The 7 Day Contest: Day 3

Day 3 has arrived, and the mid-week slump may be setting in. So wave goodbye to formed poetry and wave hello to our third challenge: Song-title prompts! With an important rule explained below.

Rules/Guidelines:

- 5 Poems required per club. 12 song titles to choose from (top 12 in the charts at the moment). Use the titles to inspire a poem.

1. Scream and shout
2. Stay
3. I could be the one
4. Ho Hey
5. Get up
6. Clown
7. I knew you were trouble
8. Impossible
9. Thrift shop
10. Kiss you
11. Drinking from the bottle
12. Locked out of heaven

- You can include the song title in the poem if you want, but you don't have to.

- Here's the trick. You must use at least 3 of the following words, TWICE, in your poem:

Plain
Shadow
Night
Mountain
Kiss
Light
Glass
Bare

Wait, it's not as difficult as it sounds! You can use different variations of these words, for example light, enlighten, lightening, etc., plane/plain etc. The trick is to try to make the words blend in, if possible, to make their repetition both subtle and meaningful.

- Line limit of 24 lines (thinking of the judges!)

- While the poem should have some connection to its title and be linked in some way, it isn't necessary to reproduce the song in poem format. Be creative.

- Simplify lifeline: If using this lifeline, only four poems are required, only 2 of the listed words need to be used in the poem instead of 3.

- Again 20pts per poem, 100pts for round total.

- Deadline (a little later than in previous rounds!) 18.00pm PnQ time, Thursday.

As usual, any questions or queries, you know where to find me. Watch this space for some surprises tomorrow about future challenges :) Good luck!

Do you mean Thursday Colm? Today is Wednesday...

Hopefully if not we have 1 hour

good luck everyone

Either that or a whole week...but then its called a 7 day challenge so that bit of hope goes out the window as soon as it came in...

One hour is all you get. No mercy!

Of course I jest, I made a typo of course it should read due Thursday. Thanks for spotting it

Approx 6 hours left, keep the entries coming :)

Round 3 poems for you to feast your eyes upon!

CLUB 1

#201
Drinking from the bottle

Cold crisp beer touches my lips
and the shadows swim behind the glass
as I bring it back to the table...
I've set up a tab but I'm drinking alone tonight.

Bartender doesn't ask to see my ID,
because I've been here for days
just sitting on this rubber clothed stool
with the only company that counts...
and the shadowy figures still flicker
and the ghosts still call to me...
to carry on swigging them back

The glassy expression in my eyes tells you
I need taking home but I still sit in the corner alone.

The night gets darker, and the wind gets colder
but the arms in my jacket have shrunk with time...
like the pupils of my eyes as I'm about to die

Cold crisp beer touches my lips...
as I let go and
drink from the bottle again.

One last time.
-----------------------------------------------------
#202
Locked out of heaven

Flying high upon a breeze
entangled in a fog filled haze,
shadowy flames beneath my soul,
landing near the light unknown
to the darkness of a raven winged ghost.

Doors are locked in heaven,
forbidden goddess remains
shackled, lost amongst glassy
tears, falling lightly into the
depths of damnation.

Shards of glass, an eternal bed,
hissing serpents, demonic shadows
engulf what's left of my spirited soul,
leaving me breathless, scattering
ashes unto the deep, dark abyss.

----------------------------------
Poem #203
I Knew You Were Trouble

Bare skin against a table of glass,
A flick of the tongue and a shake of the hips.
You strike me down as hard a lightning bolt,
And I whisper.

Thick hair and a velvet voice,
Coaxes sweet words and desperate confessions,
They escape from me like droplets of rain from a heavy cloud,
And I whisper.

We raise a glass to the brilliance of decadence,
And toast to something more perverted.
You speak to me words belonging to the night,
And I whisper.

The way your finger handles the switch;
Teasing me as you dim the lights to move in closer.
Telling me you are used to being told that you are trouble,
And I whisper.

Bare skin against a table of glass,
A daring look shoots across the night.
The sound of heated bodies and racing heartbeats,
As I whisper;

I know you are trouble and now I love you for it.

------------------------------------------------------------
#204
Stay

You only saw us as a projection
in a shadow play; featureless, with
no strings attached. But I thought
that you would stay when the real
lights are reflected on our eyes..

