Poetry competition CLOSED 1st September 2020 5:35pm
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nomoth
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Ahavati
Tams
Tyrant of Words
United States 123awards
Joined 11th Apr 2015
Forum Posts: 16864

Poetry Contest

CLASSIC CORNER: Gwendolyn Brooks

Co-Hosts - Ahavati & JohnnyBlaze

Welcome back to the Classic Corner Competitions, Part XXXI, in an ongoing series introducing serious writers of DUP to the most famous classical and modern poets of our time.

Gwendolyn Brooks was born in Topeka, Kansas, on June 7, 1917, and raised in Chicago. She was the author of more than twenty books of poetry, including Children Coming Home (The David Co., 1991); Blacks (The David Co., 1987); To Disembark (Third World Press, 1981); The Near-Johannesburg Boy and Other Poems (The David Co., 1986); Riot (Broadside Press, 1969); In the Mecca (Harper & Row, 1968); The Bean Eaters (Harper, 1960); Annie Allen (Harper, 1949), for which she received the Pulitzer Prize; and A Street in Bronzeville (Harper & Brothers, 1945).

She also wrote numerous other books including a novel, Maud Martha (Harper, 1953), and Report from Part One: An Autobiography (Broadside Press, 1972), and edited Jump Bad: A New Chicago Anthology (Broadside Press, 1971).

In 1968 she was named poet laureate for the state of Illinois. In 1985, she was the first black woman appointed as consultant in poetry to the Library of Congress, a post now known as Poet Laureate. She also received an American Academy of Arts and Letters Award, the Frost Medal, a National Endowment for the Arts Award, the Shelley Memorial Award, and fellowships from the Academy of American Poets and the Guggenheim Foundation. She lived in Chicago until her death on December 3, 2000.


https://poets.org/poet/gwendolyn-brooks


Guidelines  

Write a new poem honoring Brooks inspired by any one of her poems.

Do NOT copy paste your poem to the competition, it must be linked to your page with the below information.

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

The Rules

1. Two entries per DUP persona.    

2. No extreme 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 ( UNLESS the inspirational poem is longer ).

4. Any form is acceptable ( but studying the poet is advised ). This includes visual and spoken word pieces.    

* EDITED * 5. You must select #GwendolynBrooks in your themes. The theme page will automatically generate as soon as eight entrants hashtag the theme. Make sure you hashtag her in your themes or you will be disqualified.

6. In your Author's note, provide a link to the poem by Brooks that inspired yours. Without this, we have no way of determining if you were truly inspired by Brooks, or simply swapped fresh words into her existing poetry and form, which could be considered plagiarism.

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!

Ahavati
Tams
Tyrant of Words
United States 123awards
Joined 11th Apr 2015
Forum Posts: 16864

Greetings, CCC followers. Rule No. 5 has been edited to reflect the creation of #GwendolynBrooks theme by Webmiss ( thank you for all your hard work, Webmiss )!  Thusly, all entries must be themed to quality.

Thank you and carry on.

Ahavati
Tams
Tyrant of Words
United States 123awards
Joined 11th Apr 2015
Forum Posts: 16864

Aspects of Joy in a Strange Land

After Gwendolyn Brooks    
      
There it was—      
after twelve hours of ocean      
and incandescent clouds:      
sewn patchwork of color      
beyond the portal      
of a plane's window        
       
Momentarily gone        
—American melancholy        
hovering so far from home      
       
I was six—      
a whimper amid adult dialogue;      
my teacup tongue, rattling    
against saucer lips—      
unheard        
       
Gaiety—      
my father, statuesque        
congratulatory        
       
Footing, steep metal steps      
clinking; laughter propelling        
across the concourse—        
teeth in the wind        
       
Holiday! mustn't end!      
Familiar foreigners—      
aspects of joy in a strange land        
       
No! stay to. . .together!      
hap. .. hap. . .happiness!      
my tongue, rattling—      
no one listened;        
buses, cars      
drove separate directions        
       
We travelled northeast        
toward the coast      
stopping once at a station—      
skipping, lollipop return      
joyful . . .      
       
as two children      
in a stranger dialogue        
whispered,      
       
"Hey! Yankee!        
Go home!"
     
~
Written by Ahavati (Tams)
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Non-entry entry

poet Anonymous

Related submission no longer exists.

Poems4me
Thought Provoker
United States
Joined 22nd July 2020
Forum Posts: 69

We Real Cool

Wind catching our hair as we walk down the street
Bodies covered, curves showing, hips moving to their own beat

We real cool

No makeup no weaves bask in our natural beauty
Not even tempted when guys call us cutie

We real cool

 Not looking for that next screw
Take care of our bodies like it's a jewel

Don't blend in with crowds
Brownskin sisters rocking their crowns

We real cool




Written by Poems4me
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anvinvil
Anvillan
Fire of Insight
United States 2awards
Joined 16th Feb 2020
Forum Posts: 90

The Bean Eaters...Gwendolyn Brooks

Caught in the sameness, a maize in the fog
they move slowly through, feeling their way
only to meet themselves around each corner.                  
The journey is cruel, snags in the path, faith in each other                                           
their only support in the patchwork of life.
But time is relentless....Fears and tears, joy and sorrow,                                  
It shows us the past but laughs at the future.
Suddenly the fog clears, who are these old people partaking alone in                         
the sadness, surrounded by the remnants of a lifetime of struggle..                  
They survived the maize only to meet themselves again in twilights
dark corner of a place called nowhere,
Written by anvinvil (Anvillan)
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anvinvil
Anvillan
Fire of Insight
United States 2awards
Joined 16th Feb 2020
Forum Posts: 90

A Sunset of the City... Gwendolyn Brooks

Time has done its job, my aura and attraction    
have faded with the setting of the sun.  
Abandoned by that which made life real,    
I sit alone in the stillness where once beautiful    
chaos reigned.    
   
