WD Poetic Form Challenge: Chant Poem Winner
Let me tell you, reading more than 100 chant poems can really do a number on a person. I found myself thinking in repetitions over the weekend. My dreams turned…
Let me tell you, reading more than 100 chant poems can really do a number on a person. I found myself thinking in repetitions over the weekend. My dreams turned to magic spells cast by witches riding on broom sticks (or maybe that was the corn maze our Brewer clan visited on Saturday). Anyway, it was wild.
If you missed the challenge last week, click here to learn more about the chant poem and see many fine examples from other poets. I think my first short list included nearly half the poems, but I was able to work my way through the poems a few times to finally get to a winner and top 10 list.
As for the winning poem/poet, this challenge marked the first time (I think) a poet has won back-to-back challenges. Congratulations, Taylor Graham, for achieving the feat!
Here's the winning chant poem:
Whose Move, by Taylor Graham
Between shore and sea, Death is playing chess.
You'd rather keep on walking
between shore and sea. Death is playing chess,
a quiet game that's loud with black pawns.
Between shore and sea, Death is playing chess.
You've given up games for silence
between shore and sea. Death is playing chess
by himself, inviting you to join him.
Between shore and sea, Death is playing chess.
Your footprints fade in tidal sand
between shore and sea. Death is playing chess.
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While Taylor wrote the winning chant poem, it wasn't an easy decision, because there were several other very worthy chant poems in the running. Here's the rest of the top 10 list:
- Whose Move, by Taylor Graham
- This is being alive, by Barbara Young
- The end of the world is near, by Jacqueline Hallenbeck
- And She Dances, by Linda Hofke
- Pocket Garden, by Rachel Hoyt
- Frankenstein, by Bruce Niedt
- All Will Become Dust, by TJ Hoyt
- Time and Tide, by Walt Wojtanik
- The Secret Song of Simon, by Susan Budig
- See how far we've come!, by Michele Brenton
Congratulations to everyone on the Top 10 list! Also, thank you to everyone who participated and who continue to make these challenges a great deal of fun.
By the way, we'll be starting another poem-a-day challenge on Thursday. Hope to see you then (if not sooner)!
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Follow me on Twitter @robertleebrewer
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Recently, I traveled out to Hollywood (CA) to participate on a panel devoted to Hardcore Author Marketing, and one of the most sought after speakers was Rob Eagar (who is not only another Robert but another Atlanta native), because he was delivering a plan to help anyone sell anything better. Since it was a writers conference, most people wanted to sell more books, and Rob delivers that information in his book: Sell Your Book Like Wildfire. No gimmicks or tricking readers either. Rob explains in easy to implement language how any writer (even a poet!) can increase his or her book sales by focusing on what's important to the target audience (in this case, the readers!).
Robert Lee Brewer is Senior Editor of Writer's Digest, which includes managing the content on WritersDigest.com and programming virtual conferences. He's the author of 40 Plot Twist Prompts for Writers: Writing Ideas for Bending Stories in New Directions, The Complete Guide of Poetic Forms: 100+ Poetic Form Definitions and Examples for Poets, Poem-a-Day: 365 Poetry Writing Prompts for a Year of Poeming, and more. Also, he's the editor of Writer's Market, Poet's Market, and Guide to Literary Agents. Follow him on Twitter @robertleebrewer.
