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Apr 30, 2024
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Fotini Masika's avatar

Thank you very much, Bethel!

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Kristine Neeley's avatar

Love the journey this took me on.

I almost declined, myself, but I'm glad in the end that I didn't.

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Fotini Masika's avatar

Thanks for sticking with it till the end, Kristine!

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Chen Rafaeli's avatar

a) ahahaaa

b) amazing poem. truly..happy you went freelance

c) my Substack is glitching-very untimely

d) my brother has his birthday on April 29

e)(I think) I. am. so. thankful.

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Fotini Masika's avatar

a) :) :) :)

b) Thank you so!

c) Let it glitch, who cares?

d) Happy birthday!!!

e) (I repeat) I. am. so. thankful.

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Chen Rafaeli's avatar

c) I care! the screen is jumping

d) thank you!!!

e) same here))

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Fotini Masika's avatar

c) After twenty minutes of frozen screen, I get it!

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Richbee's avatar

We all “pass through “ a knot hole to see what is on the other side. Some times construction, sometimes not. But to see the world pass by and do nothing but carouse is a waste of time, energy and destruction left over pieces to be picked up by the broom sweeps of time home bye.

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Richbee's avatar

Gone bye

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Fotini Masika's avatar

Now, how an I supposed to share your comment, ha?

Loved it by the way!

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Richbee's avatar

You shared with me. Restack?

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Fotini Masika's avatar

Yes, restack, share it with the rest of world.

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Writer Pilgrim by So Elite's avatar

Is this one of your best? Rebel rebel you! RESPECT. I'm going off topic on today's too, slightly. Impressed with this poem these cannot be coincidences. Cavafy is gold.

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Richbee's avatar

Cardigans: Crimean War for what it’s worth

Sick and tired

Long before daylight

Charge of the Light Brigade

Wore cardigans to

Carnival in the round.

Erase and rewind.

After all losers

You’re the storm

A love fool

Hold me higher

My favorite game.

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Fotini Masika's avatar

Going off road, my favourite game :) Thank you, Pilgrim!

Did I mention I love your cardigan?

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Writer Pilgrim by So Elite's avatar

Thank you! I went off road too with this prompt. Couldn't help it.

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David Donoghue's avatar

Nicely done! Was a little surprised by the prompt myself which jars quite strongly with the vibe of every day before it.

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Fotini Masika's avatar

Well, the prompt is optional, so no harm, ha?

Thanks, David!

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Edgar Ballantyne's avatar

We’re still waiting, aren’t we? I suppose it’s a tension in somehow enforcing justice without force.

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Fotini Masika's avatar

It doesn't seem to work though...

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Margaret Ann Silver's avatar

*long loud whistle* What a poem!

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Fotini Masika's avatar

Thanks Margaret! Your whistle means a lot!

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Gloria Horton-Young's avatar

I went with the prompt in an unexpected style:

If you've been paying attention to pop-music news over the past couple of weeks, you may know that Taylor Swift has released a new double album titled "The Tortured Poets Department." In recognition of this occasion, Merriam-Webster put together a list of ten words from Taylor Swift songs. We hope you don't find this too torturous yourself, but we'd like to challenge you to select one these words or all, and write a poem that uses the word as its title.

My attempt:

“cryptic hero”

performed by Evanescence

Verse 1:

In the clandestine night, a figure emerges

Cryptic messages, a purpose he purges

An incandescent glow, a do-gooder's might

Self-effacing, he fades from sight

Chorus:

Like an albatross, he carries the weight

Antithetical to the evils he must negate

Mercurial in his ways, a shadow in the light

An elegy for the wrongs he fights

Verse 2:

Beneath the cardigan, a heart so true

A mission to see the world anew

In the clandestine corners, he'll always roam

Cryptic and mysterious, a hero unknown

(Repeat Chorus)

Bridge:

Incandescent dreams, a do-gooder's quest

Self-effacing, he never rests

An albatross, a symbol of his plight

Antithetical to the darkness of the night

(Repeat Chorus)

Outro:

Mercurial guardian, a whisper in the air

An elegy for the burdens he must bear

In the clandestine shadows, he will reside

The cryptic hero, forever on our side

__________

the 10 words:

Clandestine, Cryptic, Do-gooder

Elegy, Incandescent, Self-effacing Albatross, Antithetical, Mercurial Cardigan

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James Lee's avatar

👌

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