Saturday, October 18, 2014

OctPoWriMo 2014: Day 18

 Click to enlarge

http://www.octpowrimo.com/2014/10/poetry-prompts-getting-creative.html

Seth's Notes:

Hi, I'm Seth. I'm the husband of Sadie, who wrote a couple of (very sweet!) poems this month for the challenge.
Tonight's prompt was very challenging to me. Besides not being the world's greatest poet, I'm not the world's most technologically savvy guy, and I was wondering how I could pull this off without Photoshop, which I don't have. 
What I did was to copy a page from the electronic manuscript, paste it into Word, change the words I didn't want visible to white font, take a screen shot, and then paste the image into Paint and crop it. I didn't know how to erase the proofreading marks, but I think they look kind of cool anyway.
The page I used is from a book by Team Netherworld member Rose LeMort, and I hope you will check it out. Rose's work is inspired by H.P. Lovecraft, Edgar Allan Poe, and Stephen King, and the result is very spooky. Just click the image of the book to learn more.

http://outskirtspress.com/lostbeneaththesurface

Friday, October 17, 2014

OctPoWriMo 2014: Day 17


The Jabberwock has Nothing on Me
Random Words (with Random Word Association) With The Cheese
Otherwise Known as Utter Nonsense

Finger!
(Oh boy, we're starting off with a loaded one!)
Value Crown
(When you live in Butt Town, you've got to get down)
Cellar court froth
(Quit complaining and drink your broth)
Coin priest ant lawyer
(Huckleberry Finn and Tom Sawyer)
Lay-by lamp barrel grafitti mask
(Sounds like the Genie's off on a toot again)
Pilot goal flight surgeon cork lido
(He's enjoying an in-flight wine tasting with Boz Skaggs, a World Cup winning goalie, and a surgeon with iffy credentials)
Verse mud bundle fever toes ladder CD
(These verses are getting more and more ridiculous, particularly as I am now hanging by my toes from a ladder trying with fevered fervor to reach a bundle of CD's)
Verse bowl China cliff fact baboon desk shooting
(Writing verses while hanging over a cliff in China, I am confronted by a fact-checking baboon, who angrily throws my desk over the edge and then starts shooting)

Illustration by John Tenniel
(Public Domain)

The Jabberwock certainly has nothing on me in the field of nonsense!
What else would you expect from the creator of The Netherworld blogs?

~Cie Cheesemeister~
 

I utilized this random word generator to assist in creating the above nonsense.
I wonder if the Vogons might like to feature my poem at this year's VILE Awards.

Thursday, October 16, 2014

Deadly Infection


Evil man
Fickle to the core
You infect me with desire
Then tear your love away

I must have misinterpreted your intent
I must have been drunk on the nectar of your kisses
I thought I was safe in the womb of your arms
The coldness of your heart chills me to the marrow

I believed we were together in another life
That we had been lovers since ancient times
But the ritual which drew you back into my life
Must have been an evil one

I now want only to fly away like the sparrow
To hide in hibernation from the world
No wine nor drug nor holistic herb
Will ever heal the scars you left upon my soul

~Gretyll~

Written for The Reverie

The Words:

Marrow from Desiree

Fickle from Faycin

Hibernation from Ann

Infect from Mel

Misinterpreted from Serins

Holistic from Staci

Sparrow from Franz

Nectar from Mark

Ancient from Crow

Ritual from Hasty

Womb from Laura

OctPoWriMo 2014: Day 16


The Ballad of Desmond, Serafina, and Moses

Once upon a time
What happened might blow your mind
At least the night for grim events was correct
It happened on Halloween, as you might expect

The brothers Desmond and Moses
Decorated the cemetery with roses
To keep the dead a-resting in the ground
But they noticed a disturbance on a new mound

They'd never seen anything so frightful
And at the same time so delightful
As the creature that crawled from that unquiet barrow
The sight of her chilled them to the marrow

Her name was Serafina
Her husband couldn't have been mean-a
He beat her beyond an inch of her life
He said she had been an unfaithful wife

The brothers were gifted at talking to the dead
They could have run, but they stayed and faced her instead
They hoped if they approached her in a gentler way
She'd see fit to let them live to see the light of day

"Dear lady why do you rise from your bed in the ground?
The sight of you will terrorize folks all over town!"
The expression on her face was quite intense
"I've only come back to act in my own defense."

"On Halloween, who will notice one zombie more?
I'm going to find my husband and even the score
I'm not here to eat brains or cause infections and rot
I've only come back to get my revenge on that sot"


They walked through the village on that magical night
The witches and devils made quite a sight
Some seemed to be actually floating in air
Moses and Desmond could not help but stare

"What is this sorcery?" Moses asked of his brother
Desmond replied, "I know not, but I'd like to discover.
This is the strangest of Halloweens I've ever seen
I simply must know what all of it means."

"The truth," said Serafina, "is that I am a witch.
Before my husband beat me and left me for dead in a ditch
I cast a spell to bring me back from the grave
He may think that he's won, but he can't be saved."


