Official DU NaPoWriMo Challenge, 2022

FOUNDERS: Ahavati & JohnnyBlaze
HOSTS: Eerie & PoetsRevenge

TEAM NAPO: JohnnyBlaze, Founder/Director Emeritus, Eerie ( Director/Captain ), PoetsRevenge ( Director/Captain ), DaisyGrace, Josh ( Captain ), SummerRain75, wallyroo92, cabcool, LunaGreyhawk, Honoria, Ahavati ( Founder )

Dedicated to JohnnyBlaze, Founder & Director Emeritus, for his leadership, dedication, and commitment to Deep underground Poetry’s longest consecutive and most successful event in its history!

NOTICE: Off Topic, Banter, Drama, and non-registrant Posts will be removed by a moderator. Only poem entries are to be posted to the NaPo challenge thread and NaPo Prompt Comp thread. Please visit the NaPo Discussion thread in the Speakeasy forum for comments, suggestions, frustrations, assistance, and/or general banter at the link below:

https://deepundergroundpoetry.com/forum/speakeasy/read/12191/225/

Those who finish this challenge will receive a TROPHEEE! custom designed by the Webmiss! ( Preview will be coming soon. )

THE RULES!

An accumulation of 3 Strikes will result in your Disqualification. You will receive 1 Strike for failing to correct certain Rule Violations in an entry within 24 hours of its posting. Pay attention to our Daily updates to know If you have any Strikes or were Disqualified.

Our advice? Partner up with others who can check your entries for Guideline violations and immediately notify you of such. If you follow these rules, you won't earn a single Strike.

Only one poem per day can only be posted between 12:01 AM and Midnight in your time zone beginning April 1st --- before or after will earn you 1 Strike. You will create 30 posts numbered #1 through #30 regardless of when and if any late postings occur.

Your entries must have its number on top corresponding to the date of its posting, then a title in bold text, and lastly the body of your poem. Example:

https://deepundergroundpoetry.com/forum/474411/gotopost/

After 24 hours of posting, if there is:

No number ( or the incorrect number ) = 1 Strike
No title in bold text ( or no title ) = 1 Strike
Number, title, & poem out of order = 1 Strike
Notes other than the "unique word count" ( which is optional ) posted after the poem = 1 Strike

Theoretically, you could earn more than 3 Strikes from one poorly executed Entry and be Disqualified.

Entries can not be edited after 24 hours of posting. Forum Time Stamps tell us if and when you have edited. An edit occurring after 24 hours results in a Disqualification for the following reasons: we feel you have nefariously returned to an entry and edited thinking it's already been checked.  Editing after a Team Member has notified you of an infraction will result in a strike for each infraction.

This > XXX < means you will be Disqualified for not correcting within 24 hours.

• Entries Must Be Pasted Into The Forum Direct Linking is prohibited.

• Poetry, Not Prose Entries must be in the format of lines and stanzas, not sentences and paragraphs. How "poetic" your entry is IS A NON-ISSUE.

• No Erotica Allowed Simply do not attempt to post erotica and you will be safe! Do not use language prompting the reader to imagine a sexual encounter. Do not make references or
allusions to human body parts with intent to sexually arouse the reader.

• Entries Must Be In English

• No Images or Videos can accompany your entries.

• Double Posting When Late: We encourage you to complete poems ahead of schedule in the event you are prevented from writing and posting by an unexpected event such as a personal crisis, power or Internet failure, or other act of God.

•Follow this protocol upon your return: post a maximum of 2 poems per date until you are caught up. At the very top of each late post, attach a brief explanation stating why you are posting late whatever reason it may be. Example:

https://deepundergroundpoetry.com/forum/competitions/read/9560/840/#392950

X if your late post(s) do not include an excuse.

• 50 Unique Word Rule The body of each poem must contain 50 or more  "unique" words. You can repeat any word as many times as you wish, but it only counts as 1 unique word. You are allowed to make up your own words.

• Titles and quotes of other writers are not included in your unique word count. If you provide the number of unique words in your entry, please type it AFTER the poem is finished.

• What counts as 1 unique word : Contractions | Ampersands | One letter words such as "a" or "I" | Numbers such as "4" | Hyphenated words such as "sugar-free" | Elvish words such as "mellon"

If you don't have a minimum of 50 unique words after 24 hours of posting, this will result in 1 Strike. ( One Violation of this particular rule will result in you not receiving the Trophy. )

• Errors & Inconsistencies ( Typos, Grammar, Punctuation, etc ) This is not a competition to see who can write a technically accurate poem. You may submit more polished versions of your entries to your personal DUP portfolios or other comps at any time.

