I like poetry written in more obscure forms than the usual. Rhyming poetry, especially, bores me. So I've decided to promote the stretching and exercise of poetic creativity by making contests for less frequently seen forms of poetry. The first in the series is also my personal favorite -- the pantoum.
For those who don't know what it is, Wikipedia is your friend: Pantoum Definition. Or, if you don't feel like leaving SW, I'll explain. Basically, instead of having a repeating rhyming scheme or meter, it repeats whole lines verbatim (unchanged.) Ideally, the meaning of the repeated lines changes subtly throughout the poem, while still making sense and flowing overall.
If you need an example, here's one of my own, with line lettering provided to help you detect the pattern of repetition.
A Pawprints in the dust
B Hunger shivering the air
C The pack is on the move
D Ghost light in their eyes
B Hunger shivering the air
E Beneath the verdant canopy
D Ghost light in their eyes
F The prairie wolves are hunting
E Beneath the verdant canopy
C The pack is on the move
F The prairie wolves are hunting
A Pawprints in the dust.
"Pawprints," intoothandclaw/jack romero
Obviously, you must write a pantoum. At least one. Since they're relatively short, I'm allowing two entries per person.
However, you have a choice. Because this is, after all, Storywrite and not Allpoetry, you can do one of two things. You can either write a pantoum on its own, or you can write a pantoum and then incorporate it into a story somehow. How to do so and what you write about is up to you. Note that I tend to be more interested in horror, nature, and such, but that's just a warning, not a rule. I won't be actually judging those genres higher than others. Skilled/entertaining execution of any genre will be recognized, especially if it's one I usually dislike. No matter what, though, the pantoum and the story have to be connected firmly and naturally if you choose this option -- you can't just stick a poem on the front of a story as a sort of introduction. Again, how you work it in is up to you.
If you choose to just write the poem(s), that's cool too.
Rules:
1.) Spelling. Grammar. Punctuation.
2.) Pantoum only. No other forms of poetry.
3.) If you can pull it off, a well-done rhymed pantoum would be cool, but, no offense intended, you likely can't, at least not well enough to overcome my personal distaste for heavily rhymed poetry. Remember that each line has to make sense in context and must be COMPLETELY unchanged in each repetition.
4.) For those of you doing stories, nothing over 3,000 words including the poem itself.
5.) Those of you who enter more than one poem should put something in the author's notes to indicate which two are yours -- not necessarily your username (to maintain unbiased judging on my part, though I'd try to be fair no matter what anyway) but some sort of message. Like, for example, both of your poems could include a note about your favorite song or animal or flower or drug or whatever. Doesn't matter. Just, something.
For those who don't know what it is, Wikipedia is your friend: Pantoum Definition. Or, if you don't feel like leaving SW, I'll explain. Basically, instead of having a repeating rhyming scheme or meter, it repeats whole lines verbatim (unchanged.) Ideally, the meaning of the repeated lines changes subtly throughout the poem, while still making sense and flowing overall.
If you need an example, here's one of my own, with line lettering provided to help you detect the pattern of repetition.
A Pawprints in the dust
B Hunger shivering the air
C The pack is on the move
D Ghost light in their eyes
B Hunger shivering the air
E Beneath the verdant canopy
D Ghost light in their eyes
F The prairie wolves are hunting
E Beneath the verdant canopy
C The pack is on the move
F The prairie wolves are hunting
A Pawprints in the dust.
"Pawprints," intoothandclaw/jack romero
Obviously, you must write a pantoum. At least one. Since they're relatively short, I'm allowing two entries per person.
However, you have a choice. Because this is, after all, Storywrite and not Allpoetry, you can do one of two things. You can either write a pantoum on its own, or you can write a pantoum and then incorporate it into a story somehow. How to do so and what you write about is up to you. Note that I tend to be more interested in horror, nature, and such, but that's just a warning, not a rule. I won't be actually judging those genres higher than others. Skilled/entertaining execution of any genre will be recognized, especially if it's one I usually dislike. No matter what, though, the pantoum and the story have to be connected firmly and naturally if you choose this option -- you can't just stick a poem on the front of a story as a sort of introduction. Again, how you work it in is up to you.
If you choose to just write the poem(s), that's cool too.
Rules:
1.) Spelling. Grammar. Punctuation.
2.) Pantoum only. No other forms of poetry.
3.) If you can pull it off, a well-done rhymed pantoum would be cool, but, no offense intended, you likely can't, at least not well enough to overcome my personal distaste for heavily rhymed poetry. Remember that each line has to make sense in context and must be COMPLETELY unchanged in each repetition.
4.) For those of you doing stories, nothing over 3,000 words including the poem itself.
5.) Those of you who enter more than one poem should put something in the author's notes to indicate which two are yours -- not necessarily your username (to maintain unbiased judging on my part, though I'd try to be fair no matter what anyway) but some sort of message. Like, for example, both of your poems could include a note about your favorite song or animal or flower or drug or whatever. Doesn't matter. Just, something.
