New Challenge

[Antcliff]

Okay...there has been a suggestion that a challenge might be called for. Here it is. Max 4 lines and 20 words...as in the mag devoted to poems that fit that description.

http://4and20poetry.com/

[Ros]

Interesting mag - wonder why I hadn't seen that one before.
Good idea. With such few words, lets make sure every one counts - and think about the line breaks, too.

Ros

[Antcliff]

The Kiss

Hercules and Archimedes,
Bonaparte and Phidias,
had one vast, resplendent wish:
all the living women -- a single mouth to kiss.




(Re-mix poem8)

[Nash]

It does look like an interesting magazine.

I've got an old one that fits the bill, depending on whether the title is included in the word count!

~

An Unscientific Reasoning in Favour of Folk Taxonomy as Opposed to Binomial Nomenclature

I much prefer the mistle thrush
to the turdus viscivorus.



~

[Antcliff]

Ha! Quite, Nash! I much prefer the folk names of plants and flowers.

As it happens, I don't think the mag includes the title in the count....or a submission sent by me will be in trouble.

Seth

[Antcliff]

This one..



Poem for the defective power pole 144 metres from the house which

means that when I type the internet connection keeps cutting ou

[Antcliff]

Although I would have to say that at least this edition of the 4/20 magazine is something of a wit free zone. Still, it need not be that way..

[k-j]

I ignore you not
because I'm an introvert
but because your wheedling voice
irritates me endlessly.

[Raincoat]

Hello Seth, this is a good idea, think I prefer this to the competition which has somewhat deflated. I've been in 4 and 20 a few times, they quite flexible as long as it's not over 20 words. Nash I remember that poem from a while back and loved it - you can get it to exactly 20 words if you split the title:

An Unscientific Reasoning

in Favour of Folk Taxonomy as Opposed to Binomial Nomenclature
I much prefer the mistle thrush
to the turdus viscivorus

[Raincoat]

no, that was a horrible suggestion Nash. original is perfect. the charm was in the long title and the short quirkiness of the poem.

[Antcliff]

Thanks Nash, K-J, Tess



The Dook

Above all there was his blanched rug,
his murmurous, half hanging gestures,
his unintelligible, blank juxtapositions.

[Magpie Jane]

The good old 4and20 recipe, short and sharp . . . that's a terrific idea, Seth.


Outage

He's asleep on the bus,
swaddled in beer fumes,
his shirt emblazoned
HIGH POWER.

*

[Antcliff]

Good to see you around O Magpie!

The Magpie

flies across the Orkneys
hunting forms of Lumsden.. Roddy!
Inside the skins of snakes it lives,
best served up with a toddy.

[Magpie Jane]

Wheee . . . quite a long way to fly, ey?

That was a luvvily conundrum-puzzle-pome, y'all!
Yea, we're Roddy-Roddy-Toddy for a Rock 'n' Roll.

[Magpie Jane]

Heromantic

Be someone’s hero:
colossal, impossible, lost.
Or
be your own.

*

[k-j]

Dear dog owners:
Please find the one
dog
that gives you all this bad name, and put it down. Thanks.

[k-j]

That nightie
makes you nuder
than the lack of it.
And ruder.

[Antcliff]

Ha! Enjoyed those K-J.
s

[twoleftfeet]

Darwinian puzzle
+++++++++++++++++

there are millipedes by the million,
centipedes too, but what of the decipedes?
In decline? Decimated? Or just plain deceased?

[Antcliff]

The Fate of the Decipedes

(...in answer to Geoff)

They signed to Decca records,
toured with Desmond Dekker,
lost their cash on a deck of cards,
became The Decorators.

[oranggunung]

Free from parallax

we have become parallel lines;
not growing together,
not growing apart,
just growing lonely.

[Antcliff]

Vivid poem, Og. Nice to see it.
seth

[oranggunung]

Thanks Seth.

I enjoy the challenge of these shorter formats.


og

[Antcliff]

Big Man

Castle Dunollie once displayed
the height of power,
now only the power of height.

[Magpie Jane]

Causality

Since I unplugged the telephone
it has gradually stopped ringing.
I take that as a good omen.

*