.. you never did! I awaited for one
more chance; for my kiss of life.

I wished to be the audience for once
not the one behind the scenes because
sometimes you just want to live the
dream of how life can turn out to be..

.. but I knew better, I knew what
lights and shadows failed to see.

--

Before you I was always a believer,
I thought love could speak in moments
of silence, until I was served my first
glass of skepticism.

Here I am now -drained- kissing the
shadows of a glass-like love, I guess
this was never mine to drink!

---------------------------------
#205
Impossible Kisses

Sleeping beneath the shadowing moon
I close my weary eyes tonight
and dream of being with you.

Days have felt like years
with the absence of your touch
and the fading whispers of your voice.

My tear-stained lips feel lonely
without the kisses of heaven
you so gently planted upon them.

I gaze through the window
and wonder if the silver stars
will catch my falling tears.

And so I find myself here every night
kissing your moonlight shadow
and dreaming of the impossible.

*********************************

CLUB 2

#206
I knew you were trouble

I placed you atop an alabaster mountain my love
but you preferred the darkness,
enveloping even the moonlight
where our shadows used to sway and play.
Scarce mechanical kisses burned,
bittersweet became all those star studded midnights.

I knew you were trouble then...

Love shouldn't have to hide itself away,
in the deep shadow of the night.
It should walk confidently into the eyes of the sunlight,
holding its head up high,
proclaiming itself from the mountaintops-
throwing caution and kisses to the wind!

-------------------------------------
#207
I could be the one

They say its difficult to be what you want,
but I could be the one to shade my life
with my ideas.

They say its hard to let go of things,
but I could be the one to kiss sadness
with bare foot.

They say its tough to light darkness,
but I could be the one to enlighten the world
with my optimism.

They say failures can fill your lives with dark shadows,
but I could be the one to move ahead
when hope kisses me.

They say one cannot change the world,
but I could be the one
to initiate it.

-------------------------------------
#208
Get up

Stand tall, my beloved sister

from the shadows of night into the light

you must go, stand tall, stand tall

only the weak give up without a fight

you can do it, sister, no matter the color

of your skin or the humbleness of your home

stand tall amidst the shadows, forecasted by

those who stand to gain by your defeat

pick up the glove, and step into the bright light of day

as old as time, we are, and as one we shall stand tall

when day comes, remember your nightly visitor

and the whispers from her ageless soul

get up, stand tall.

--------------------------------------------
#209
Ho Hey

Ho! Stop and take a look through the dirty glass.
The acreage around us is bare and plain,
casted with the shadow of our gloom, despair.

Hey! The war is still raging, frolicking on our hearts.
We bear arms against our antagonists, haters.
We hide yet they dawdle in our shadows.

Ho! Spread out on the plains and fire!
Erupt in combat; make your rivals shiver in dread!
Carry home your momma's boys!

Hey! The outcome doesn't look so well
but you are tough and capable of triumph!
Drive the opponent's troops home bare!

------------------------------------------
#210
Kiss You

You kiss me in the mornings: soft and sweet,
They fetch back the memories of our childhood.

We held hands in the park when we were five.
threw water at each other at the community pool,
tore up muddy back roads on our first date at 16,
went on a camping trip out in the Appalachian Mountains.

The mountain mornings were beautiful.
The dew set into the valleys, casting rainbows off its surface.
The splendor and awe were unmistakable, unforgettable.
You'd fall into me from behind, arms around my stomach.
I could feel your heartbeat stagger with sheer love.
You'd kiss me with... such passion, love, desire, lust;
Your fingers enveloped in my hair, held me close.
My knees would grow feeble. Our childhood kisses:
They had nothing on what we had then.

Years later, our love is nestled in her valleys.
The passion we shared is so different now.
I don't feel it anymore when I kiss you.

*************************************

CLUB 3

#211
Stay

There is a story about us - that we were black holes
in the night, stripping every light around us
bare until you fell. You fell into me.

Night became the sanctuary where
every sky and star was home. But time passes
in every sunset and you became the only sky and
only star and home; home was
the shatter snapped brick building in ruins
around us with your hand in mine, singing
(don't you know it's going to be alright, don't you know..)

