1.28.2012

#WeekendWritercize 3: Poem to Prose

Welcome to the third edition of the #WeekendWritercize competition!
Join in and spread the word to friends and family! 

(...and if you haven't had a chance to read entries from the last two weeks, check them out on the #WeekendWritercize tab - talent abounds)

writercize: Use the published poem of your choice to inspire original prose. 

You may select any poem you like or use the one below. There is no word limit and you are free to frame it as a short story, single scene or vignette.

If you do not use the poem below, please provide the title and author of the poem at the top of your entry so that I can reference it.

"I Died For Beauty" 
by Emily Dickinson

I died for beauty, but was scarce
Adjusted in the tomb,
When one who died for truth was lain
In an adjoining room.

He questioned softly why I failed?
"For beauty," I replied.
"And I for truth - the two are one;
We brethren are," he said.

And so, as kinsmen met a-night,
We talked between the rooms,
Until the moss had reached our lips,
And covered up our names. 

Have someone else in mind or want to browse? Find more poems here: www.poemhunter.com

To enter the competition, leave your entry as a comment below. Be sure to include your Twitter handle and link to your blog or website. Tweet and Facebook fellow entries using the hashtag #WeekendWritercize.

Since this blog is used by teachers and students, I kindly request that you abstain from profanity and gratuitous violence. (In other words, keep it PG-13.) If your story can't be told without, just provide a link to your post on your own website along with a disclaimer.

Competition closes at 11:59 p.m. Sunday night (Pacific time) - no entries accepted after that. Winner announced Monday.

This week's winner and honorable mention(s) will receive a #WeekendWritercize Winner badge to proudly display on their website.

Thanks and good luck!

6 comments:

  1. OLD follower.

    I am stopping by from the Top Writing Blog competition.

    Just wanted to say hello. This is a great way to find new blogs and visit ones you haven't visited in a while. :)

    Elizabeth - Silver's Reviews

    http://silversolara.blogspot.com

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. It is such a great way to see new ones and be reminded of old. Like Auld Lang Syne! ;) Thanks for visiting again. :)

      Delete
  2. Wanting to be INSPIRED by the poem and to use it as the basis for a story without merely rewriting it as a story, I chose to use the following poem:

    Das Glück ist eine leichte Dirne
    By Heinrich Heine

    Good Fortune is a fickle hussy,
    And can’t stay put long in one place;
    She smoothes your hair back if it’s mussy,
    A kiss – she’s gone without a trace

    Dame Grief is quite the contrary:
    She hugs you till you call it quits;
    She says that she is in no hurry,
    Sits by your bed, and knits and knits.

    —-===—-

    Here is the story:

    “Fifty THOUSAND dollars! That’s what I’m saying! I am NOT just going to pump this back into the slots. Time for me to go home.”

    With that said, Kevin cashed in his tokens at the cashier and left the casino. Fifty thou was a lot of money and he didn’t want to blow it all by hanging around any longer. He checked out, got into his car and got onto the Atlantic City Expressway.

    At the toll booth, there was only one car in front of him, but it was taking forever to go through.

    “People never plan ahead,” he sighed. “Can’t imagine what a mess this will be when the tolls go completely electronic. Besides, that guy has a Mercedes! Why does he have to fish for change? Let me guess: he probably doesn’t carry anything that small.”

    The car ahead began inching forward. Kevin took his foot off the brake, but the other driver was still having trouble with the toll and hadn’t really moved. The resulting “SMACK!” both maddened and sickened him.

    “Hey, Buddy!” he shouted out through the window. “Don’t you know how to use a toll booth?”

    The driver of the Mercedes squeezed out of his door, walked around back and assessed the damage. At the same time, Kevin got out of his Chevy to have a look. By the time he got around front to see what had happened and to talk to the other driver, he had already calmed down.

    The collision had dented the bumpers of each car, but it wasn’t anything major and there wasn’t any body damage. Even so, Mercedes replacement parts aren’t cheap, so Kevin still seethed a bit, inside.

    After taking pictures and exchanging phone numbers, license-plate numbers and insurance information, the two returned to their cars and drove off. Kevin was still angry, but at least nobody was injured and it hadn’t been any worse.

    By the time he reached his house, Kevin was just glad to get home, but something didn’t look right as he approached it. Something was different about his house. At first, it was so shocking that he hadn’t even noticed, but there were police card blocking off part of the street so that a large truck could back up.

    That truck was backing up to HIS house to remove a large limb that had fallen from an overhanging tree and plummeted straight through his roof.

    Kevin ran over to one of the officers. “What happened to my house?”

    “You’re Kevin Sanderson?”

    “Yes.”

    “It’s a good thing you weren’t home. Do you know if anyone else may have been inside?”

    “No. My wife and I just separated and she’s living with her folks. It hasn’t been going well.”

    “Well, I’m sorry to hear about your wife,” replied the officer. “From what your neighbours have been saying, that tree had some pretty bad rot and it seems it just couldn’t hold up that big branch up any more.”

    “Yeah, I have, uh, had someone scheduled to cut it down tomorrow. Looks like I need a roofer now, instead.”

    “I’ll say. Do you have any idea how much those branches weigh?”

    “Well, thank you for your help, officer.”

    After finishing his conversation with the policeman, Kevin opened his car door and sat back down to watch the massive piece of wood be lifted off of his house.

    “What a day,” he thought to himself. “Good thing nothing else can happen, I’ll probably need to stay in a hotel until this has been fixed.”

    As he sat there, helplessly taking in the scene, someone else came over to see him.

    “Kevin Sanderson?” said the newcomer.

    “Yes?”

    The newcomer presented Kevin with an envelope.

    “You’ve been served.”

    620 Words
    @LupusAnthropos

    ReplyDelete
  3. I love writing exercises! Great site! I'm a new follower, thanks to A to Z.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Time's up! Click here for the results: http://writercize.blogspot.com/2012/01/weekendwritercize-3-winner.html

    ReplyDelete

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