Welcome to Gaia! :: The FVPC || Contest 23!

The
Francois Villon
Poetry Contest

This is what my friend Jean said, in explanation of this little contest.

"Legend says that around 1458, Charles d'Orleans (duke, and prominent poet of his time)
held a poetic contest, where everyone was to compose a ballade starting with the line

Je meurs de soif auprès de la fontaine
I die of thirst at the fountain side

Many beautiful things were created, but it was François Villon who, having composed the
brilliant, deep, eternal Ballad of Contradictions, came out winner."

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RULES:
+ Every two weeks a line is posted, and you come
up with a poem that begins with that same line (prompt).

+ Feel free to run through previous lines which
you may have missed, as I am always happy to see new takes on a previously
cherished prompt (PCP). Entries using PCP's will not qualify for the current contest.

+ You can change one word in the prompt,
if you feel it fits better, but other than that, it has to stay intact. See below for
an example.

+ At the end of the two week period, a winner
is chosen, gets 500 gold, and the honor of thinking up the new prompt. If a winner
feels they are unable to create a new prompt, I will have my brother give me one
that is random and abstract.

+ You may not participate if you have chosen the
prompt we're working from, however, your own interpretation of the line is welcome.
It wouldn't be fair to let the winner participate in the contest for which they have
chosen the prompt.

+ You may not post a poem that does
not begin with the prompt specified in the first (THIS POST) post or a PCP. I hated
having to add this in the first place, because I love all poetry, but this thread is not to
showcase what you've already written - this thread is designed to see what you can
come up with when given a line to work from.

+ You may, however, post a link to your other works
(I've done it a few times, myself). I do enjoy reading all sorts of poetry, but don't limit it
to this. I, myself, don't always limit myself to poetry; I write short stories, serial stories,
drabbles, not to mention my drawings.

+ This contest is judged not only by my own opinions,
but by the opinions given by those who are also participating, those who have previously
participated, and those who are simply hanging out in the thread. This means if you see
a poem in here that is entered in that fortnights contest, and it really grabs you, comment
on it! Not only does it help me see which poems are "popular," so to speak, but it helps me
come to my own decision as well in regards to the winner.

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UPDATES:

Thursday June 5th, 2008

Alright, so after a lot of deliberation, I came to the conclusion that the winner this time around is
[(.._Christ Kitty_..)], so lets give her a warm round of applause! Also, the contest which
has just ended is the last contest being entered in the Francois Villon Poetry Book, and also
the last contest of the first year of the FVPC! Congratulations, everybody! You've kept the
contest alive for just over a whole year! I honestly didn't expect to last past the first contest
in general, and I couldn't have done it without you guys! <3

On that note, we need more contestants to make the next book twice as fantastic. I'm working
on the finishing touches now, and hopefully it should be ready for release by my twentieth
birthday, July 10th, 2008. I'll keep up guys posted.

I want to do something special in the thread for Summer, as the first day of is coming up soon.If
anyone has any ideas on what we could do in the thread to celebrate this fantastic season, let
me know via PM.

Now, in regards to the Francois Villon Poetry Website, I've got some ideas for a basic layout.
The enter page, or course, which will lead to an introduction page. I was considering the
introduction page to be the same as the one from the book, but I think I would like to have a
regular contestant write the introduction, as it would probably be more objective, so if there are
any volunteers? PM me,. Along the navigation bar would be the previous winners page, an
honorable mentions page, the current contest page which would contain that fortnights entrants
and the prompt, updated daily, a links page, and as we progress on profits from the book, a
prizes page. Of course, that wont be an immediate thing. I will also ad a link to the book itself,
which will be for sale through Lulu.com for the price of materials plus $5 CAD (or Canadian
Dollars). If you can think of any other sections that would be useful, let me know.

Tuesday, May 20th, 2008

Hey guys. I'm pleased to say that the 23rd is the one year anniversary of our humble
little contest, and so Contest 21 will last from today until June 4th, 2008. I want to
apologize for not posting the winner, and getting the prompt sooner, but as we all know,
life can get in the way of online poetry contests.

Also, the Francois Villon Poetry Book Project is coming along nicely. We're almost at
100 pages, and hopefully by the end of this contest, which is the last contest valid for
the book (all after this will be saved for book two, if we keep going), we'll come out just
over 100.

In regards to the project, I'm going to be creating a website for the contest, to host previous
winners, and to help keep us more organized, so I was wondering if there were any
volunteers to help with maintaining the site? Or if there were any suggestions? For those
of you who don't know exactly what it is I'm planning to do, please PM me with "A Request
for the FVPBP Information." I'll be happy to share my plans for the humble contest - its as
much your contest as it is my own!

That being said, the new line is posted below, as usual, and I can't wait to see your
entries! Thank you to each and every contestant, because without you this contest
would have died ages ago! Remind me to bump more often.

Saturday, April 12th, 2008

Alright, so, everyone who is new to the contest should read the second post
(there will be a poem under this one, and then another post by me. Read that one), as
it pertains to use of your entries outside of Gaia. After you have read it, please PM me
with any necessary information, including whether or not use of your poem is allowed,
and if so, what name you would like to be used, as well as any title you may have. Also
feel free to ask me questions, its as much your project as it is mine.

