Weekly Short Stories Contest and Company! discussion

You have until the 27th of June to post a poem, and June 28 to 30, we’ll vote for which one we thought was best.

Please post directly into the topic and not a link. Please don’t use a poem previously used in this group.

Your poem can be any length.

This week’s topic is: Building Blocks

The rules are pretty loose. You could write a poem about anything that has to do with the subject but it must relate to the topic somehow.

Have fun!

Thanks to Marie for suggesting the topic!

Love it! Thanks, Ajay.

I've gone for a non-rhyming one for a change of pace...

Title : Get Back Up
Poet : Edward Davies

If a child
learns only one thing
in their short time
on this Earth
it is that,
like the building blocks
with which they play,
they will
inevitably
be knocked down
by those that try
to defeat them.

But like those blocks
the persistent child
will soon realise that
if they persist in rebuilding,
if they persist in trying
over and over,
those that try
to knock them down
will soon give up
and realise the futility
of attacking those that will
not give in.

Very cool, Edward. I really like this one.

Ryan wrote: "Very cool, Edward. I really like this one."

Thanks Ryan - not my usual wheelhouse...

HOW DNA WORKS
by Connie D.

It’s like a set of building blocks
that only has four shapes
and using simple patterns
it makes humans out of apes.

Adenine and Guanine
from the family block Purine
each have two rings
but in this jingle
they were never single.

Cytosine and Thymine
from the block Pyrimidine
each have one ring
and in this jingle
they are forever single.

It’s kind of hard to understand,
but somehow they all form a band
pairing Adenine with Thymine
and Cytosine with Guanine
and RNA plays Nitrogen Bass.

It’s like an instrument,
with really long strings
made out of nucleotides,
some sugary type things.

The stage they play on
looks like a long ladder.....
Oh I give up explaining
this complex twisted matter!

You should go as their friend
I think his name’s Felix,
I heard he plays in a band
called The Double Helix.

not a new one... I thought this might fit somehow though. As usual, open to critique and all types of feedback.

Frozen Lego


I snatched ants from their labours
Away from the trail
They were following like faith

Placed them in a maze of plastic
Cylinders and hollow
Bricks of Lego

Watched them scamper from one dead
End to another as I kept
Flipping their prison upside down

Boredom hit soon enough so I threw
Variations in my devil’s experiment

I took red and black ants
From different colonies
Pushed them in the same cage

Far from content, gingerly
I placed them in the freezer
Where cold slumber struck them to stillness

Later I would take them
Out of their deep sleep, observe
Their limbs thaw and twitch back to life

Then returned them in the box
Forced to sleep some more

Until one day I came home from school
Mother had defrosted the fridge
And all my prisoners drowned

No one ever told me
The borders of evil
Were like water

June - August 2010
-o-
from Alien to Any Skin

surrender
(2011.12.16)

each word you utter is a stone
i used to build my wall;
a fortress of hurt and shame
a prison of my soul.
each stone is welded by cement
from the wounds you've inflicted.
as red as the dying sun
blood i shed to amuse yourself.
inside my wall, i freeze
from the cold indifference of your stare.
i bleed and bleed and bleed
until i have no more blood left.
you laughed above my wall
like humpty dumpty before he fell,
and each laughter strengthens
the wall i built myself.
the tears i've cried have no use,
it cannot melt your frozen heart.
for your heart have died long ago,
and you have forgotten how to love.
i do not know anything else,
except to continue building my wall.
you know everything, i know.
i do not know anything at all!
each word you utter is a stone
and each i've gathered like gold.
i build to protect myself from you,
i build to protect myself from the truth.

**********
another old material from my treasure trove.. :)

Edward wrote: "I've gone for a non-rhyming one for a change of pace...

Title : Get Back Up
Poet : Edward Davies

If a child
learns only one thing
in their short time
on this Earth
it is that,
like the building ..."


Oh wow, that's just lovely. Great job!

Jim wrote: "not a new one... I thought this might fit somehow though. As usual, open to critique and all types of feedback.

Frozen Lego


I snatched ants from their labours
Away from the trail
..."


A great look at the way a child would play with ants and Legos. As children, we often learn humility by playing with/torturing "lesser" beings. I once had an unfortunate incident with a toad that taught me that no amount of crying will bring back a dead thing, even if it was an accident.

Why doesn't everyone carry these lessons into adulthood, I wonder?

