The 7 Day Contest: Day 4

CLUB 1

#301
Picture: Lunch atop a Skyscraper [1932]
Title: Courageous Wings

Late September
eleven souls fly,
heart of desperation
ready to receive death
for a nickel, dime,
feeding a family
drowning in depression
makes a man choke
on risks, dust consumed
sandwiches, whispering
to the ones they love-

"I do this for you"
Eight hundred forty feet in the sky-

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#302
Flight Picture: First
Without Wings

They said touching the sky is
impossible, that I will never fly.
For I don't have wings to spread
out wide; I'm not a blessed bird.

Proving them wrong is so hard,
but let me remind you
water made it up, became a cloud
and rolled with the wind.

This is the nature of nature,
so to fly without wings
is not impossible, it's mankind
nature; taking some risks.

Without wings I will fly....

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#303
1:58 Tree in a Corn field
Softwood

I pose, desolate

in a sleepy sun

kissed morn,

as corn followers

adorn my roots

with nourishment

from ancient

footsteps, that

hither in

antique winds

of yesterday.

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

#304
Path Of Life
Picture: 2:39 stairs in a forest

My heavy legs are growing tired
from the steep mountain climb
they have embarked upon,
finding nowhere to rest in-between.

Completely surrounded
by autumn's tallest trees
in shades of red and orange
with perhaps a hint of yellow.

The stairs before me seem steeper
and never ending
as the colourful leaves gather
in thick piles upon each step.

I can see the whispering light
ever so faintly shining through
the gaps in the branches, as my
heart feels a beat of hope.

Oh path of life where do you lead
and how can I go on alone?
Perhaps if I make it to the top
the light will become much brighter

and the meaning of life
will become as crisp
as the leaves that crunch
beneath my tender feet.

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

Poem #305
Flashbacks
Picture: 0:59 lightning hitting a city

Flashbacks hit me, but they're
so hazy. I still remember the time
we were walking under the night
sky, you told me then that we will
dance under the rain and by my
side, you will always stay.

But we forgot that there is a thunder-
storm before every drop of water .

Lightning came, and it was insane,
the photo on my wall is now two,
I look down at you, unable to make a
move, you are there lying on the floor.

My tears became the rain that conveyed
my farewells, and you the scar
lightning left engraved in my heart..

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Poem #306
5:53 Sunset
The Hushing Hour

Hopeful thoughts kiss a silhouette goodnight,
ending a somber sunset with a lightening bug choir.

Hoaxes and heroines mystify daydreamers
Illusions of what's to come in an early dawn.

Holding onto security of hushing elegance,
snuggled in warm thoughts,
wrapped in a nightgown,
slumber becomes another holiday.

Dreamers fly away into the decadence
of the sun's sleepy melody.

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

CLUB 2

#311
The sun which sets...
Video B:
Image: Pete Lawrence 2010-04-17

I still remember that day
when the sun settled
into its haven of calmness
on the silent sea.

It was orange-red
casting a dark shadow on the lives
humming around and still living
in the forms of a civilization.

I was there, viewing its action
and the subtle whispers
it made
with its slow-paced motion.

Just like the resting sun,
I was too at the edge of completion-
completion of a phase,
I strived to live for long.

It was my time as well
to settle in the nest of maturity
and wait until the dawn
of a new tomorrow.

To fly with shimmering radiance
piercing the clouds with new zeal
and birth the rays of a new journey
towards another shore of accomplishment.

Like the sun which sets,
I too for now set amidst a deep silence
while life around
still lives on.

----------------------------------
#312
Photographer : ANTON BARMETTLER, YOUR SHOT
Video time : 4.42 (to 4.46)
Poem title is : 'Men Like He'

There he stands, over us all,
'Men like He', have heard the call
Natures battle against mankind,
she so needs help, there's not much time.

Destruction rages across the earth,
mans response?, another birth!
Population increasing so,
soon there won't be place to go

But 'Men like He' know what to do,
so some things left for me and you
Not many men, of this creed,
they'll try and stop mankind's greed

They watch out over land and sea,
cry out aloud, 'Let things be!'
Whilst rest of us journey home,
they stand out there all on their own

Thank God, for true men such as he,
or Earth would have no destiny..

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#313
Abu Ghraib (senryu)
time: 4.58 (vid A)

justice is a guise
to release our darkest side
on helpless victims

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#314
Bird on a Wire (Haiku)
time: 2.24 m(vid B)

from his perfect swing
swallow's serenade pierces
green serene silence

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#315
On the shoulders of giants
(picture from vid B time 1 min 30 secs)

Ignoring the burning sky,
so many men carrying the burdens
of all of mankind.

