unnoticed like a crop of weeds
which delight only butterflies and bees;
it will return to itself, folding in upon its
very creation and becoming its own
origin, its own soil mold becoming it's
own food for its seeds to grow from.
It will be known simply as a love that was,
and is, and lives on eternally.
VIII
As poetry, my words as humble as anyone's
will sing with us and our purpose to simply
be and be satisfied. My unbounded self
is waiting always at your door to be greeted
and invited in to share your hearth.
I will wander but never leave, as a horse
which always needs hay and water
and gallops in circles around its barn.
IX
In the dark of night, I know you are there,
Death's smile is your smile and to you
will I return at my end. All things created
in love return to what bore them and will
unconditionally receive them.
The soil does not discriminate.
My love for you is organic and
biodegradable and so are you
most sacred in receiving it.
.....
#WendellBerry
(a non-entry in ' The Simple Life')
(850 words)
only sacred places, and desecrated places '
- Wendell Berry
I
In the country where arose
the soft grasses bearing your name
in their blooming stalks, I imagined
myself walking into the heart of
the yellow cover crop, bare.
II
Flitting by, a songbird was your spirit
Its chirping breaking the soft lull of
wind through your hair, dancing with
purple specks of tiny flowers barely known of;
their mystery that of you ascending in
my sleep. I didn't know of you fully in my
waking, but knew the tenderness of you in
my softened steps through the hottest field
in summer when the grass was high and
bent over in homage to its maturity.
III
Sometimes, I hold you in memory this way:
As an orchard, a house and a garden which
are always present and never leave.
I remember the colors of the flowers
like the words which bind our sacrament
each to the other.
IV
The level ground assured me I was
sure in you and led me forward to
comfortable shades at midday
and sheltered places at night.
Our bravery kept us going even
through life's storms.
I have trusted you as the gentle forest
is trusted by the woodland creatures
whom live their whole lives under it.
V
The planting of us was no guarantee,
yet I, as a farmer knew it was guaranteed
and well prepared for. I knew the crop
return was to be a grand reward of the
wild land reclaiming itself after being razed.
I knew our land would absorb all rains
and so would we absorb the unknowns,
the whys of how we came together
and flourished.
VI
When we drank from the well,
there was too much to not be filled;
our love overflowed and was a
never ending source of resurrection.
Like the wild fields, we embraced the
right season for our plants to bear fruit.
I never felt worthy of you but simply was
inclined to surrender and that letting go
was a blessed thing that seemed to need
no understanding to thrive, as great Sequoias
need no reason to live as long as they are
inclined to. I have sunk into you as
ancient humus into soil under a canopy
of trees. I am a hidden joy that you
discover lifting your branches and
feeding your roots.
VII
I gave you all this that I have,
which is little, but enough to satisfy
each cycle of our lives and dissolve
its own logic into a zero sum;
its economy is its beauty.
It has no fair market value and one day will
simply return unnoticed like a crop of weeds
which delight only butterflies and bees;
it will return to itself, folding in upon its
very creation and becoming its own
origin, its own soil mold becoming it's
own food for its seeds to grow from.
It will be known simply as a love that was,
and is, and lives on eternally.
VIII
As poetry, my words as humble as anyone's
will sing with us and our purpose to simply
be and be satisfied. My unbounded self
is waiting always at your door to be greeted
and invited in to share your hearth.
I will wander but never leave, as a horse
which always needs hay and water
and gallops in circles around its barn.
IX
In the dark of night, I know you are there,
Death's smile is your smile and to you
will I return at my end. All things created
in love return to what bore them and will
unconditionally receive them.
The soil does not discriminate.
My love for you is organic and
biodegradable and so are you
most sacred in receiving it.
.....
#WendellBerry
(a non-entry in ' The Simple Life')
(850 words)
Written by PoetsRevenge
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