Ruthie wrote: "surrender
(2011.12.16)

each word you utter is a stone
i used to build my wall;
a fortress of hurt and shame
a prison of my soul.
each stone is welded by cement
from the wounds you've inflicted.
a..."


I can really feel the despair in your words. Good job!

Connie wrote: "HOW DNA WORKS
by Connie D.

It’s like a set of building blocks
that only has four shapes
and using simple patterns
it makes humans out of apes.

Adenine and Guanine
from the family block Purine
e..."


Sadly, my simple mind can't grasp it. I was always interested in science but never actually good at it!
DNA, you left my mind muddled.

Title: Your Dragon Ate My House

My house is half blue, half is red
We ran out of white blocks for the fence outside
I work on my roof as you build with your blocks
You don’t tell me what yet
You want to surprise me
The rain outside clatters away on the roof
The music on the radio is low and soothing
“My Lego house is done,” I cry
I lean back on my hands and display it proudly
Still a child in a grown-up body
“Me too!” You yell
Disturbing the sleeping cat near your foot
“I made a dragon!”
I nod in approval as I inspect it
The shiny green Legos for the body
The red one for a mouth
Arms and legs are black and yellow
“I like it. It’s very pretty.”
You immediately begin smashing my creation
“Rawr! I’m going to eat your house!”
You make munching sounds as you destroy my work
“Hey!” I cry, a bit mad
“Would you tear up a real person’s house like that?”
Confused shock on your tiny face
“No, this is pretend.”
I sit back and let your dragon eat my house
Hoping it is only pretend
Hoping you won’t grow up to destroy others
Tear people down
Rip lives to shreds
I hope you don’t spend your life
Building tools that can only cause damage
It’s okay to pretend
As long as that’s all it is

Thanks, Marie!

Marie wrote: "Connie wrote: "HOW DNA WORKS
by Connie D.

It’s like a set of building blocks
that only has four shapes
and using simple patterns
it makes humans out of apes.

Adenine and Guanine
from the family..."

Marie, Yeah, neither can I. Maybe we should go ask Felix!

Untitled
by Rayana IZ

Truth strikes softly, like a caress too gentle
destroying the shadowy doubts of the past,
the prettily carved blocks of illusions in the night
so carefully built amidst the wild sea

Truth strikes bitter and sharp,
exhilarating to the point of madness,
the unapologetic reality where you know,
you know you've always known.

It smiles merrily your way and you think
"The bastard!", because truth is never fair
But it's always a gasping breath following a walk
through the depths of the sea (underneath your cities).

And the most unfair of it all?
Once you see it with eyes wide open
Once you meet its piercing, intelligent gaze; its fiery spark
it's crooked smirk; it's sharp and cruel charm-

Truth seems to shine a light of its own
And all else pales
And all your glittering cities amidst the dark tides,
with their haunting, ephemerally eternal beauty-

And all the promises you've made to yourself
to others, to the notion of your very soul -
all bows before the stark reality - you know
you /know/ - you don't wonder, you don't state, you don't think
you /know/-

(you know you'll never go back.)

Truth creeps in as gently as death, as a whisper
its silent beauty seems as loud as gunshot
- it separates your mind to Before and After
it makes your cities amidst the sea
seem like a pleasant yet wistful dream.

BUILDING BLOCKS, From Julie.

What should be human building blocks?
Unity and Amity should be our rocks!
The way through the wilderness is clear,
Impossible dreams come true, my dears,
Tolerance to be taught to the human race,
We're all sparked by mankind's grace.
There is a way through the wilderness,
Impossible dreams can come true, no less,
All children do play together,
Until dissuaded by adults' blether,
The way through the wilderness is clear,
Impossible dreams come true, my dears,
Kindness taught to the human race,
Universal smiles free on everyone's face,
The way through the wilderness is clear,
Impossible dreams to achieve, my dears.

Julie wrote: "BUILDING BLOCKS, From Julie.

What should be human building blocks?
Unity and Amity should be our rocks!
The way through the wilderness is clear,
Impossible dreams come true, my dears,
Tolerance to..."

Inspiring!