I feel the isolation, the threats of uncertainty and    
the unknown.    
They rip and tear at my heart, memories bleed
into a vessel, never to be reclaimed, yet held.    
   
I wander now, like a ghost from the past    
with all the memories but none of the trappings.    
The battle field is still and barren, where once    
there was life, however fleeting...    
   
Was my home my purpose? Did it define me or just    
accent my existence. Now it’s gone but I’m still here.    
I shout, I’m me! Not even my echo answers.    
   
I go through the motions of a being without    
being. My thoughts no longer match the world I knew.    
Time hums it sad refrain,” I told you so... “.
Written by anvinvil (Anvillan)
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javalini
Dangerous Mind
United States 17awards
Joined 4th Apr 2019
Forum Posts: 214

BB GUN

set out pots to catch the leaks

money's gone until next week

baby's room is hot as hell

fill the sink to get him chill

beans and cornbread

powdered moo

Peanut butter

Kool-aid, too

poor weren't never all that bad

hand-me-downs just make me sad

ricky's big ol' jeans ain't cool

fight them bullies after school

mom, i want a BB gun

shoot their butts and make 'em run
Written by javalini
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slipalong
Dangerous Mind
United Kingdom 43awards
Joined 1st Jan 2018
Forum Posts: 855

A barren hive

The sad that contaminates all my space  
and love be but an unborn child  
beckoned smile that fell upon stony place
desert where no bee survives  
 
My pollen never gathered thus  
for natures way, the seed and till  
the worker breach upon my cusp  
some attraction just incomprehensible  
 
Perhaps I am, just the tumble weed  
gregarious in sole lament  
blown between the flower heads  
minus never plus is my content  
 
Never partake of that swarm  
the broken amulet of charm  
 not to feel a body close and warm  
for loneliness can most disarm  
 
Wax octagons devoid of sweet  
for wars attrition's soon depletes  
 
reference poem ( the sonnet ballad)  
  
Written by slipalong
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nomoth
Fire of Insight
United Kingdom 12awards
Joined 24th Mar 2019
Forum Posts: 481

Ahavati
Tams
Tyrant of Words
United States 123awards
Joined 11th Apr 2015
Forum Posts: 16864

Hi, CC supporters and potential entrants. Just wanted to clarify two things: firstly, the following two rules have been edited per some private queries; and, secondly, we thank you for letting us know and have revised accordingly to clarify:

3. No exact word limit; however, attempt to keep it no more than 250 - 300 ( UNLESS the inspirational poem is longer ).

4. Any form is acceptable ( but studying the poet is advised ). This includes visual and spoken word pieces.  

As always, thank you for supporting the CC competitions. Let us know if you need anything else.

nomoth
Fire of Insight
United Kingdom 12awards
Joined 24th Mar 2019
Forum Posts: 481

s         a            f                e     to trace the arch

s         a            f                e     to trace the arch
nomoth
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Eerie
Dangerous Mind
14awards
Joined 29th July 2018
Forum Posts: 891

Related submission no longer exists.

Ahavati
Tams
Tyrant of Words
United States 123awards
Joined 11th Apr 2015
Forum Posts: 16864

Final Call! T-Minus Five Days! Please double check your entries for spelling and grammar errors, sometimes it comes down to one error separating you from first place. Also make sure your inspirational poem is listed in your author's note per the guidelines.

Thank you to all entrants, and best of luck in the judging.

wallyroo92
Tyrant of Words
United States 154awards
Joined 11th July 2012
Forum Posts: 1867

To the Mothers

As apparent
As a parent
I cannot imagine the pain
Or the agony and despair a woman feels
I cannot think of the torment
A mother experiences
When her child is suddenly taken away
 
This is for those who have loved
From conception to birth
From early years into adolescence
Shaping and molding a young mind
A mother makes so many sacrifices
Raising her children
All the while society can be cruel
 
The world may portray an adult
As something else
But through the eyes of a mother -  
A mother sees her child through memories
As a newborn
   cooing in her arms
As a toddler
     holding out their arms
Remembering  
     sleepless nights when the temperature was too high
     laughter and giggles
     kisses and embraces
     eyes that lift-up the spirit
     smiles that still warms the heart
But their senseless deaths rip the soul apart
 
This is for those mothers
Who have had their loves taken away
Who bear a pain no other mother should suffer
Who raise their voices and cry out, NO MORE!
Written by wallyroo92
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