Many many giants,
holding, standing patiently,
chain linked by technology.

The power is in their hands,
rippling and coursing,
its destination unknown, to them.

A blazing sky juxtaposed,
against a sea of silhouettes,
delivering life, satisfying whims.

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#316
Picture A 1min 45 secs

I hope my face haunts you forever.

My mother held me in her arms tightly,
she whispered that I was going to be somebody,
I would make her proud,
I would be world famous.

Then they came,
marching whilst carry those thoughts,
that were borrowed from the devil.

Twenty years had passed,
so many hopes and dreams gassed,
in a moment of tyranny,
my eyes carrying your demonic actions.

Was I not worth more than this,
to be stacked ten men deep,
two to the right,
naked, starved?

My body displaying my bones in their finery,
my face so hollow, yet the mask of fear has settled,
we may all look the same, but once we were people,
real people. Brothers, fathers, sons....

Yet amongst the pile of misery,
the collective inhuman act,
I stare out defiantly,
my face, world famous.
Synonymous of the betrayal,
of human nature.

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

CLUB 3

#321
Touring Hitler

His eyes glittered
Oh sweet Paris
How he had dreamed of her
Here he was history
Owner of antiquity

The Opera in its glory
Grand staircase, so ornate
This elegant structure
A perfect picture in his mind

I think Napoleon whispered to him
Inspired him
Evil doesn't always recognize itself
For it is glory
Glory that surrenders the tower
Engulfs this freedom
Pays homage to the ego

Paris would live
In his mind
In his shadow
In his madness
And the world would never be the same....

(Hitler in Paris, Video 1, 50-53)

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#322
Heaven

I saw heaven reaching for earth
Laying her beauty across this fading star
It brought me comfort
Lent me hope

If something so grand could long for us
How could we not return that appetence
The craving for something beyond ourselves
Consoling

I could watch heaven reach for me all day
My eyes coloured by the grace of her being
My heart finding solace in her elegance
Mostly I find optimism

If something so perfect
So majestic
Could desire me, wonder at me
How could I not be beguiled in return?

Video 2 (5:07, rainbow storm clouds)

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#323
Oppression

I can drink the same water
But not from the same place
Because you fear me
What you have made me

You cringe at the thought of your cruelties
And the penance they could bring you
That you could never bear to carry
Because your fear makes you weak

You are scared of what you don't control
What is different from you
And your impulse is to put it down
Oppress it

As you and your hatred can not be oppressed
Neither can our spirit
You shall reap what you sow
And we shall live in a country of ignorance

Video 1~2:37-2:39 Segregated Water Fountains [1950]

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#324
We Were There [In Age And Sadness]

There are things that even time
cannot mend; seasons, that cannot be
undone.
...
We were summer birds;
of bold colors, and
of the open moors,
with wearied wings,
and hallow breastbones,

still, too eager
to fly.

Featherless. We've grown webbed feet
from the cold, dull beaks
from crayfish, and
unknown carcass's,
that were washed ashore
dead.

Winter came, and winter stayed.
Yet, we never truly learned
how to fly.
...

In age and sadness, beneath
the shady limbs, and
shedding furs of fogs,

recovering a few shards
of pride,

here, we are,

too early, and
too late,

for, it is when the sun's
within our grasps, that summer
never comes.

1:31 - 1:36 [Silhouettes of People Beneath the Foggy Trees]

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#325
Starchild

Two decades ago I was swimming still
in a spirit world at the size of a watermelon -
through pink-fleshed walls I'd hear voices saying
that its seeds would kill me like meteors,
but the budding romance between my parents
proved that seeds could do no harm, not even
when they were meant to invade, for after all
without seeds, I'd never know what it felt like
to live between the stars, eeny meeny
miny moe'ing, which zodiac I'd become.

But when I sucked on the black hole
of my mother's belly, I could feel the universe
slipping away, star by little star, half-moons
of the heart, eclipsed by darkness.

By the time I could hear lullabies, they were swept
away by screams and cries, my feet losing
their charm of kicking, rope of light
fading around my neck.

I knew I wasn't meant to swim between melodies.

I just wanted to swim between space-bound seeds
for a little longer than eternity.

Author's note: It's a chinese superstition that pregnant women should not eat watermelons due to its "cold energy".

[How life begins]

-----------------------------------------
#326
Apocalypse

When the gods gave me a ring and said
"this is for eternity," i threw it to the oceans
and said, "only if eternity can find it."