Contest is Over
- Contest was judged on October 19
- Rewards: Gold: 200, Silver: 100, Bronze: 75, Honorable mention: 2 people
- Final notes: Well, I had hoped for more entries to this contest, but I'll hold the same one again sometime (maybe with a theme next time, or on AllPoetry) and, honestly, I'm quite happy that the entries I did get obviously had real effort and emotion put into them. I enjoyed each one, and in some ways I'm glad that I can give each of you a trophy.
Gold goes to Anasazi: Last Lament, because not only is the story fascinatingly compelling, it's a wonderfully elegant blend of the contest challenge with the story itself. The poem feels not the least bit forced, because several Native American nations ("tribes") used poetry and song in the manner shown in the story -- the Death Song was only one of many, many ritual songs for individuals as well as whole clans or nations/'tribes'. Of course all Nations were separate entities, but there were some common cultural ideas, and the high importance placed on poetry and song was widespread. And the form of the pantoum feels just right in the setting, also, though a lot of the credit goes to the author for their excellent grasp of mood and word selection appropriate to the setting. You hit exactly the right note and your pantoum itself was very Native American-feeling even isolated from the context of the story. This harmony of subject and form earns you the Gold trophy in this contest.
Silver goes to "Golden Pantoum Elegy," for a very clever story device and a surprisingly compelling poem. The premise of the treasure story is a little far-fetched, but people tell and believe those kinds of stories all the time. And somehow, you managed to convey a dusty tomb ambiance with the poem, too, though the harmony of form with topic wasn't *quite* as perfect and pronounced as with "Anasazi". I liked this piece a lot, though, regardless, and the last line especially sealed the deal.
Bronze goes to "Cold," as I really liked how the story ends, and I also think you did a very good job embedding the poem in the story without jarring the reader and making it obvious that the story exists "for" the poem. Given that you'd never written in this form before, also, you did very well with the poem itself. "Cold" didn't have the raw "wow" factor that the Gold winner did, and it didn't make me laugh out loud like the Silver winner, but it's still a very good piece and indicates a writer with significant potential.
Finally, last but not least, the two Honorable Mentions aren't in any particular order. I didn't intend to score stories-plus-poems higher than poems alone... it just sort of happened this way. Those of you who entered poems alone and want another shot at placing should keep an eye out on AllPoetry -- I'll be repeating this contest there as soon as I have the points to.
A lot of emotion clearly went into "Numb," and I appreciated how clearly that could be felt by the reader. Your vocabulary choices could have been a bit more varied and evocative than they were, but clearly you were expressing more than thinking, which is a perfectly valid method of creation.
Meanwhile, "Predatory Eyes" shows its authors' newness to the form, but it's nevertheless a credible effort; it would only take a little bit of editing and polish to improve the poem considerably.
I would be very happy to see entries from any or all of you in my future contests, regardless of topic. I seem to remember that one or more people entered multiple poems, but I honestly don't know whose is what, so if I've inadvertently given more than one trophy to one person, I apologize deeply for that, but I can't figure out any way to tell who has which entries. I really should remember to tell people to mark which entries are theirs when I allow multiple entries per person. Oh well, live and learn. I'm sorry I haven't commented on each entry yet -- I haven't had Internet access for a while and I'm just catching up to my Web life again. I promise each of you whom I've missed will get a comment from me on the story you entered when I'm a little more awake than I feel right now. Good luck in the future, everyone!
Contest Winners
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Hopiai stood at the very rim of the cliff and looked down into the valley below. The merciless afternoon sun beat down on his tanned shouldby Valkyrie 900 words, 13 comments, on Sep 5 7:41 PM. In Contest, Historical fiction, Poem, Short story
Gold trophy winner
• Viewed by judge. [remove] -
Short story and pantoum, enjoy!by MichaelBe 700 words, on Aug 4 8:36 AM. In Fiction, First person, Poem, Short story
Silver trophy winner
• Viewed by judge. [remove] -
A pantoum poem about the eyes of a predatorby Darkhearted 100 words, 3 comments, on Jul 21 9:23 PM
Honorable winner• Commented on by judge. [remove]
Bronze trophy winner
Entries [5]
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Comments
1 - 8 of 8
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idk if i'm going to enter this....
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... okay?
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I will try but don't be too harsh if it sux...
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I try to give critique, not criticism.
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I'll try and give this a go later as I enjoy interesting types of poetry. It'll mean turning my back on my plans to not post any more poetry on SW though. Ah well, rules are there for breaking (except for the rules of this contest of course oh wise rule creating one.)
I'll just go sit in the corner now.
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Well, that *is* why I gave a story/poem combined option, for people who don't think pure poetry belongs here.
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I love this style and have been having a go at it. Not sure I will be entering though as someone quite dear to Me has already done so...and I don't feel comfortable competing against a friend.
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Oh wait, this is the contest I'm already entered in. Haha, I'm slow. I was all excited to write a new pantoum. Hmm. I might anyway. They're cool.
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