OSLIST Poetry Celebration and Contest
Jeff Aitken
ja at svn.net
Wed Apr 18 21:41:21 PDT 2001
And now the moment we've been waiting for (drum roll)...
The semiannual OSLIST POETRY CELEBRATION AND CONTEST
CELEBRATION
Here are twelve poems written by OS practitioners. Enjoy! Thanks to all who
contributed!
CONTEST
The contest is based on the "convergence" model. Each member of the OSLIST
has 5 "virtual sticky dot" votes which you may distribute among the poems
as you wish. Please DO NOT REPLY TO OSLIST WITH YOUR VOTES - be SURE that
you are emailing only to Jeff Aitken <ja at svn.net> -- try clicking on
mailto:JA at SVN.NET
The poems are numbered; you can simply send me the poem number(s) and
votes. I will accept votes until 10 pm PDT on Monday, April 30.
The winner of the contest will become our next poet laureate, and receive
as a prize my faded book of prose poems This Body is Made of Camphor and
Gopherwood, by Robert Bly (with wonderful illustrations by Gendron Jensen.)
------- Jeff
Thanks to Ralph Copleman, our original poet laureate, for introducing this
edition.
Aitken originally envisioned
deep blue space would open
and ripple out
rhymes, rhythms and songs
for us to wade around in
Here are two poems from the outgoing poet laureate, not for the contest.
For Harrison
A friend took me
on this journey
The leap is deep
but not so wide
we always reach
the other side
As Usual
This crucible of
gathered beings
heats and cracks
the silent shell
around me.
I stand among
the shards
naked, deeply
breathing.
__________
1.
assembly.
alert...
and...
...airborne...
agenda
anecdotes
autonomy
agility
acceleration
abandonment
afterwards:
aglow
aware
animated
accomplished
all agreed:
another
amazing
adventure.
aha.
2.
An astonishing thing keeps happening:
polished practice, endless rehearsals lead to
hushed reflection, sudden activity --
and always,
the appearance of birds.
3.
At once he strode
into the circle,
grabbed all the paper
and glared with triumph.
Then smiling sheepishly
he replaced it.
4.
An Open Space:
Essence,
Simplicity,
Generosity,
Inclusion.
So...
Discover the heart,
Do one less thing,
Give it away,
Welcome the stranger...
5.
There once was a fellow named Owen
Who claimed he was not really all knowin'
He learned how to fire us
It spread like a virus
Now Open Space is comin' and goin'.
6.
anfang
am anfang war kein ende.
so ward entschieden
daß anfang auf anfang folge
immerdar
vorbei-ist-vorbei bedeutet darum:
gib raum neuem anfang
beginning
at the beginning
there was no end
eversince they decided
beginning forever
over-is-over tells us
it´s time for a further beginning
7.
A seed in the dirt,
An empty sky,
A flying, crying eye.
Words fall through me
Like swords through wind;
Goodbye.
8.
Agenda Unknown
Tension between fear and longing
broken by one voice in the bare room:
first step on the journey,
chaos into light.
9.
A list, only a list?
Of Angels opening space
in a community of
appreciation
that exists in our minds?
That's Good!
*
*
==========================================================
OSLIST at LISTSERV.BOISESTATE.EDU
To subscribe, unsubscribe, change your options,
view the archives of oslist at listserv.boisestate.edu
Visit: http://listserv.boisestate.edu/archives/oslist.html
===========================================================
OSLIST at EGROUPS.COM
To subscribe,
1. Visit: http://www.egroups.com/group/oslist
2. Sign up -- provide an email address,
and choose a login ID and password
3. Click on "Subscribe" and follow the instructions
To unsubscribe, change your options,
view the archives of oslist at egroups.com:
1. Visit: http://www.egroups.com/group/oslist
2. Sign in and Proceed
More information about the OSList
mailing list