• Multiple Accounts If you are actively posting at DUP with multiple accounts not publicly disclosed in ALL of your profiles + forum signatures per site guidelines, you will be notified AFTER the competition that you were Disqualified. We do not reward individuals who secretly use additional memberships at DUP to exploit others.

• Using Previously Written Ideas For Poems You may convert any written idea into a poem for entry if you wrote it down digitally or old school in a notebook and did not perform any further work on it. In essence, you may use any poem you "started" and it is only during April 1st - 30th that you may "finish" said poems.

- If you paused during the "note-making" - i.e were interrupted or answered Nature's call - the note remains valid.

- If you returned to the "note-making" after performing a chore or relaxing, then the note is no longer valid. You cannot consult the written version and must start writing it again from scratch during April.

• Acceptable Entries & Writing Prompts We provide prompts available in the NaPo Prompt Comp competition likewise beginning on April 1st.

Otherwise, you do have complete freedom to write about anything you want! You will not be disqualified based on content or quality - with the exceptions of Erotica, which is not allowed, and Plagiarism; if we discover that you are swapping words in pre-existing poems or copying partial to entire poems, you will be notified AFTER the competition that you were Disqualified.

PLEASE use common sense. Your poetry, unpolished or otherwise, is a reflection of the overall talent being fostered by DUP. We would hate to see outside readers, potential members, or even publishers turned away by material meant to garner attention purely from shock value. Don't be a shock jock.

• Final Award Check After the FINAL entry is submitted on April 30th, Eerie, PoetsRevenge and I will double check entries to ensure viability. It only takes 1 ineligible entry to negate your acquisition of the trophy, so be certain your work adheres to the Rules!

A special THANK YOU! to all braving this challenge! Particularly to our Team members for donating their valuable time to assist us in making this the most SPECTACULAR NaPo ever!

Sincerely Good Writing To All,

Team NaPo’22

Above is the full list of qualified participants armed with their quills! If your name is NOT on this list, you are NOT eligible to participate in this challenge.

However, if it's not yet midnight in your time zone, you still have time to register at the link below:

https://deepundergroundpoetry.com/forum/speakeasy/read/12191/15/

Your name will then be added to the above list!

Current registrants, DO NOT POST PRIOR TO MIDNIGHT, YOUR TIME ZONE!

We wish each registrant all the best!

~ Team NaPo'22

#1 of 30

Underclass

back when shell suits
an underclass fashion statement
hoodies of a bygone age
times don't really change
only so called dress sense
even thats dodgy

shadowy gangs
with their darker sleazy slogans
cocky rough diamonds
spray cans at hand
vandalism given artistic status
open air art gallery

dark gothic wasteland
dystopian life style
creating own secret codes
which others will abide by
dirty trash conformity
rules never die

unique word count 68
total word count     68

1/30

Glasgow

1/30

That’s Amore

Pie eye moon, caressed
By clouds – In the speed of sentiments

Stressed,

Caresses & kisses, exchanged
Like zephyr shaped undulations, traversing the depths -

Backgrounded in sound,
Sounding sinuous, serenading revel into relish,

Relished, verging on cherished, voyaged
Into maritime elements

Of the mind, a primal medley,
Disordered until

Disorderly, ordered
In amorous

Pools:

Sentient absence of two April fools
In love, like,

Or

The like.

Unique Word Count: 57

1/30

SOME-OTHERS-US


Some just quietly get-on-with-it
others create a song and a dance
some pray to God in lively spirit
others freeze up in a trance
some very organised check through their notes
others search wildly, perchance …
some sweating cobblers assess what they wrote
others will creep and advance
but all of us wonder what will spring forth
in a month where we set to the task
to write every day uploading our say …
… then it ends, quite quick, it’ll pass.