We were light sleepers; heavy dreamers and
so the story goes that all had envies of our haven.

But there are moments -
the jeered smile and the frigid eyes and
you're upstairs sleeping at 2PM and it's silent
but the silence is too long, weeks and
weeks and I'm weak

with the weight of never leaving and
your skin stripped bare and empty again and so
we're back. Light sleepers. Deserted dreamers.
Black holes and we're back.

Just come downstairs, remember light.
Fall into me. Let me feel
the world in my hands. Stay.

------------------------------------
#212
Locked out of heaven

I wake up within yellow bars, bones
yellowed like newspapers in sunlight, dreams
imprisoned behind yellow teeth, a yellow glow
of urine lying near my feet - yellow.

They tell me to get up.

Hands pull at my sleeves,
pull out my heart,
plug my vena cava into

a brighter beat, a lighter melody,
as if asking me for a dance.

But nothing dances. Shadows only dance
at night, when bars become white
like a virgin's sheets, white
like corpses beneath moonlight.
And I tell them.

I tell them that I was born on earth for a reason,
that the sea strands on beaches because the horizon
isn't meant to be an asylum for sadness.

They still won't listen, they rather watch
all that's yellow outshine my nightsky,
it's what they're taught to dream about anyway.

I tell them that hospital sheets have never felt
more close, or distant, from heaven. I tell them
that the shadows are dancing at last.

-------------------------------------
#213
Drinking from the bottle

Spilled sugar and candle light
have never seemed more like a
divorced couple tonight.
I don't even recall inviting anything
but ants for dinner, left my ribcage ajar
just for them to carry my stones away.

It's become a mountain ever since you left.

At night I swear I can see you -
like a lightning strike, fearful
but proud, performing heart surgery
in that split second, and even after you're gone
I beg you to stop touching, because you touch
like a hologram, you touch
but don't feel.

Nothing answers. Not even insect feet
want to feed from my mountains.

So I beg the empty space
to offer me a new hallucination,

but you're gone
a bottled genie,
broken bottle,

gone.

Third time's no charm.

It's just me and divorce tonight.

---------------------------------------
#214
I Could Be The One

Crystal balls
tarot cards
bare midriff
fitted bodice,
tell me, dear,
are you out of luck
tonight?

Ebony hair
crimson lips;
an hourglass figure
hiding in multitudes of sins,

I could be the one,
and you know it.

We can turn away
from the night
like roving vagabonds;
barefoot,

or, two faced-coins,
destined to fall
onto the glassy
ocean floor.

And, even the stars
are whispering it:

I could be the one.

------------------------------
#215
Kiss You

Your lips were like glass
Smooth, cold
A little curious

Shadows danced across your eyes
We sank into the night
A kiss

It felt empty, bare
There was no light
No glimmer of passion

It was there, in plain view
A mountain in hindsight
You were not meant for me

When I walked away
Like a shadow, you followed
Light invading your eyes

I knew, for you
This would hurt
And you would return to the night once again

******************************

CLUB 4

#216
Stay

The lights were dimmed and
there was a melancholic presence.
We sat facing each other
with questions in our eyes.

He sat quietly as I sketched
his shadow in my mind.
His face was concealed in two shades;
I never knew which one was the real him.

Things were no longer black and white,
discoloration changed our lives.
It was a toxic whirlwind;
we were spinning in a grey tornado.

He told me that he is a broken glass
that simply needs to be glued together.
But he'll never understand that
I'll be the dysfunctional one - without him.

Light-headed, I knew I had to leave even
though my feet could barely move.
He begged me to stay,
but I had to drag myself out.

I stared at him through the glass window
I wanted him to run after me.
Instead, he did what he asked me to do,
he stayed... there... alone.

shadow, shade
Lights, light-headed
Glass, glass

-------------------------------------------------
#217
I could be the one

I could be the one with blurry eyes
Hiding behind the dim night sky,
with my stars too sad to shine...

But tonight is different for you and I;
the shadow looms over the mountainside
and depression kisses this hopeless fight.

I could be the one to end this pain
to show you shadowy figures aren't always to blame
to lighten up this mountain pass...

