W3 Prompt #28: Wea’ve Written Weekly

Intro

Dear friends,

Welcome to our W³ Poetry Prompt, which goes live 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:

‘Life and Death’, an acrostic poem by Larry Trasciatti

Ninth month is a new birth under a pall of burned orange leaves
Overture for a play whose first act is in a funeral parlor
Votive candles silently echoing ‘remember man that thou art dust….’
Elegaic memories are exchanged
Midnight seems to come too early
Burning incense is the only scent present
Effortlessly smoke finds its way toward a full moon
Ringing bells announce a new life

II. Larry’s prompt guideline

• Write a poem that incorporates chiasmus.
  • Chiasmus: In simple terms, chiasmus happens when the writer says one thing and then says something very similar in the next line, but the grammatical structure has been reversed.
  • Examples of Chiasmus:
    1. Live simply so that others might simply live.
    2. In the pre-capitalist stages of society, commerce rules industry. In capitalist society, industry rules commerce.
    3. Love as if you would one day hate, and hate as if you would one day love.
    4. Bad men live that they may eat and drink, whereas good men eat and drink that they may live.
    5. All for one and one for all!

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, November 13, 10:00 AM (GMT+3)

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Last week’s W³ poem

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

‘Suit Weather’, a cadralor by Paula Light

1.
The first October frost
Hardens the garden
Ground too cold for a spade

2.
Halloween candy heart
Crisp chocolate shell
Green gummy worm inside

3.
Cool symmetrical tiles
Scrabble club reject
Letters dance on the board

4.
Ghosted at Thanksgiving
Diamond cut voice
Pumpkin pie crust has burned

5.
She learns to be alone
Playing cards online
These suits won’t let her down