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<b><br><br>Ten Years of Poetry Contests on OSLIST</b><br><br>Thanks to Chris Corrigan for the suggestion<br>List Poets Laureate and King from the first<br>Into the bowels of OSLIST Archive<br>A sleuthing mind took the search<br><br>In '99 Ralph Copleman launched<br>The 'Open Space A to Z Contest.'<br><br>Biannual events or so it was chartered<br>Restricted form mostly, sometimes departed<br>Words in rhyme, stanza, themes well-crafted<br>Poet Laureate chosen, the reign then started<br><br>One and all, I now present, the People, the poems<br>OSLIST Poets Laureate and King <br><br>OSLIST Poets Laureate and King not here?<br>Post name and poem, month and year<br><br>Anne A Hiha<br>Immediate past Poet Laureate<br><br><br><b>OSLIST Poets Laureate and King the month, year, form and or theme<br><br></b>Ralph Copleman: The first space holder for poetry on OSLIST and Poet King<br><br>Chris Corrigan: 1999 November - A to Z, 26 words<br><br>Chris Weaver: 2000 May - Relating to Open Space in four stanzas of four lines, each containing four words <br><br>Jeff Aitken: 2000 November - Triple-American-Haiku, inspired by Open Space.<br><br>Florian Fischer: 2001 May - Exactly 21 words, and begin with the letter A.<br><br>Laurel Doersam: 2002 February - 5 objects within your sight, let the space work, write<br><br>Audrey Coward: 2002 November - 10 lines long<br><br>Joelle Everett: 2003 April - Any length on Peace or The Practise of Peace <br><br>Florian Fischer: 2003 November - I wonder . . .<br><br>Joelle Everett : 2004 September - Butterflies and open space (Hosted by Jeff)<br><br>Lisa Heft: 2006 February - Theme is OST; the form is satire<br><br>Teresa Posakony: 2006 September - relates to O p e n S p a c e in some way, and..include, reflect upon, honor or use .t h e s e n s e s<br><br>Karen Sella: 2007 May - O p e n S p a c e .include, reflect upon, honor or use .t h e s e n s e s (Hosted by Lisa)<br><br>Jeff Aitken: 2008 March - The personal, inner experience of Open Space - the open space within the unbounded expanse of heart and mind.<br><br>Anne Hiha: 2008 October - Letters of your Alphabet, an experience with open space that shook your life<br><br>Esther Ewing: 2009 August - Deep bow to WOSonOS 2009, any form<br><br><br><b>Ralph Copleman 1999 </b> <br>The first space holder for poetry on OSLIST and Poet King. Below are the two poems Ralph offered to launch the first OSLIST Poetry contest.<br><br>Always be careful<br>Doubt every force<br>Gathered here in jealous kisses<br>Let my nearness only press<br>Quiet, restful stretches together,<br>Useful verities will x-cite you zealously.<br><br><b>Agendas Beckoning</b><br><br>Circles debut effortlessly.<br>Fresh gists,<br>Honored in juiciful knowing,<br>Loosen miraculous, new, open passions,<br>Quenchable, really,<br>Since time undoes vexatious worry.<br>X-tend your zone!<br><br><br><b>Chris Corrigan 1999 November - </b>A to Z, 26 words<br><br><b>HOLDING THE SPACE</b><br><br>A brilliantly choreographed dance emerges.<br>Faces glow happily.<br>I'm just keeping low, minding nothing,<br>observing people, quietly ruminating,<br>studying things,<br>until various worldly x-periences yield zonally<br><br><br><b>Chris Weaver 2000 May - </b>Relating to Open Space in four stanzas of four lines, each containing four words <br><br><b>OPEN SPACE</b><br><br>You have arrived here<br>before, burning for air,<br>surfacing in a circle<br>of early spring lakewater<br><br>with loons around you.<br>Did even the ones<br>who love you understand<br>why you stepped off<br><br>the dock into black<br>water? The beckoning voice<br>was so soft: consider<br>the lilies. We carve<br><br>that first time into<br>a monument of birdsong<br>and hand each other deeper<br>trust, easily, like sandwiches.<br><br><br><b>Jeff Aitken 2000 November - </b>Triple-American-Haiku, inspired by Open Space.<br><br>huge pens and newsprint<br>like twigs and leaves on the floor:<br>fall forest clearing.<br><br>wall like wide canvas<br>bare, primed, awaiting wide strokes<br>painted by our hearts.<br><br>circle of welcome,<br>like setting an old table<br>for neighbors and friends.<br><br><br><b>Florian Fischer 2001 May - </b>Exactly 21 words, and begin with the letter A.