People in fabulous costumes walked along down the road
There was a lord and a lady, and even a toad
No one paid any mind to the walking dead lady
They found her appearance not one little bit shady


Serafina found her husband passed out drunk on the bed
She dragged him down to the sea and threw him in on his head
He sunk to the depths and the fish ate his eyes
Nobody missed him for they thought him no prize

The brothers thought that Serafina would return to the ground
But she hadn't gotten to live long and wanted to stick around
They feared if she stayed she'd continue to rot
But thought it wouldn't be fair not to give her a shot

As zombies may go, Serafina is really quite nice
She won't eat your brains, she prefers champagne on ice
She sleeps during the day and rises at dark
You sometimes might see her casting spells in the park

You may think our little tale is a bit disconnected
From the world of the undead with brain virus infected
But just as every person doesn't do things the same
Some zombies have things besides brains on the brain

~Gretyll Hus~

Gifted, adjective: Having exceptional talent or natural ability.

Intense, adjective: Of extreme force, degree, or strength; (of an action) highly concentrated; having or showing strong feelings or opinions; extremely earnest or serious.

Rot, verb: (Chiefly of animal or vegetable matter) decay or cause to decay by the action of bacteria and fungi; decompose; gradually deteriorate through lack of attention or opportunity; noun: The process of decaying; rotten or decayed matter; a process of deterioration; a decline in standards.

Prompts Used:

All images besides the first are public domain


Wednesday, October 15, 2014

OctPoWriMo 2014: Day 15


Oft Bitten, Infinitely Shy

I once was such a loving soul
So open to the idea that my prince would come
So receptive to the love that he would bring

But all too many times I became attracted to men who made me sad
I stuck it out with men who mistreated me
Because I didn't want to give up on love too quickly

These days I'm hesitant to open myself up even halfway
I'm skeptical that I'll ever find love
I'm not the sort who likes hollow flirtation or casual flings

For me, there is no middle ground
It's love or nothing
Nothing is better than something that's nothing but wrong

~Sally~


Notes:
I would actually prefer that people refrain from giving pep talks about there being someone special out there, not to give up, etc. I am in my middle years and am not crestfallen at the idea that I will never find "love." Listening to the encouragement not to "give up" prompted me to get involved in relationships that were anything but healthy and stick with them because my "standards were too high" and I had to "give him a chance."
I'm happy for those who have found love, such as Team Netherworld's own Adam (Dylan), Aurora (Nils), and Sadie + Seth. Not everyone gets lucky like they have, and no-one should feel like half a person if they haven't found a partner. I'm happier without one at this juncture.
However, I'm still sappy enough that I like to write about certain of our characters being in love!

Word Prompts:


Halfway
Middle
Stuck
Open
Love

Feeling Words:


Receptive
Loving
Attracted
Skeptical
Hesitant

I am unsure who the artist is. If anyone knows, I will be happy to credit them. 
It isn't a Team Netherworld member--we wish one of us had been this clever!

Tuesday, October 14, 2014

OctPoWriMo 2014: Day 14


A Poem for Mr. Poe
by his admirer, 
Ms. Morella La Muerte

Photo by Julie Jordan Scott

Edgar, would you climb the stairs with me
Up to the poetry room
We will while away the afternoon
And share the treasures of our minds

We will muse on the demons of our minds
Fears of burial alive
Fears of dying before our time
Fears of remaining alive too long after it

We will speak of dead things rising from tombs
Of crumbling old mansions
Of black cats and red death
Of kingdoms by the sea

Edgar, will you come write with me?
I know the demons from the darkness of your mind
Troubled you greatly as mine do me
We have known the foul tomb of despair

Photo by Julie Jordan Scott

Edgar, would it surprise you to know
That your work was a light in my darkness?
That you inspired me to write rather than take my own life
That you may have done the same for many?

I am sorry for your suffering
I grieve for your despair
But I celebrate your gift to the world
I give thanks that you were here

~Morella La Muerte~


Monday, October 13, 2014

OctPoWriMo 2014: Day 13

Image Credit: Ken Kistler via publicdomainpictures.net

 Colors All My Own
A Few Haikus

~~~~~~~~~

The world is full of
Many different colors
Do we truly see?

~~~~~~~~~~

Image Credit: Vera Kratochvil via publicdomainpictures.net

************

I once had a plant
Cactus with colorful top
I have a black thumb

*************

Image Credit: Barb Ver Sluis via publicdomainpictures.net
$$$$$$$$$
 I wish that rainbows
 Really had defined ends
And real pots of gold
$$$$$$$$
Image Credit: Anna Langova via publicdomainpictures.net

~~~~~~~~~~~

Why can I never
Bring the images of mind
Onto life's canvas?

~~~~~~~~~~~

~Opal~

http://www.octpowrimo.com/2014/10/day-13-color-your-world.html


Imaginary Garden With Real Toads