You have to understand that,
to understand me.

--

In the end it wasn't Zeus that
cracked the hole in the sky
or Athena who burst the barricade
but the weight of eternity's lost hope.

It was me who splintered the sky;
pulled the golden glare from the flats
and into the heavens.

The gods looked down in devastating
reverence as eternity became finite
and finite became the golden maelstrom;
the alluring black hole.

They never could figure out
how gold could look so grey.

They never could figure out
how i, a child of fierce melodies
let loose the sound of drums.

[5:12 in video two, sun and silhouette]

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CLUB 4

#331
Group B, Lightning 11th slide

Photographic Lightning

When a large discharge is electrostatic
Patterns of lightning are automatic
Natures power is quite a sight
On a dark and stormy night
A camera lens in position
It captures the transition
Of branches to the ground
Before we hear the sound
There are works of natural art
Somewhere off the charts
A photographer could traffic
To the National Geographic

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#332
Group A, Omayra Sanchez
Armero, mi Casa, mi Tierra

Who do you turn to when
the greatest comfort in life
traps you in painful embrace
and will not turn you loose?

Look at me, kind friends
but do not spend hopeless
efforts on one who will not
be rescued for all your desires.

Could not sleep, el volcan roared;
fearfully listened for falling ash,
when the mud came instead
we never expected it - so fast!

Tumbled from bed by sludge
that rocked my home until
the very roof fell silently
like jaws clamping both legs.

Tia Maria screamed for me,
"Omayra, vomonos, arriba!"
Already, though, at thirteen,
I never would rise again.

So many gentle strangers
with ropes and wraps and cameras
and pulled every way and so sad
for none could lift this roof.

The end is near, yes, of course
one last pose, in the murk;
despite plastic gloves and blanket
I feel so cold, slipping away.

Twenty thousand neighbors
have gone already this sad week;
mi padre, I come to you; adios angelos
help the others who you still can.

[Note: Omayra Sanchez, 13, died of exposure in 1985 after being trapped in mud flooded debris of her home for three days following the eruption of Volcan Nevado del Ruiz, Columbia. Her death is blamed on the government's inaction]

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#333
Group A, Little Rock Desegregation, 1957
Elizabeth Eckford

So determined you were, for so young
marching for victory and education
through the cat calls and spewing hatred
you are and always have been my hero.

Like a King you had a dream
that one day you would gain respect
yet for many of us your dream
began to transpire that very day.

Like Gandhi you had integrity
and shamed the bigoted world
by simply being a young girl
trying to make her way with class.

[Note: the Little Rock integration had to be enforced by Eisenhower with the national guard. The girl screaming at Elizabeth Eckford in the background, Hazel Massery nee Bryan, later apologized and has had a lifetime connection with her with both undergoing healing from racial hatred.]

-----------------------------------
#334
Group B, 2:53 on video
Fog and the City

Built in this city that never sleeps,
surrounded by neighbors and strangers,
we appear to be very similar,
but we range in height.

Though my head rests in the sky,
I still consider myself a New Yorker.
A good friend of mine, the Brooklyn Bridge,
smiles at me from the distance.

Night time, the small clouds are asleep
and the large fog engulfs the streets,
the city is covered in a white blanket.
Just like that, our sins are cleared.

Our lungs are being cleansed
by the droplets of mist.
Something about the air
is changing our views.

The atmosphere was dreary,
and for once, there was silence.
Perhaps this is an exceptional night,
a night where the city decided to sleep.

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#335
Group A
All slides, a monumental tribute

From triumph to a crash

From the years of aviation
to the days of deprivation.
The human race in locomotion
while fires caused commotion
Like the Titanic met its iceberg
Fire took the Hindenburg
The Titans seem to clash
from triumph to a crash

A construction crew on a beam
building structures like a team
Then there were grapes of wrath
before WW11 took us on a path
to an imagined new world order
that would end wars past the border
while there was an evil holocaust
where innocence was somehow lost

Hiroshima gone with the wind with Clark Gable
while soldiers fantasized about Betty Grable
Drunken Ira Hayes at Iwo Jima helped raise a flag
After many a soldier left only a body and dog tag
They probably got a medal with a little cash
To celebrate a victory from triumph after a crash
They found him on a reservation in a ditch face down
Heroes are but legends, it is their spirits that are renowned

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CLUB 5

#341
Group B

His shadow cast a forlorn blanket
upon the path he treaded by.
I stumbled after his trail of pensive
steps his feet etched to the ground.

