contest

The Winter of His Discontent

Tamara Woods 18 Comments

Can we talk about the weather? Isn’t that the common fallback topic, especially when you’re chatting with strangers. The weather: the small talk staple.

Here at The Reverie Journal, we want you to take the mundane, the ordinary and make it sublime. How can you talk about the weather in an interesting way? Is it a metaphor for your life? Does the wind speak to your very essence? Tell us all about it.

Here are some ideas to get you started. Use the words and the picture as inspiration!

Word Prompt: weather
Other choices:

blizzard
freeze
raw
fierce
threatening
blustery
uninhibited
flood

winter landscape

Good luck and have fun!

And have you considered submitting to our Write for Us segment? We’d love to feature your work here on The Reverie! Click here for more information…

Remember, all entries must be linked back to this post with a pingback or by commenting by Friday at midnight EST. Saturday is the vote and Sunday the winner will be featured. The winner is also entered for a place in the spring edition of our magazine.

I Turn My Head by Franz

Tamara Woods 1 Comment

I turn my head
when I see kids starve
puppy dog eyes
with the Sarah McLaughlin music in the background
I turn my head
when I see people getting massacred
media has become a circus
with YouTube videos of cats failing
I turn my head
when I can’t do nothing about it I slowly die inside
with only my fears to hide
I turn my head
so sensationalized, so desensitized
I wonder if i’m soulless because I can’t cry
because I just can’t so I
turn
my
head
stalemates are checkmates
I don’t see any changes
government economy conspiracies; fuck the Illuminati
I turn my head
Hollywood promotes occult like the junkies pop pills
with all this shit going on there has to be a hope for the future
an end to all this suffering
a rights to all our wrongs
there has to be a savior
so there has to be a time
and a place
where I finally
look
up

Congratulations to this week’s community favorite, Franz. You can find the original piece on his blog, here.

Be sure to check in Monday for the newest prompt.

Photo Credit: Dm3t-7zen / Design Credit: Laura A. Lord

Headlining: The Vote Off

Tamara Woods 7 Comments

We were amazed to see how many different sorts of news stories brought inspiration for our poets – everything from the devastation of Ebola to the heartwarming tales of a mother in need.

What will our headline say tomorrow?

The only way to decide that is to read your fellow poets and vote, vote, vote!

Perched on the Edge of… by Cie

Dreaming of Darkness Retreating by David Ellis

Mother in Need by Kelly

I Turn My Head by Franz

Ebola Calling by Billygoat Gruff (in the comment section)

 

 

A Bar with Me and You

Tamara Woods 2 Comments

We met upon a moon-shy night,
The future so unsure;
We counted steps upon the road,
To basement bars front door.
The first response of eyes so met,
A shiver balls to bone;
We couldn’t know from this night on,
If we’d ever be alone.
We talked until the wine ran out,
But the bar refused us more;
And as the rain remained afloat,
We danced out through the door.
Not dwelling on the falling drops,
Nor chilling winter breeze;
We knew that life so seldom gave,
Such moments sweet as these.
As the moon bid sky farewell,
We talked and laughed and kissed;
And every star that faded so,
Beared witness to our tryst.
Who could have guessed a simple call,
Could lead to such a place;
A chance encounter engineered,
And granted with such grace.
The start of something sweetly pure,
A life of different views;
All started with rain soaked drink,
In a bar with me and you.

A middle-aged poet from the UK, who has been attempting to entertain and “paint pictures with words, so they are as clear as they appear in his own mind”.   You can find plenty more of his work over at his blog.

Photo Credit: onesummerago on deviantart / Design Credit: Laura A. Lord

Making Headlines

Tamara Woods 11 Comments

There are days that I find myself avoiding the news. I turn off the TV and skip right past all the headlines blaring across my computer screen. But this week, I’m going to pursue the headlines. I’m going to scour over them and find something inspiring. Hopefully you will, too.

Your prompt is to write a poem using a headline or news story for inspiration. Your poem can be a way to tell us what happened, or to tell us how you reacted emotionally to the news. Perhaps you will respond with what you hope will be the outcome of the story. It’s up to you!

Please include the headline or a brief sentence or two about the news story you picked somewhere in your post (it doesn’t have to be in the poem itself). You don’t have to go pursuing the most horrific or sensational stories this week. Shoot, you can use Facebook’s Trending section to find an article…as long as it inspires you!

Please link your entry here, either with a pingback or in the comments. You’ve got until Friday at midnight EST to link up. We will then take all the links and ask the community to vote on their favorite on Saturday.

The winner will be featured on Sunday and be entered for a chance to be included in our Spring edition of the magazine.

Voting Denial

Tamara Woods 2 Comments

This was the week for voting, but our voting promises to be far less annoying than the midterm elections. This week’s prompt brought out some fantastic poetry and forced us to really face some of our biggest regrets and denials.

And guess what? The three votes are a permanent feature now.

So take a moment to read the work from others in your community and vote for your favorite three this week! The winner will be featured Sunday and be considered as a submission for the spring issue of the magazine.

Sophrosyne by Kirsten A. Piccini

Sacrifice by David Ellis

A Burning Denial by Shilyot

Regret is Not Knowing by Francisco

Left on the Table by Billygoat Gruff (in the comment section)