The Poem You’ve All Been Waiting For…

Last April, which seems like a million years ago now, I entered the annual two day poetry contest hosted by Contemporary Verse 2 The Canadian Journal of Poetry and Critical Writing.

We were provided with ten word and 48 hours to put something brilliant and compelling together. The exercise was stimulating, frustrating, and ultimately rewarding.

Through this process I expanded my vocabulary and pushed my newbie creative brain in directions I didn’t know I had. The entrance fee included a subscription so I could continue to read the published poetry and wonder wth they mean. lol…

Seriously, I’m sort of getting into this whole poetry thing but don’t know if I have the patience or expanded vocabulary required to succeed in the quest.

I have to laugh though because really I don’t mind too much that my little poem didn’t win. The judges may not have understood what I was trying to say–it’s likely, I think so–that’s my story and I’m sticking to it-lol.

I’ll be waiting with baited breath for April 2021 so I can play mish-mash with ten new words.

The words to be used as presented. No changes allowed in tense/plural/etc. The lists for April 2020 were:

1. bootlegging 

2. lethargy 

3. eggplant 

4. bin 

5. paperback 

6. carapace 

7. muscle 

8. octothorpe

9. peristeronic

10. vinegar

Without further ado I present my masterpiece (please be kind…)

Indistinguishable


beneath my carapace of feigned poise
piercing tongues can not penetrate
paperback pages blurred by smudges 
dogeared clasped close to numbness
a navigational compass—my pivot point


one step drawn toward effulgent light
through florid darkness reminiscent of 
reverberant hues of full-fledged eggplant 
nay--the forked tail of crowned wood-nymphs 
obscured in the shady understory of refuge


royal sheen fat with hypocrisy anguish regret
bruised societal shifts in norms mores rites
an impetus to the bootlegging of idiosyncratic spirit
spirit not unlike peristeronic gents upon the roof
coo coo cooing to creatures set to take flight


eyes unseeing deaf to reason dead to dreams
attentions ceased fragmented plundered
as a vigorous display of sardonic lethargy 
masked by the piss and vinegar of the believer
shat upon from above sans forbearance


performance convincing we stand alone together no heed
payed to the thunderous caterwaul of the octothorpe
#HelpMe #DoYouSeeMe #NoOneCanHearMe
neglected souls left to mourn their own sanity 
like a bin lid left gaping for all to espy—to judge


comprehension sharpened senses once locked away
now splayed open like exposed muscle weakened 
atrophied beyond repair direction cleared of clouds
clouds of choking murkiness allowed to lift—to take wing
curtains nudged to unfurl bonds unleashed  


beneath my carapace lives the indistinguishable 
unique only in sameness flawed in foreknown 
simplicity clinging to pages swollen over time until roads 
twist off a precipice surety shrouded upon the breast as
truth belies another without pronouncement  




end
By Faye E. Arcand

So, there you go. My stab at a poetry contest. I’ll definitely do the challenge again in 2021 and if you hear of other similar ones please let me know because it really does get my twisted writer brain thinking and exploring other avenues of creativity.

Here are a couple of links to other poems I’ve written. I’ll keep trying. I’m a work in progress. Ode to the Fire Fighters , Friday Musings, and Recent Mind Meanderings.

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