I dare not breathe - not a sound,
the mist of silence dared me to foul.
Though his face did not appeal
I could feel the southern pine trees bow.

I want to consort with the unknown,
I want my start, my revolution.
But familiar calls me to reverse,
'Stay', it commands, 'and never to lust'.

His figure condense, slowly wanes and wither;
like an apple blossom lack of dew.
A sudden cricket chirp arouse
a valor unbeknownst to me.

I took a breathe - I defied
the axioms that surrounded me
to chose the unknown,
the unknown did not choose me.

--------------------------------------------
#342
Scarlet Fever

The heavens are a tundra,
fame no one cares to relate with
though these clouds watch over
our open wounds.

Sun drifts on the surface of
the haloed clouds, a round beacon
foreshadowing pregnant days
where symmetry will not be so
hard to find.

Her round irises are immaculate,
not always pure white, but sometimes
milky as if her dreams are just beginning
to sink into us.

She is fire like the heat pressed
between our bristly skin when
we were told to coexist on this plateau.
Yet the brass and burgundy rolling
smoothly off her skin will
not slip past our fingertips-
for when she settles on the surface
beyond our vision,
we will still feel her alive, generous
in her capacity to hold us bound,
blushing clarity among scars.

Group B [5:45]

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#343
The Unknown Quantity

Bones become broken by the unexpected,
fractures that start out as casualties,
then collide when morning comes
and all she can do is remember
the smash- impacting the granite floor,
throwing out her hands without anyone
to pick her up.

I now cast shadows through her
even though film is separating us;
she cannot possibly understand she
is more to me than a substance

I subsist through this invisible light,
migrating to human tissue and proving
her lovely bones are healthy-
for they will eventually heal.

Group A [2:55]

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#344

Head buried as he wallows in despair
no longer innocent nor unaware
his childhood should have been situatued, happy and calm
not held ransom by the Govenment's palm
and as tears stroll down his tiny innocent face
he yearns for a soothing, soft comforting embrace
for mother is too wrapped up in her own distress
the reassuarance he needs she can no longer profess
mother worked hard all her life, he knows this is true
where did the money go? His guileless mind can not construe
There's no food on the table, clothes are shabby and worn
once such a content family; now become wistful and forlorn
his siblings feel the same, yet they can't talk to mum
and in melancholy this family succumbs
they asked for a helping hand and were met with deaf ears
and these tiny children have futures that are now so unclear
they didn't ask for this, never expected this to occur
and isn't it such a shame, that not one person does care

0.28 Link A

----------------------------------------------------
#345

Didn't you realise that perfection does not exist sweetheart?

That "perfection" you so incessantly search for is different
to each invidivual and not what the world wishes to see.
stop flicking through your glossy trashy magazines and aspiring
to be each skinny size 0 woman that you see on every other page.

You can only see their body, you're not privvy to their
personal life. Do you really think they are truly happy?
That they have everything they wish for, that they have
completed everything they set out to do?

Didn't you realize, darling, that 99.9% of these pictures
are airbrushed in order to garner more viewers?
Aimed at the young and impressionable, those that are
easy to be led, the ones hapy to follow and comform
to what soceity deems acceptable?

You're not unintelligent, open your eyes darling
and look around you. We're all different,
we all have flaws about us.
But, remember, we also all have our own
positive personality traits and habits.

The ones that matter, they don't care if you're a size zero
or a size 26. Haven't you realized this yet?
Stop changing yourself for others and start
changing yourself for you.

1.34 Link A

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CLUB 6

#351
Video B:
The raising of the flag on Mount Suribachi
1:22

An island with beautiful sandy beaches
now tainted with disfigured warriors;
once sky blue water, now crimson red
with bodies of the innocent floating to shore.

Smoke fills the sky and craters from explosives
alter the terrain around us, but provide protection
as we continue to push forward; turning back now
will simply leave your blood soaked in the sand.

The smell of death contaminates their senses.
Fears of burning bullets shredding through
their temple of life leave some implanted
within cover terrifed to advance forward.

Experiences run through each of these
young men's mind's that they may never get to live;
the birth of their first child, walking a beautiful
woman down the aisle to vow their forever's..
some question why they're here while others
focus on survival and perserverance.

Through the lives lost and families destroyed,
I change the outlooks on both sides of this battle.
I'm the glimmer of hope in the depths of hell
and the sign of death for those who oppose.

As I shine from the top of this mountain.

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#352
Video A
1:34
Meadows Park, Scotland

Twice a day you cause me to ruminate
the extravagent beauty mother nature displays.