Prison Cell by Courtney (6/26/15)
Note: Feel free to tell me what you think, I would love feedback. :)

With my hands I placed each stone
My tears and blood the mortar that made it hold
A prison cell just for me
Built from shattered hopes and busted dreams
A wall of shame to hide my pain
Just one more layer
To hold back the light of ever prying eyes

In shame I worked, day by day
Creating a fortress that kept others at bay
Haunted by the fears that whispered in my ears
Dreading the quake that would make it all break
For if my wall crumbled, and I were exposed
People would expect me to be whole

So I built and built until I was forgotten
Just another oddity, in the city of the silent
Nestled among the trees and the flowers
A mound of rocks, shaped like a tower
Now people pass by and ask themselves why
No name adorns the plaque, no hints to who I was
I’m just another grave among the masses

Ruthie wrote: "surrender
(2011.12.16)

each word you utter is a stone
i used to build my wall;
a fortress of hurt and shame
a prison of my soul.
each stone is welded by cement
from the wounds you've inflicted.
a..."

I really like this. Very emotionally charged.

Bleed No More

I bleed no more
I breathe no more
I seethe no more with desire for the darkness within this tower
That I’ve built to climb higher to oversee the destruction of its power
I seek no more
I bleed no more for its reign
I aspire to overcome the pain and the shame in its name
I breathe no more within these walls of this silent requiem
I’ve sown the seeds
I’ve expressed my need
To believe in me, only me and nothing in between
I bleed no more
Breathe no more
Cry no more in despair
I’m taking a right turn, rewriting the legacy with the lessons
I’ve learned
Letting the unstable bridges burn behind me
Remembering myself from before
I bleed no more
Breathe no more
Cry no more
I’ve closed the door.

Angel wrote: "Bleed No More

I bleed no more
I breathe no more
I seethe no more with desire for the darkness within this tower
That I’ve built to climb higher to oversee the destruction of its power
I seek no mo..."


An emotional read. Nice one!

Marie wrote: "Title: Your Dragon Ate My House

My house is half blue, half is red
We ran out of white blocks for the fence outside
I work on my roof as you build with your blocks
You don’t tell me what yet
You w..."

Very deep. I like it.

Angel wrote: "Marie wrote: "Title: Your Dragon Ate My House

My house is half blue, half is red
We ran out of white blocks for the fence outside
I work on my roof as you build with your blocks
You don’t tell me ..."

Thanks!

I'm only saying it is going to be hard to pick up one :)

The boundary of sky and earth

I glanced at the small windowpane,
Consumed by nervousness
Then I saw them, as Lego pieces
Between lanes, I could drive over and over
Again

Your picture lingers on my mind
As I dove in, crossing the boundary
Of sky and earth

From being high up in the heavens
Went to be le petit passant
That could be easily smashed
By those immense human metal blocks

But they do not matter anymore
Those high skylines
Which have vanished, giving place
To your hazel eyes

They are now just the background
In a neon night, adorned with yachts
Where I finally meet your soaked lips

Jocilene Lima, 27/06/2015

A Brick No More
     by Guy Duperreault (FB&C welcomed.)

The old city overlooked a much older river.
The bricks had lost their sharp corners,
And the white truths it had rested on were now pale shades of ochre, grey, puce and olive.
There was movement,
a slow threnody
unrecognized but embraced
with a slow roll of the hips and graceful
unchoreographed steps.

When there was rain the city became still.

The river caught the run off
carried away the detritus
and filled itself
with the corners of bricks
and the other softened edges.

Blocks

A rainbow assortment towering above
They should make me happy
But all I feel is despair
Sitting here on my lonesome
I feel so alone
Someone come
Someone come and help rebuild me

Building Blocks

The old man liked a peaceful coffee.
However, the hot sip in the cafe,
his moment of peace, interrupted,
by the adults fawning over the young
unable to resist their admiration,
for the house, the building, and,
the nimble hands, that were giving
its imagination - character - by
rearranging the blocks. Just like
everything in world, nay universe.
We are arrangements of atoms, just
rearranged differently, he thought.

As he glanced over the newspaper -
the depressing news, their violence,
stomping his already disillusioned
heart, which has given up, and he
turned to look at the child; wondering
Can we celebrate our differences,
If only, we were also arranged,
by those nimble hands? And then,
he walked away clutching in his pocket,
the photograph of a young private.

Thank you everyone for your heartfelt and moving poems! I enjoyed reading all of them. But especially the ones about walls and aloneness, because, in a bizarre fushigi all echo a psychological examination of the fairy tale Rapunzel I am currently reading in a book about people who are struggling to survive childhood trauma. So doubly thank you for the courage to share them. [I apologize for not commenting on individual poems, but life has largely chewed up, in a good way mostly, my writing time right now.]