But you'll overlook all that I've done,
and the night time sky will never kiss the mountain sun
You're too blind to see that I could have been the one.

Night, tonight
shadow, shadowy
kisses, kiss

------------------------------------
#218
Thrift Shop

We don't need a genuine love,
settled for just the resale kiss;
met one night in worn old shadows
of twice rejected lovers' dis.

Don't claim to be her shiny knight
I'm just someone to squire her 'round;
if our life seems a bit tattered
it's because we met on rebound.

My old lady told me, "kiss off,"
her husband took off with his boss;
we're old shoes tossed in the closet
left in the shadows, lost our gloss.

I wear her love like these old clothes
but maybe devotion can grow;
used husbands still have potential
after all I got the velcro.

kiss, kiss
night, knight
shadows, shadows

--------------------------------------
#219
Locked Out of Heaven

T'was plain to see in the light
She was not plain at all
As I gazed into the night
It was clear that I would fall.
She was looking through glass,
Glass I wished was not there
If I could only kiss her dark shadow,
Get close to a light soul so fair
In the shadow of my mistakes
She would be with me everywhere

But, I must have committed a mortal sin,
No matter how I pray. she won't let me in.

Plain, plain
glass, glass
shadow, shadow

--------------------------------------
#220
I Knew You Were Trouble

She was dressed for the night,
black heels and a black dress-
her attire bare of any color,
a plain Jane to the naked eye,
but I saw through her false facade
as clear as one peering through glass
I was aware of her type and she of mine;
pulling up behind me she whispered in my ear;
her perfume was lovely,
though it hinted of a previous man's doom
she said she wanted to see me bare,
have me pulling on her hair
treating her some kind of rough
not like someone's precious glassware,
she knew that was all that need be said
to get me into any bed,
little did I know
of the plans she had for me instead,
but much did I know-
that after tonight
my days would never be as good
as any before this night.

Night, night
glass, glassware
bare, bare

-------------------------------------

CLUB 5

#221
Impossible

When you are gone, it is as if the mountain in me
plummets below the earth, the point of my being
dropping where self-hatred can be felt in heat waves
everywhere.

I hate myself for thinking you would be invisible.

Your pain was tangible. Glass vials kept your blood
captive because there was so little to begin with and
your calluses still forced your fingers to caress me,
though I had been too cold and numb already.

I thought you would lose it all centuries from now,
not on a night where your scent enveloped all of me.

Can't you see I am plainly human? Why do you insist
I am the Himalayas that hold enough mountain ranges
for every teardrop, every pain that needs a place
to coast down.

We assumed the plain night would protect us.
I thought you could never be taken captive and I would
never be abandoned when there was serenity-
for the stars never forgot a moment to safeguard us.

It was unthinkable to believe time would show mercy
in the hands of my beloved...

------------------------------------------------
#222
Clown

The wheels spun in shadows- spinning, but for what?
Lions came to wake me up, fires dancing between my chest,
colors kissing me, actors trying to tell me I was made new...
yet I felt worn.
Had you taken my pristine mouth and the words bubbling
from them and painted them inside you?
I was suddenly knocked out of this dream.
There were windows all around me and no sound.
Foolishly, I had faith in my own shadow and while
approaching a lightswitch on the far side of the bare wall,
I heard your hiss- your eyes were surrounding, kissing me.
Hours passed. I was not the same. I was not a girl.
You made me empty, bare from any real emotions
and I have to live with every shade of red on my face,
all for your amusement.

-----------------------------------
#223
Thrift shop

As we drive down the avenue past ninety fourth street,
the distant mountains rush by, chasing what we leave.
We take down the highway, the winds be trippin' our smiles.
Not too far away, a thrift shop beckons my name.

Daisy lights weave by, they hum a lover's tune;
dream catchers cast a hunched shadow on the poor keeper's soul.
Behind his plain looks there's a story to be told,
one that is bare of kisses in the snow.

His eyes like buttons from thrown, misused shirts;
his ears roughly stitched apart, a tailor's shoddy work'
his lips cracked as plain jagged ends of my worn jeans;
but something about his talk keeps me raptured and sane.

His blue irises sparkle like dust in a flurry;
the way his ears fold like a dented piece of foil.
And boy when he chuckles, the bare night lurks into darkness.
I haven't seen quite a man in over sixteen years.