For those who have PMed me regarding the project, your support is greatly welcomed.
Anyone who wishes to help in any way with the non-book portion of the project, PM me
and lets see what we can accomplish together, aye? [winks]

For my Regulars, FriendofFoes says hi and regrets she hasn't been around. I trust we
have not forgotten her, as she worries we may have? Anyone who misses conversing
with her, don't forget that we can PM each other, and I don't see the harm in dropping
her a line some time. She's a good poet and friend, so lets not lose contact completely,
right?

As a side note, and unrelated to the contest, anyone who roleplays is welcome to shoot
me a line, as its one of my favorite pass times, and I'm always looking for more partners,
or even a good group. Thanks.


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SUMMATION:
So, what this exercise is, and how it works, is like this. Once every two weeks a prompt
will be posted. And for all that fortnight, you guys can use the prompt as the opening line
of a piece of poetry and post it here.

The *best poem will get 500 Gold and the right to post the next weeks sentence. This will be
determined on a Wednesday evening, and the next Sentence will be posted that Thursday.
Or, if you are lucky, it will be posted later that same day.

Every so often a contest will run long, either due to lack of entries, or because of complications
in the so-called real life. When this happens, I usually extend it by either a week, or a whole
extra fortnight.

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EXAMPLE:
Let me give you an example of what I mean before we begin. When my friend Jean began this
there were no prizes, and no winners. Jean basically just let the last person who posted a
poem during the fortnight choose the next prompt. To start everything off, Jean posted the
sentence:

"His King is dead, his army defeated."

With the allowance of one single word, the sentence must appear intact as the beginning of
the poem. This was his rule, and so it is my rule. What I posted in return was this little jewel:

"The King is dead, His army defeated,
No sooner won than lost again.
The land is gone, the King forgotten,
No sweeter life was destroyed, then.

The song is sung, the time flies by,
And though He's gone, His love is still sent.
The Summer is here, the Sovereign bested,
His men decimated, and His weapons bent.

The kingdom is gone, but not forgotten,
The riches of the land were quickly spent.
The time has come, the land lies in ruins,
Though mayhap His Spring will return again."

My interpretation was actually quite different from all the other poems returned during that
two week period, my Pagan soul choosing to go with a kind of God/King rather than simply
a king. To show this I capitalized all the "he," "his," "king," and the names of the seasons,
etc. Basically, I kept the prompt intact, changing only the first word in order to keep with the
whole divinity thing, so rather than talking about "his king" we are now talking about "The King."

Make sense? Good! Lets carry on!

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THE PROMPT:

"The room of echoes never lies."

This weeks prompt is brought to you by: +[Lips Sewn Shut]+!
Oh, yes, and if you have any questions, don't hesitate to PM me!

Have fun.

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ENTRIES:
Contest Twenty-three:

Contestants:

1. [(.._Christ Kitty_..)]
2. SuperRay13





Please, if you ever know of anyone scamming, plagiarizing, or bribing in
the Contests and Writing Forums, notify Gaia's Most Wanted
so we can make this a safer place for all! <33

Previously Cherished Prompts:
In Order From Newest to Oldest (Top to Bottom).

Prompt
Creator – Number of Contestants

“Your touch has pierced me like a scream”
Annemarie Anser (Gaia name) -

“With a voice deep as the fountain of youth”
+[Lips Sewn Shut]+ (Gaia name) - 3

“I could not quell the purple rain”
NinjaKittiMeowMeow (GAIA Name) - 4

"The beast is near, with teeth like fire. "
+[Lips Sewn Shut]+ (GAIA Name) - 3

"Autumn stirs the air come midnight"
[(.._Christ Kitty_..)] (GAIA Name) – 2

"I have a dream"
+[Lips Sewn Shut]+ (GAIA Name) - 4

"I look upon the sky to the heavenly bodies... "
HybridxTheory (GAIA Name) - 2

"He must be sadistic to some literary degree."
+[Lips Sewn Shut]+ (GAIA Name) - 3

"It's time to open my wings and soar"
NerdHeartbreaker (GAIA Name) - 5

"I've never seen a burning sky"
Jo Rhade (GAIA Name) – 10

"All 's Well that Ends Well"
Smurf GFX (GAIA Name) - 3

"The time is drawing near, my friend."
FriendofFoes (GAIA Name) - 3

"Don't just sit - elaborate!"
Ghyt Wembpang (my musician brother) - 1

"It rose on wings of molten sun and weaved into the sky"
Immortal Goldfish (GAIA Name) – 6

"If your heart were broken, you'd be dead. "
+[Lips Sewn Shut]+ (GAIA Name) - 5

"The silent scream is stronger now"
NinjaKittiMeowMeow (GAIA Name) - 4

"Morning dawned in the darkest place."
Slumbersome (GAIA Name) - 5

"The shades surround me, specters of the past."
knight_of_chivalry (GAIA Name) - 3

"The body count is rising, for we'll never starve the beast."
Galacial (GAIA Name) - 4

"I think that it might not be so impossible as it seems"
Tillanara (GAIA Name) - 6

"Wishing seems pointless, when dreams become real."
Feathers of Earth (GAIA Name) – 1

"Through rain and pain and suffering untold I have finally arrived."
Candice Dionysus (Tommy Cullen (GAIA Name)) – 5