1/30

Toast

My day of birth shared,
but not selfsame year,
with old high school friend, Steve
and a Dutch master painter
ignominious in life
after death doth receive
stratospheric revere

Interpreter of flowers
heads turned to face sunlight
redefines perception
of dark, star-studded night
self-portraits haunt in disquietude
stark reflections of his brilliant, troubled mind
mustering resolve of pure heroic kind
to paint his world
in breathtaking colored plentitude

Separated by one hundred ‘n’ ten years
still sharing like anxiety, depression, fears
yet not to such a fatal degree
I still walk the earth, still wear both ears

Lift a glass, holler celebratory cheers!
Happy birthday to Steve, Vincent, and me!

Unique word count: 93
Total word count: 110

1/30

Duality

a heavy, miserable thing
the burden of self, and yet
balanced with beauty unparalleled;
shedding the husk of ‘supposed to’s’
and ‘should be’s’ to be true to her own,
she must first be introduced
to the animal peering back,
buried under flesh in the mirror -
whatever she is capable of being,
both malignant and benign,
coming home again to face
her dual nature

51 unique words

1/30

Self In Haiku

YOU are here for ME?
No one wears resignation,
as well as you do.

If you leave first, fine.
What’s your excuse to not go?
I’d bail but I’m damned.

I cry all the time.
Never in visible tears.
Inwardly sobbing.

She’s really pretty.
Why can’t I look like she does?
Everyone loves her.

It can be all right,
quietly anesthetized
what shock when revealed.

Like a wounded beast
A feral cry in the night
Was her only sound

58 u/w

1/30

Sunrise thoughts

The fire always comes
in beginnings and endings
when things are new
or when they’re flaming out

Creator saves the best sky colours
for those bookends –
a new dawn, full of purpose
forest-fire horizon of pink-yellow blaze

An untrodden love
or a kernel of an idea
charged with ambitious excitement --
Oh, give me those beginnings!

They quickly yield to soft lavender puffs
against a baby blue backdrop
quiet and unobtrusive
Plans and inspirations
become tasks and routines
serene
methodical
fulfilling, perhaps
but without mystery
or intensity --
I languish in the middles

Oh, give me the tragedy of endings!
Fire returning with red & orange drama
the urgency of dying without feeling finished
sun screaming “I’m still here”
resisting obscurity
until finally the colours fade
and all comes to completion
sinking into memory
in the peaceful pause of starlight

1/30

SKY

this sweet
urgency
lifts me
that i might
coast on gusts,
stretched wide
as hawk or gull,
my bones
hollow and
light as air,
my wings
caught and pulled
into this deep
blue current
and all of it
bright and blue
and deep and holy
and the string is pulled
so taut it trembles
and the anchor
dragging the
ragged shore
and i think
i might
break free
and tumble
into your warm
blue heaven
right now

54 unique words, 77 words total

1/30
A Little More

I was driving through the Arizona desert
When I pulled into a gas station in a small town
And as I waited in line inside the store
An old song played above me

I stood there quietly
Trying to remember a memory that had no details
A feeling
An emotion of something distant
When innocence went by and bye
A pretty chorus
That made me want to go back in time

It wasn’t until a few days later
When I looked it up
It came back rushing
Flooding…
I had forgotten about Olivia’s looks
When a young boy hears a voice
A siren song
Now as a man entranced
Understanding how music
Let’s us travel back in time for just a little while
Remembering fantasies and dreams
Of innocence gone

129 words
92 unique

#1/30

Concrete Rose

Have you ever heard the story
Of a rose walking without feet
2Pac expressed this allegory
Of how it accomplished this feat

Growing outta the concrete
Struggling to survive
Nodding its head to the beat
Motivated it to thrive

It had a drive unconquerable
Unbridled passion in its veins
Showed that it was unstoppable
Telling the world to bring the rain

Had growing pains along the way
Society tried to make it fold
Tenacity just wouldn't sway
Everyday remaining bold

 1/30                          

                                   Kill NAPO!!!

Verbs fired
Words hired
Sentences desired
April’s wired
Thoughts required
Poetry’s inspired

Verbal soup
Loop de loop
Mentally regroup
Fly the coupe
Letters droop
Here’s the scoop

Alphabet spillage
Trauma village
30-day pillage

Pronoun drive-bys
For Napo guys
Rainy skies
Truth and lies
Character dies
Unsubstantiated highs

So much skill
Swallow the pill
Fit the bill
Fall is chill

Choke on words
Mocking birds
Resurrected nerds
Thoughts in thirds
Paragraph herds
Rest on keywords

Coffee jolted
Lines unbolted
Motivatively revolted
Unmolded
Dead-bolted


Unique word count 74