<br><br><b>anfang</b><br><br>am anfang war kein ende.<br>so ward entschieden<br>daß anfang auf anfang folge<br>immerdar<br>vorbei-ist-vorbei bedeutet darum:<br>gib raum neuem anfang<br><br><br><b>beginning</b><br><br>at the beginning<br>there was no end<br><br>ever since they decided<br>beginning forever<br><br>over-is-over tells us<br>it’s time for a further beginning<br><br><br><b>Laurel Doersam 2002 February - </b>5 objects within your sight, let the space work, write<br><br><b>the space in my sight glancing into a mirror</b><br><br>I've turned into a Renaissance painting!<br>Picture this:<br>an extra thirty pounds adorns my thighs and torso,<br>my eyes are Mona Lisa-esque<br>(read that "no lashes or brows")<br>the only thing missing is the long, flowing tresses.<br>I do, however, have a very short,<br>snappy wig interwoven with a passle of white hairs -<br>it's quite a good rug, but ITCHY. I'm still quite startled<br>every time I inadvertently glance into a mirror.<br><br><br><b>Audrey Coward 2002 November -</b>10 lines long<br><br><b>TRANSFORMATION</b><br><br>Open space in your heart<br>Drill down<br>down<br>down<br>Past all fears<br>Let them go<br>Arrive in virgin open space<br>Where you become brand new<br>once again<br>and greet yourself as if for the first time.<br><br><br><b>Joelle Everett 2003 April - </b>Any length on Peace or The Practise of Peace<br><br>I'm breathing the smoke<br>of gunshots, mortars, missiles,<br>and oil wells burning.<br>I'm stirring in the night,<br>hearing children crying and mothers keening<br><br>It has the grit of desert sandstorm.<br><br>The night sky is torn by explosives,<br>cut by the arc of a missile.<br>There's no place far enough<br>to put my heart at ease.<br><br>Can I buy another chance?<br><br>I want to refuse to take sides.<br><br>I want to imagine a world<br>more spacious and more intimate.<br>I want the courage to buy<br>homes and meals and schoolbooks<br>instead of guns and tanks.<br>I want to be peace, wild and fierce and sweet.<br><br><br><b>Florian Fischer 2003 November - </b>I wonder . . .<br><br><b>I wonder</b><br><br>I wonder<br>whether words will work<br>I wonder<br>whether wanting will work<br>I wonder<br>whether worrying will work<br>I wonder<br>whether voting will work<br>to get answers on<br>where to go and<br>when to stop and<br>how to stay<br><br>will worshipping work<br>or waiting for wonders<br><br>or is it simply giving welcome<br>to the wonder happening<br>already and continuously<br>as selffulfilling reality<br>not answering any question<br>about right or wrong<br>or how or where or when<br><br>I am to witness the wonder<br>and to stay wondering until<br>perhaps to my two words before last:<br>I wonder<br><br><br><b>Joelle Everett 2004 September - </b>Butterflies and open space<br><br><b>PORTALS</b><br><br>In the green heart of the wild wood,<br>Woodpecker is knocking:<br>at midsummer the air is as green<br>as light filtered through emerald.<br>Deer steps into a shadow<br>And disappears.<br><br>I sit by the water drumming,<br>open my eyes to Butterfly -<br>a flash of black and yellow<br>rises up in my face,<br>soars over my head and leaves me<br>drumming, enchanted.<br><br>Earth holds the weight of tree trunks,<br>heavy and unmoving,<br>but in the circle of the sky<br>leafy treetops bend and shake,<br>playing a wild game<br>with the wind.<br><br>The air is interlaced with open spaces,<br>this world and some other<br>lie as close together<br>as a leaf lies against the air -<br>a blink of an eye, shift of imagination,<br>will take me there.<br><br>And my heart is captured by longing,<br>restless with the thin veneer<br>over the surfaces of things,<br>watching for the moment of invitation:<br>a trembling leaf, Woodpecker knocking,<br>a new note in your voice . . .<br><br>The world on fire burns with a green flame:<br>I will not trade a precious moment<br>of the chaos, joy and pain<br>for a life with no surprises,<br>for a day with no time<br>to let you in.<br><br><br><b>Lisa Heft 2006 February - </b>Theme is OST; the form is satire<br><br><b>"I Am So Amazing"</b><br> <br>I invite them to crawl around on the floor<br>.and they do.<br>.and they kind of like it.<br> <br>I invite them to post signs on a wall, run around the room like insects.