Iron Poet sonnets
Iron Poet (also called Bouts-Rimes) is a fun thing they do at BayCon, where one is given the last word of each line and a limited time (overnight or about an hour, depending on whether the list is in the newsletter) to write a 14-line poem. They generally do it twice, once on Saturday and again on Sunday. I've won with 3 out of the 5 poems I've done. A nice explanation is here on the BayCon '08 page.
Below are the 3 winners. If I manage to find the other two (why do I have so many *different* working notebooks?) I'll post them too.
There is no '08 poem because I was not able to attend this year, though since the first set of words is posted on the website, maybe I'll write one anyway....
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Baycon '07 Iron Poet Grand Prize winner
(Extra points for including 'silver' for the silver anniversary of the convention, and 'gnomes', for reasons I've forgotten.)
In Memoriam
O where might one begin to find a name
Among the serried stones that mark such loss?
Rank on rank march onward, grey with moss,
And every pillar marks a soul who came
To this far place, to stand against the flame
That threatened to devour all; to toss
The bones of chance and reach across
The void to hold the line. O t’was not fame
That moved them thus, desire to be known,
But desperate need - and desperately brave
(Now, genii loci, gnomes, myth glorified)
They joined together, sent the silver tide
That drowned the flame, and died, each one alone;
No homecoming, unless home is a grave.
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BayCon '06 -- Saturday winner
(Extra points for including as many kinds of purple as possible, in honor of Kitty VonBraskat, the con chair)
Still there stands the melancholy pillar
Where once in lilac haze spread Naessa City
The stairs shone fair on blacksmith, lord and miller
And sun and shadow chased the argent Kitty.
Amethyst the air that sere now burns
And ash and smoke wreathe hyacinthine urns.
An Ilium, that long withstood the killer
But still succumbed to time that ever turns
The river runs in dark serenity
The star lanes flow from Vos to Hillary
Where corporations ceaseless strive to jerry-
Rig a copy- a lavender obscenity:
For Naessa pillar yet she burns - a freaky
Violet Fire - a timeless purple tiki
----------
BayCon '05 -- Sunday winner
The summer has begun, the gull and jay
are crowing with delight by shore and lake
The rains are gone, the sun now strong - oh thank
Whatever force or form you wish! The bay
Now blossoms boats, the hills rejoice and break
Their spring-long, mourning-green with rain and dank
’Neath grey-clad skies. The golden poppies make
The sun shine double-bright. Bees dance in frank
Amazement at the sight, while sparrows woo
And tease above where duck rubs beak with drake.
The oak and laurel, hawthorn white with May
Are summer’s stalwarts, dressed as artists drew
Of old in ageless light. Yet winter’s yew
Stands dark to say: The summer cannot stay.
Below are the 3 winners. If I manage to find the other two (why do I have so many *different* working notebooks?) I'll post them too.
There is no '08 poem because I was not able to attend this year, though since the first set of words is posted on the website, maybe I'll write one anyway....
----------
Baycon '07 Iron Poet Grand Prize winner
(Extra points for including 'silver' for the silver anniversary of the convention, and 'gnomes', for reasons I've forgotten.)
In Memoriam
O where might one begin to find a name
Among the serried stones that mark such loss?
Rank on rank march onward, grey with moss,
And every pillar marks a soul who came
To this far place, to stand against the flame
That threatened to devour all; to toss
The bones of chance and reach across
The void to hold the line. O t’was not fame
That moved them thus, desire to be known,
But desperate need - and desperately brave
(Now, genii loci, gnomes, myth glorified)
They joined together, sent the silver tide
That drowned the flame, and died, each one alone;
No homecoming, unless home is a grave.
----------
BayCon '06 -- Saturday winner
(Extra points for including as many kinds of purple as possible, in honor of Kitty VonBraskat, the con chair)
Still there stands the melancholy pillar
Where once in lilac haze spread Naessa City
The stairs shone fair on blacksmith, lord and miller
And sun and shadow chased the argent Kitty.
Amethyst the air that sere now burns
And ash and smoke wreathe hyacinthine urns.
An Ilium, that long withstood the killer
But still succumbed to time that ever turns
The river runs in dark serenity
The star lanes flow from Vos to Hillary
Where corporations ceaseless strive to jerry-
Rig a copy- a lavender obscenity:
For Naessa pillar yet she burns - a freaky
Violet Fire - a timeless purple tiki
----------
BayCon '05 -- Sunday winner
The summer has begun, the gull and jay
are crowing with delight by shore and lake
The rains are gone, the sun now strong - oh thank
Whatever force or form you wish! The bay
Now blossoms boats, the hills rejoice and break
Their spring-long, mourning-green with rain and dank
’Neath grey-clad skies. The golden poppies make
The sun shine double-bright. Bees dance in frank
Amazement at the sight, while sparrows woo
And tease above where duck rubs beak with drake.
The oak and laurel, hawthorn white with May
Are summer’s stalwarts, dressed as artists drew
Of old in ageless light. Yet winter’s yew
Stands dark to say: The summer cannot stay.