I just found my father in a thrift shop down the road.

----------------------------------
#224
I could be the one

I could be the one
in Jupiter's namesake-
an atomic cocktail
brewed in moon light's wake.

I might not have told you yet,
but I could be the one
to rustle you from Tokyo's quake
and wake your shadow from lightened stake.

Surrender the glass pieces from flights's sudden death,
innocent youths the night had stolen away,
since I could be the one you say
to pull you up, come what may.

Temptations wail from skies above
gloss strands of celestial ties abuse
their strength and power to dictate,
I could be the one-I strayed.

I have always been the one
but you are no longer around.
Please:
Stay.

------------------------------------
#225
I knew you were trouble

It was your eyes that gave you away.

For they were far too guarded whilst your posture was too rigid
and the slippery poisonous words that tumbled from your
lips only confirmed that your heart turned to stone long ago.

Yet like a foolish fourteen year old girl I swooned when you
noticed me, melted each time I tasted your treacherous kiss
your arrogance was intriguing, your sarcasm amusing whilst your
intellect challenged me.

I should have paid no mind and heeded the sinister warning
those shadowy eyes conveyed. For they veiled years worth of misery,
decades worth of pain and a lifetime of evil that was just biding its time, waiting for you to loosen the knots and unravel.

Those eyes were always the colour of midnight, constantly shadowed by malice and a yearning to make others suffer.
When it's late at night, and slumber wont come I allow myself to acknowledge the pain you caused and question why I allowed myself
to savour your fraudulent kisses.

Because you were worth nothing except untold torment, wasted tears that you didn't deserve and a lifetime of heartache that you
were too obnoxious to care about. You were not worth my time, and I knew it.

I always knew.

**********************************

CLUB 6

#226
"Locked out of Heaven"

I lost you between the sheets of my life-
with a blink of one time in the plain classy night
when kisses were wine in a glass of desire, both
intertwine, lost in the night; my conscience, my pride,
all the way to the sky like a meteorite falling to the ground,
with a sinful kiss in a skin bare like glass
between the sheets of my life, lust.

I lost my pride.

Words: night, glass, kiss.
-----------------------------------
#227
Stay

The morning sun kisses the sleepy night sky goodnight,
as it paints the now plain canvas with vibrant hues of
tangy oranges and brilliant reds. I wake to the warm
embrace of sunlight gently kissing my skin, and to the
sight of your luminous chestnut hair.

The shadows of the wind sends chills throughout your
bare skin - you cuddle me for warmth. I gaze into your
chartreuse eyes, and you tilt your head with a slight pout.
(I still can't get over how adorable you look when you
do that).

I suppose I was too busy waiting for the sun to rise in my eyes
that I didn't notice it was too busy setting on us. You left me
chasing shadows - all I wanted was a picturesque love story.

---

With each hour's passing, I wonder if there
was any chance of you even staying.

------------------------------------------------
#228
Song: Drinking from the bottle
Words: Night, Kiss, Bare

The vibrant sight of the moon in the night's sky
decorated with diamonds left my soul bare
as I lay toes in the sand,
reminded of the nights we've shared.
Vivid memories of your luscious lips
meeting mine in a moment of passion as we kiss
cast shadows of loneliness that become unbearable.

...Tonight I refuse loneliness...

I've found someone to fill my emptiness.
As I hold her tight in my hands,
gripping the curves of her bare body,
solitude has never seemed so ideal.

Her lip graces mine causing such excitement
as my body filled with warmth and satisfaction.
That first kiss became my solace
and each to come after left me in a state of bliss.

With Tequila I'll assure you the loneliness
has no way of lasting..
...and tonight, I'm drinking from the bottle.

----------------------------------
#229
Song: Scream and Shout

The voices in my head say I should be dead..
That I'm nothing; that I should do something
about the pain, I'm no longer sane
I'm trapped inside, screaming to get out..
Shouting to be saved, but no one's there.
My body and mind are no longer mine.
I'm too weak to fight this time
the voices get louder..
Screaming and shouting,
"Just shut up!" I yell..
My life's so fragile, ready for me to break;
to shatter like glass. I'm shadowed by darkness
where there is no light.
I'm screaming on the inside
but a smile is what you'll see.
I'm not content with life, as I seem to be.