<br> <br>I tell them feet have laws.<br> <br>The part they see me do is pick up their coffee cups - incredibly<br>skilled work, worthy of huge sums of money.<br> <br>I ring a bell; they sit. <br> <br>I have such power.<br><br><br><b>Teresa Posakony 2006 September - </b>relates to O p e n S p a c e in some way, and..include, reflect upon, honor or use .t h e s e n s e s<br><br>Diving Deep<br>Are you ready?<br>No I mean. <br>Are you READY?<br><br>The time is now<br>Hold my hand<br>Together we dive<br>Into the river of heart and soul<br><br>The water is deep and quick<br>All there is to do is trust the flow<br>Struggling makes no sense though<br>We don't know where the river goes<br><br>The choice is clear<br>Ready<br>Set<br>Wait a minute Let me catch my breath<br><br>Go. <br><br><br><b>Karen Sella 2007 May - </b>O p e n S p a c e .include, reflect upon, honor or use .t h e s e n s e s (Hosted by Lisa)<br><br><b>Open Space for Cats and Dogs</b><br><br>I walk through fragrant blue sky<br>Bare feet on wet grass.<br>It is too cold for bare feet,<br>But my teachers have taught me well.<br>Who can resist a noisy yawn and a warm wiggle first thing in the morning?<br><br>To greet each dawn and each other with a curious heart.<br>To be mesmerized by the smallest motion.<br>To breathe the air, the earth.<br>To inhale the stories in each blade of grass. <br>To forgo the coffee and drink the dew.<br>To listen for what can't be heard.<br>To bathe in light and nap awake in the middle of the day.<br>Is to arrive fully alive.<br><br>Forget the honey, taste the bee.<br>I have but one question:<br>When the butterfly lands on my nose, can I eat it?<br><br> <br><b>Jeff Aitken 2008 March - </b>The personal, inner experience of Open Space - the open space within the unbounded expanse of heart and mind.<br><br>When my father died I grieved all year. <br><br>But Michael Stipe was right that sweetness follows.<br><br><br>When it's over,<br><br>A cloud of feeling lingers, calls up memories, shows me the world with eyes<br>more raw, more open to this stark, leafless maple growing in the sidewalk.<br><br>And shows me to the work that's next to do.<br><br><br>When it's over,<br><br>We might start that lovely, awkward dance of hugs, and wait our turn to hug<br>Ralph, and Chris, Karen, Joelle, and Lisa, everyone who won and wrote and<br>read, and lay a wreath for Laurel on the earth.<br><br><br>When it's over,<br><br>we might stand in Harrison's circle with hands joined and faces outward,<br>hearts burst open to the horizon and the mystery of walking toward it, alone<br>and together, finding spaces snapping open like poppies.<br><br><br><b>Anne Hiha 2008 October </b><b>- </b>Letters of your Alphabet, an experience with open space that shook your life<br><br><b>Worldwide-Openspace Online: The consummate butterfly </b><br><br>Awake<br>But no!<br>Can’t be!<br>Did I really sleep through a whole event?<br><br>Easy.<br>First, lay your head down<br>Get nice and cosy<br>Head snuggled on the perfect pillow<br>Island of dreams<br>Just for a while<br>Keep those eyes closed<br>Let the world roll on<br>Magic moment.<br><br>No going back in, it's over.<br>Over?<br>Please, please what did I miss?<br>Quiet screen is adamant, ‘you had your chance.’<br>Right… whoever’s there<br>Sigh... Still... I would have liked to have been there<br><br>Up now<br>Vitality returned<br>When’s the next one?<br><br>Xmas doesn’t wait for anyone either<br><br>Yet…<br><br>Zzzzz<br><br><b><br>Esther Ewing 2009 August -</b> Deep bow to WOSonOS any form <br><br><br><b>Pondering Open Space</b><br> <br>I sit and wonder,<br>Why am I here?<br>What can I contribute?<br> <br>Patience, my soul answers.<br>Patience, and wait.<br>All will come clear.<br> <br>Other voices rise and fall,<br>Puzzled, but accepting,<br>Quietly I wait...<br> <br>Ah, it comes to me:<br>Some contribute by speaking,<br>Others by being the deep, cool pool into which they make a splash.<br> <br>I listen to their talking,<br>And gradually, patiently, I understand.<br><br><br /><hr />Share your memories online with anyone you want <a href='http://www.microsoft.com/nz/windows/windowslive/products/photos-share.aspx?tab=1' target='_new'>anyone you want.</a></body>
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