Donna Williams' April 2008, 48 hr, Poetry Challenge

Donna Williams’ April 2008, 48 hr, Poetry Challenge

April1

Each month I send out a challenge for those on my mailing list to send me a 1-2 word topic they’d like me to write a poem to and I must write all the poems in the challenge within 48 hours. People CAN’T send names (yes, everyone wants one named after their child 😉 but they can send other 1-2 word titles. Each sender only gets me writing one poem per poetry challenge and the more surreal the challenge, the better.

This month I’ve decided to give everyone out there in blog land the chance to join in. So feel free to send me a 1-2 word title in the comments below.

And, because some of you are budding poets yourselves, this is now where you can also ask other commenters to challenge YOU with a title too. So let’s see what happens!

Also if you are a published, self published or street poet, this is where to let people know.

Donna Williams *)

author, artist, composer, screenwriter.

author of the poetry book, Not Just Anything , published by Jessica Kingsley Publishers.

http://www.donnawilliams.net

OK, so here’s the poems to the poem titles sent so far:

ANGELIC SOUL

As I was passing by a hole

I heard a strange angelic soul

Into the dark it called me down

And sang in such angelic sounds.

Hypnotised I felt so numb

I felt no fear, no need to run.

I put a hand into the hole

Then it wrenched me in, body and soul.

I plummetted to depth so great

I lost all thought of love, of hate

I lost all sense of body and mind

I lost all memory of human kind.

Then hit the sides as down I fell

and landed in a place called hell.

The song I’d heard now seared my ears

And back to haunt me crashed my fears

And there was no angel to be found

On this dank and stagnant depressive ground.

I clawed my way back up the wall.

I heard now only demons call.

There’s nothing up there, I heard them lie

But I determined that I still would try.

T’was years since I fell down that hole

Since I found within a place of light,

My own angelic soul.

OK, so my next challenge was ‘Moonlight Doorway’, here goes.

MOONLIGHT DOORWAY

Space, that’s all it was,

All.

And everything.

The moon had kissed the earth

Where walls could not hold it back.

I stepped into the space

Bathed in moonlight

Standing in a moonlight doorway.

And my next challenge was APRIL FOOLS

APRIL FOOLS

We met upon page

Armed, adorned, with our words

Waltzing with phrase

On a blog to be heard.

Word smithing our trade

And words as our tools

The poets in April

Were no April Fools.

And here’s FLUTTER TWIST

FLUTTER TWIST

The hands held tight upon my wrist

My heart a flutter, dare I twist,

Out of this wrangle, we both know,

Is the place where only maddies go.

What fool sees love in killer’s eyes,

Yet sees through Barbie’s thin disguise?

What insight managed to out run,

The death wish I have overcome?

And next up is SILENT VOICE

SILENT VOICE

She’d echoed words, once upon time

When faces smiled

And photographs sat proud

On walls.

Then walls were everywhere

As silence became louder

And others became her voice.

Then freedom through a keyboard voice,

Such blasphemy,

How would she ever speak?

Her silence seared them

In their impotence.

In ignorance, they had presumed

disturbance, even choice.

They couldn’t see the language of behaviour,

They wouldn’t trust the typed out self,

The wouldn’t see the person,

In the person with the silent voice.

Copyright Donna Williams, April 2008

Next was KABOOM

KABOOM

Beware the autie with gas stove

Attention span may tend to rove

And hope at least they lit it gas

For if they didn’t best run fast

Because the autie may come back

On the same or on some other track

A match in hand into the room

And gone in one shocking KABOOM

Then was NEVER ENOUGH

NEVER ENOUGH

Only a life time to seed,

to sprout,

to grow,

to bloom

and die

Life, playing hard to get

leaves the lucky wanting more.

And here’s POETIC CAT

POETIC CAT

As I went to put upon my hat,

I met a most poetic cat,

Curled up inside, it now sprang out

And in cat-in-ness I heard it shout,

In poetry of lands afar,

Liasons with a movie star,

A dodgy deal on a moonlit night,

A wound hard earned in a cat fight.

