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Threads: 466
Joined: Nov 2013
Rules: Write a poem for national poetry month on the topic or form described. Each poem should appear as a separate reply to this thread. The goal is to, at the end of the month have written 30 poems for National Poetry Month.
This year, there are no form requirements, only "tiers" or "rankings" given informally to all participants:
Bronze Tier: Participate at least once.
Silver Tier: Participate all days.
Gold Tier: Participate all days, and have all entries be the same form or have all entries be different forms.
Write a poem involving the Rota Fortunae---the Wheel of Fortune---perhaps as spun by Vanna White.
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Falstaff and fortune's fool
The wheel of fortune, and Falstaff on it -
spin fortune's wheel for Falstaff!
I shudder at the thought of that itinerant wit
falling from it -
the brightest star of a Tudor court,
gayest ship in port -
sunk in the sea, in the belly of the sea,
O fortune's fool, that Falstaff!
The wheel of fortune, and Falstaff on it -
O! the wheel of fortune for Falstaff!
Slipped and fallen from where he would sit,
down to unlit
waters, wrapped in his coat -
drowned in a doublet for want of a boat.
Now he is free in the belly of the sea,
O fear fortune, like Falstaff!
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It Will Fluctuate
Wheel of fortune, never stopping
tells us nothing but of changing
luck and woe, Fortuna hopping
wheel of fortune, never stopping
unicycle, brokers shopping
guile and markets rearranging
wheel of fortune, never stopping
tells us nothing but of changing.
[Form: Triolet]
Non-practicing atheist
Posts: 1,139
Threads: 466
Joined: Nov 2013
Once I despised you, Bewick dear,
but now your loss is all I fear,
not even what's to come,
because the Wheel of Fortune spins
to make us bear our fathers' sins
until we're both benumbed.
Old Graham's gone to drink again,
to boast of glorious way-back-whens,
and who will challenge him
if not old Bewick, bidding you
become him in a game for two,
while he imbibes his gin?
And so, my bollock, you will taste,
just as your pin, I will encase....
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rise and fall
politicians, movie stars
price of eggs, fancy cars
rise and fall and rise and fall
crazy weather, flooding rivers
deadly fires, forests whither
rise and fall and rise and fall
some just point, and stare, and gawk
some don't even look at all
rise and fall and rise and fall
angry voices fill the hall
others don't speak up at alll
rise and fall and rise and fall
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Mara
It comes to this.
I stand at the unmoving axis.
The Hermit returns,
shaking his lantern out of habit.
The heat of the male lion
burns in my loins,
grasping, the worms
seek for death.
A shroud over the wheel
makes a ghost appear
where shadows are,
assuming hope.
I come to this.
It stands as the unmoving axis.
The Dweller rescinds,
staking fresh expansion from boredom.
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05-02-2025, 01:59 PM
(This post was last modified: 05-02-2025, 02:25 PM by brynmawr1.)
At dawn I witness
how grass tipped by dew always
falls wetting my feet
Not lost I witness
how grass tipped by dew sparkles
morning's fallen stars
At dawn again I
witness the grass tipped by dew
Oh, how it mourns you.