The smell of fresh grass entwined with
the fragrance of cherry blossoms engulf
my nostrils with purity as I stroll through
this path decorated naturally with soft pink petals
that seemingly cascade from the heavens above
accompanying even the slightest breeze.

This morning you've presented yourself differently..
..This morning, I am heartbroken..
As mother nature's depression has masked
the warmth of the sun and magical blue sky
within a fog of eerie darkness and discontent.

She is no longer vibrant and prismatic;
the feeling of loneliness is evident..
Leaving me to ponder, "Is this how she feels
after countless people pass her by
without the slightest bit of appreciation?"

Today you and I will share her despair
and loneliness through this walk, still
admiring the beauty she has to offer..
.. so that tomorrow her magnificence
will brighten our souls.

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#353
FROM VIDEO A

1:18-1:21 Atomic Bomb Cloud over Hiroshima [1945]

Atomic bomb, the smoking pot, burning Hiroshima with a puff;
destroying lungs, eyes aghast, thick black clouds rising to the sky.
A smoke who in minutes purges those around, from the place
where his feet lands, and further more where his blast expands.
Kills others before he completely dies. But the real killer is
the smoker, who doesn't care about anyone's lives.

I call him War.

--------------------------------------
#254
VIDEO B
3:31 Between War

The planet is dying, the sky is attacking,
our earth is fighting, thunders strike, volcanoes
bombard, oh the ozone, oh the ground,
the evil is out, the earth quakes, the ice breaks,
as one star watches, in the blue of the night.

Our earth bleeds lava, the sky bleeds light
is a war... there is no doubt.
the earth will die, the sky will perish
our planet will explode ...

in no time.

An autoimmune disease-
a battle where no one survives.

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#355
Video B
2:33 Little River

Gracefully, water flows throughout the stream,
Among the rocks, below the trees
Gentle air kicks up the leaves,
They float throughout the stream.

Trees sway blissfully from the breeze,
A song they sing unto all things.
Water glides beneath the trees,
Due to autumn's breeze.

Mossy rocks lie in the stream,
Against the shore they guard the trees
A song is sung unto all things

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

Club 7 used their abstention lifeline for this round.

Any scores on the doors yet?

Scores for Round 4, sorry for the delay! Clubs 1 2 and 3 seem to have benefited from the tactic of using the chance to write 6 poems and have the top 5 counted. (Poems with an x are not counted in the total /100)

Club 1:
301: 18
302: 13
303: 15
304: 11.5 x
305: 12.5
306: 15
Total: 73.5/100

Club 2:
311: 11.5
312: 11 x
313: 16.5
314: 12.5
315: 16
316: 17
Total: 73.5/100

Club 3:
321: 13.5
322: 15
323: 11 x
324: 15.5
325: 16
326: 16.5
Total: 76.5/100

Club 4:
331: 9
332: 15.5
333: 12.5
334: 15.5
335: 14.5
Total: 67/100

Club 5:
341: 13.5
342: 17
343: 15.5
344: 11
345: 9.5
Total: 66.5/100

Club 6:
531: 14.5
352: 13.5
353: 9
354: 16
355: 11.5
Total: 64.5/100

Note from Judge 1:
'Scoring for Day 4/Round 4. Please bare with me in the name of fairness in judging. Each videos is over five minutes in length with a new photo displaying every few seconds. For Video Group A, there is a partial list of the names of the photo's and that partial list is not accurate in that some photo names are repeated with almost the same time frames. For Video Group B, I have been unable to determine names or descriptions of the photo's that are contained in the video. There is small print at the bottom of some of the photo's and I have been unable to enlarge them to see if that it is the name or description.

There was no clear cut instruction in the rules as how to report the photo used for your poem. In some cases, only the time and video group was reported, some reported the names of photos from Video A with the time, some gave a group only, etc. If you look at the posted poems, you can understand my concern. As a judge I do not want the responsibility for deciding what photo the writer used because I could very well decide on the wrong photo which would affect the meaning of their poem.

I spent a considerable amount of time attempting to arrive at a conclusion or process that is fair to each writer in the contest and I felt that I owed an explanation of how I judged Day 4/Round 4. To give everyone a level playing field, I started with 10/20, then read and judged each poem as an independent write without consideration to photos and added points to the starting 10. I know this solution will not please everyone but I could not think of any other way to judge the poems without the possibility of an incorrect decision on my part as to the photo used by a writer.

I would like to say that a majority of the poems brought images to my mind as I read and I would venture to guess the words depicted the original photo very well. It is good when your words can bring an image to the reader and for that each writer is to be commended.'