Then just as I stood gaping there

It made it’s exit up the stairs.

posted under arts and ARTism, Australia, Autism, Donna Williams, Poetry

26 Comments to

“Donna Williams’ April 2008, 48 hr, Poetry Challenge”

On April 2nd, 2008 at 12:13 am ivan Says:
My 1-2 word title would be: “Angelic Soul”
On April 2nd, 2008 at 12:59 am devlyn lighthawk Says:
ok; here’s your two words, donna:
moonlight doorway
On April 2nd, 2008 at 1:02 am Kay Says:
How about:

April Fool’s

Please challenge me!
On April 2nd, 2008 at 1:09 am devlyn lighthawk Says:
oh, yeah, and i’d love a poem challenge too… fun stuff!
On April 2nd, 2008 at 2:26 am donna Says:
Hi Ivan, you got yours – Angelic Soul – up on the blog now, have a look 🙂
On April 2nd, 2008 at 2:27 am donna Says:
Ok, Kay,

I’m gonna challenge you.

I send you:

“Twaddle”
On April 2nd, 2008 at 2:28 am donna Says:
Ok Devlyn,

I send you:

“Brush”
On April 2nd, 2008 at 2:35 am donna Says:
OK Devlyn, your request, Moonlight Doorway, is up on the blog.

🙂 Donna *)
On April 2nd, 2008 at 2:37 am Amanda Says:
Words for you:

Flutter twist

Please give me a poem challenge too.
On April 2nd, 2008 at 9:40 am donna Says:
OK, Amanda, here’s your challenge

“Pedantic”
On April 2nd, 2008 at 9:51 am donna Says:
Ta Da….

Flutter Twist is now on the blog.

enjoy.
On April 2nd, 2008 at 5:47 pm Lisa Says:
Hi Donna,
Oh I hope this challenge is still on?! My poetry request title is: Silent Voice
On April 2nd, 2008 at 9:50 pm donna Says:
Hi Lisa,

Silent Voice is now in the blog.

🙂
On April 2nd, 2008 at 10:37 pm Andrea Says:
I say,
“Kabam!”
On April 3rd, 2008 at 12:54 am Kay Says:
Twiddling, Twaddling Thumbs

Twiddling, twaddle thumbs
Twirling round and round.

Two thumbs
Eight fingers.

The fingers claps
A Net of fingers.

The thumbs,
Twiddle and Twaddle.
On April 3rd, 2008 at 4:19 am The Integral Says:
okay Donna……hope I’m not too late………….

my two words are “never enough”
On April 3rd, 2008 at 6:02 am Marla Says:
How about Poetic Cat.
On April 3rd, 2008 at 7:08 am donna Says:
OK Marla, Andrea and Integral, the poems in response to your challenges are now on the blog 🙂
On April 4th, 2008 at 4:16 am Amanda Says:
They said he was pedantic
But to me just looked frantic
To hide the chaos at his back
With earnest verbal antics
He built his towers higher
But the chaos lit a fire
Now he and I are standing
In the ruins of Semantics
On April 4th, 2008 at 4:18 am Amanda Says:
(Only post this response once if the last one didn’t go through. I couldn’t tell whether it did or not.)

They said he was pedantic
But to me just looked frantic
To hide the chaos at his back
With earnest verbal antics
He built his towers higher
But the chaos lit a fire
Now he and I are standing
In the ruins of Semantics
On April 4th, 2008 at 4:42 am donna Says:
Yay, very cool.
On April 4th, 2008 at 5:03 am devlyn lighthawk Says:
a brush of cirrus white
across a sky of blue
gilded a brush of geese
in sunset pastel hues;
and then i watch amazed
to see the ocean’s hands
unveil a brush of pretty shells
drawn soft across the sands.
On April 4th, 2008 at 6:20 am donna Says:
wow, glorious Devlyn.
On April 4th, 2008 at 10:29 pm Andrea Says:
Excellent Kaboom response. 🙂 Ha!

Hey, I thought you might want to post about this art program for autistic kids. It’s in Chicago, so far far away from you, but it seems interesting. http://www.chicagochildrensmuseum.org/red_kite.html
On April 5th, 2008 at 1:17 am Amanda Says:
BTW Donna, is it okay if I use this or a similar idea on my own blog, linking back to you as the source of the idea?

Basically, a 48 (or 48ish, since I’m sick) hour poetry and/or writing challenge thing. I think it’d get me more focused, and I enjoyed doing yours, but I don’t want to just grab your idea without asking.
On April 5th, 2008 at 1:25 am donna Says:
no problem, just cite me.

and hope it is a great buzz for you!

I’m really glad I started them, they really give me an artists rush.