--------------------------
#230
Song: Kiss you
Words: Plain, Kiss, Light

Beneath the magical light of the moon my nervousness must be plain to see as your shadowy figure bursts to life.

Soft pink cheeks and sapphires for eyes accompany your beautiful figure as it appears through your rosy red dress; with lipstick to match that's sure to stain the glass you bless with your lips.

... I've taken pla"nes across the globe, seen so many women... Yet none light a room quite like you..

The slightest kiss from your lips could easily make one's heart skip a beat.. ..So let our hearts flutter, tonight when I kiss you.. will be the start of our loves memories

*************************************

CLUB 7

#231
Stay

Winter is furious,
raging against the windowsills,
sneaking through the keyholes,
plashing ambers all above our bed sheets.
There's a bit of light outside,
lightly soaked with the breath of myrtle,
daubing the sky, sliding on twigs, filling up
gullies, thawing the distant
mountains, glutting our souls
with poetry.

It's cold in here but stay.
First, Winter will pile up little mountains
of snow along the streets, covering acres
of hearts with hailstorms.
Then, a sun will bear tons of rays
to our doorsteps,
bold and bare.

----------------------------------
#232
Thrift Store

I met you at the thrift store;
we were looking at the chairs,
wondering if any of the cushions
could fit our hearts still unawares.

I didn't notice as you moved
to sit on one seat made for two,
so when I moved to do the same,
I nearly sat on top of you.

We were laughing at our blunder,
shaken out of separate plans;
in moments we were friends -
names on tongues, shaking hands.

Night was falling at the time,
the lights shut off inside the store -
our first meeting was of mischief as
we searched together for the door.

You guided me, my hand in yours,
our shadows crept across the floor -
I felt my joy; my teeth were bare,
a day alone, there was no more.

We made it out the store at last -
you kept a hold my little hand;
I teased about who'd get the chair,
you teased right back, "I'd rather stand."

--------------------------------
#233
I could be the one

I watch you every day through the glass
Yet you never see, never notice
My shadow never falls upon your soul

I capture every smile, every laugh
That touches your lips
Then etch them within my heart to keep
There they lie, bare, transparent as the glass between us

Every evening you turn out the light
Then walk on by without a glance
I stammer, words jump into my mouth
Yet tumble to the floor, bare, unsaid

But then tomorrow you will be back
And I can smile once more
Already I can feel my insides begin to glow
The shadow once more to shift

Can I ever bear to bare it......

-------------------------------------
#234
Clown

Beneath his painted smile
His pain was plain, etched upon his face
His baggy clothes, worn, tired, faded
From to many falls, to many tumbles

His eyes glass shadows
Of big tops, twirling bikes and juggling balls
But still the kids loved him
Every night they queued to watch him

They laughed they cried
Kicked him if they could
But he was just a distraction
Never an act

It wasn't really him they came to see
No, the crimson lips with the big red smile
Were never kissed
When the lights went down

Alone in his caravan
Bedecked in shadows and fading years
He wiped the smile from his face till all was plain
Now there was nothing the mirror could not hide

------------------------------------
#235
I Knew You Were Trouble

A haze of night was falling -
dark curtains after the show,
we walked for miles to your car
leaving footprints in the snow.

You sat in the driver's seat,
like you were always want to do -
one hand up on the steering wheel,
one hand on mine like glue.

Where you're leading me tonight,
I don't know and I don't care -
your secrets are your hiding places,
and I'll see it when we get there.

I blow a cloud onto the glass -
write a kiss, your name below;
your mind is wandering far off
in search of treasures without glow.

You were trouble when we first met,
with shadows wavering in your eyes,
but there's a light inside them too
leading me to my demise.

Day 3 results:

Club 1: 52.5
Club 2: 37
Club 3: 58.5
Club 4: 54.5
Club 5: 44.5
Club 6: 39
Club 7: 51

Standings as of Round 3:

Club 3: 177
Club 7: 161.5
Club 1: 157.5
Clubs 4 and 5: 136.5
Club 6: 125.5
Club 2: 113