W3 Prompt #6: Wea’ve Written Weekly

Intro

Dear friends,

Welcome to our sixth W³ Poetry Prompt, which will we shall be publishing on Wednesdays at The Skeptic’s Kaddish.

You may click here for a fuller explanation of W³; but here’s the ‘tldr’ version:

Part I

The main ingredient of W³ is a weekly poem written by a Poet of the Week (PoW), which participants respond to in verse.

Part II

The second ingredient is a writing guideline (or two) provided by the PoW. Guidelines may include, but are not limited to: word counts, poetic forms, inclusion of specific words, and use of particular poetic devices.

Part III

After four days, when the prompt closes, the PoW shall select one participant’s poem as the W³ prompt for the following week, and its author becomes the next PoW.

Simple enough, right?

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Okie dokie ~ Let’s do this thing!

I. The prompt poem:

‘Family’, by Britta Benson

Hopscotch gatherings of twice removed ties,
stubborn hearts strung, as the drunken crow flies.
Comings and goings, swift handshakes, goodbyes,
we harbour ghosts, truth, iridescent lies.
Hope never tires, surprise never dies.
Tidied mess? Work in progress? Compromise?
Hub of kindness, chances, crunch hugs and cries.
You’re welcome, want it or not, we’re the prize!

II. Britta’s prompt guideline

• Any length, any style, only one guideline:
  • Use one of the words in my poem as title for yours;
  • How about ‘Hopscotch’, ‘Goodbyes’, ‘Ghosts’ or ‘Kindness’? You’ve got over fifty words to choose from.

III. Submit: Click on ‘Mr. Linky’ below

In order to participate and share a poem, open up this blog post, outside of the WordPress reader. At the bottom, just below these words, you will see a small rectangular graphic with the words ‘Mr Linky’. Click on that to submit.

Submissions are open for 4 days, until Sunday, June 12, 10:00 AM (GMT+3)

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Last week’s W³ poem

This week’s W³ prompt poem (above), composed by Britta, was in response to last week’s W³ prompt poem, which murisopsis wrote:

‘Finding A Voice’ a quatern by murisopsis

There is quiet but not silence
Follow the rhythm of breathing
Blink with rustling of eyelashes
Hear the humming of hearts beating

Creaking joints as positions shift
There is quiet but not silence
A small murmur of discomfort
Introspection on world violence

Look inward at private struggles
Lips move as prayers remain wordless
There is quiet but not silence
Kindness surrounds with forgiveness

Still our tongues to hear the message
Put aside human defiance
Listen to Love softly whisper
There is quiet but not silence