First, I will post the overall rules, and then I will post the specifics about this week.
Original rules, as stated by Ubertuna:
It must fit the week's theme. It must be submitted by the deadline. It cannot have inappropriate language in it. It cannot be stolen (if you plagiarize, we will find you).
Also:
The poem must be created for this contest A user cannot win two weeks in a row (though everyone is welcome to submit every week!) Only one submission per user will be accepted
As we all know, the winner will recieve a merit, and their poem will be featured on the _Poetry_ page.
OK, on to this week's topic...Again, we are having a style instead of a theme. Also, this week we are having TWO WEEKS to do it, instead of the usual one. Why? Because this will be an EPIC poem. Or, rather, a parody of an epic poem. Generally, epic poetry is very long, and tells the serious story of a heroic figure. Well, this week, the epic figure is YOU! Write a long poem (I'll leave the definition of 'long' up to you, but give it a good go) about the heroic story of you! It can be silly, serious, whatever... just have fun with it. You have two weeks, so have a great time!
Now that the judging scheme is one step closer to being concrete, I think I may submit something within the next few days, depending on how creative I'm feeling.
I heard tell of a legendary map In which perfection ran and jumped and flowed. Where shall I look to find this golden trap? Inside myself, perhaps, there is a road.
This is a practice round for me to get my creative juices flowing again. This theme is too abstract for me to grasp.
Alright, I think we have enough entries now for me to make the call! This is my first judging of any AG contest so be kind!
3rd Place: flip_pride! I love your choice of words! I thought the first half flowed especially nicely, and the second half was well-written as well!
2nd Place: Ernie15! Short but sweet, man! Even though it was significantly shorter than all the other entries, it flowed like... well, as you said in line 2, perfection!
1st Place and Grand Prize Winner: Armpit! If anyone here can write the map to perfection, it is you good sir! Your word choice was perfect every line and it looks like it was written by a professional poet! I hope to see more of your work in the future! Congratulations, man, you've earned it!
If it's my job to choose the new theme, I choose Machines. Since I'm the judge until I hear otherwise, I'm going to make the deadline June 21 unless there are any objections!
Can these glinting eyes see? Can these cold arms embrace? Can these metal hands hold? Like statues they shall be. Like those of a distant race. Unable to make hearts bold.
I used to be warm and soft. Loving, caring. But then I meet the robots. They were cold. They had no life that I could see. I couldn't understand them, these weird machines.
They couldn't understand me either so That made us even. On the same plane as them. I wanted to understand them, to show them. I wanted to love them. To be loved by them.
So I ran to a robot And her steely gaze pierced me. I hugged this dark machine.
I wanted to leave but the bot wouldn't let me. I wanted to breathe but it was already too late. I wanted to be warm again, but now I know I never will.
I struggled under a ton of iron. Her metal arms embraced me. She crushed my lungs between them. I was gasping for air but could not receive it. I was begging for warm but could not be spared. Not until it was over. She whispered in my ear, terrible things I did not want to hear them.
Then she release her grip and left me dazed. In a world that now seemed almost brand new. I looked for my warmth, hidden within me. I found nothing. But I knew so much more. Yet, the more I knew the colder I was. Tell me. Who can melt my metal?
The baubles and trinkets that line your shelves; Crystal glass, precious metals, and all else, Bring you no joy. You sit, tinkering away, Tinkering away. Alas, alas.
Mark but my hand, it moves, it glides with No effort across, and back; across, and back. Your eyes follow, but do not see. Your ears listen, But do not hear. You senses strecht, pull, puhsh, Force and contort, to no avail. Alas, alas.
Where is thy heart? Where is thy soul? In the far off kingdom, so I am told. Alas, alas.
You reach for me. I clutch at you. Bewildered and confused, Da dum, da dee, da da, da lee. Nonsense, all nonsense. Alas, alas.
No heart, or mind. A body, no soul. An eye, an ear, a mouth. No sight, no sound, no taste. Alas, alas.
Fate is cruel to have left you Hollow so, my constructed son. Alas, alas.
This is starting to sound like a broken record, but the Poetry Contest is in quite a sad shape. The last time this was brought this up was, I believe, two years ago. The current situation is worse than before. We will no longer give any merits for the Poetry Contest for the foreseeable future. Participation has been rather low for the past few months, considering the number of entries submitted per round over the time it takes to finish one round. Having a new custom of judging when there are a sufficient amount of entries does not cut it, especially if the schedule is already rather sporadic. It's not much of a contest as such. While this recent round has more entries, it seems more fluke than forecast. We require more proof that the Poetry Contest is still viable if we are to restore it to its original status.
We will no longer give any merits for the Poetry Contest for the foreseeable future. Participation has been rather low for the past few months, considering the number of entries submitted per round over the time it takes to finish one round
What would that solve? Eliminating the reward would put the contest in even worse shape.
it seems more fluke than forecast.
If it is a fluke, why not embrace it and see where it goes? This is the first round in a while where we have a reliable judge and a set due date, so it would make more sense to use this round as an opportunity for the contest to spring back up to its normal state rather than cut the stem on it as it's blossoming.
Sorry Gantic but I have to agree with Ernie. Getting rid of the reward would not make it better. If anything it will make it worse. And I think now that there are set dates people will see that and hopefully get to work because they know that the deadline is coming up. There are already 8 posts for this round and I am hoping to get one in there so that would make it 9. While I know that is still not great I think this thread is slowing coming back. Cutting the merit might just kill that.
