Word Wizard Competition
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This is a monthly writing exercise to get the poetic juices flowing. It used to be very a popular writing activity first with
Shadow Poetry's online writing group and then with the subscribers to its former magazine, the SP Quill. It has now been reformulated
for all Shadow Poetry visitors. Are you up to the word wizard challenge?
Challenge: To write a poem of 8 to 40 lines, in any form, using all fifteen words from the list below. You may use any form of the words given such as
“cascade can be changed to “cascaded” or “cascading.” Entry is free. (All of the words have been added to the Magnet Word Poetry board for further writing assistance.)
Poems must be typed with poet’s name and mailing address in the top left-hand corner.
The Word Wizard Competition words must be underlined within the poem for easy reference.
If submitting more than one poem, each poem must be typed on a separate sheet. A #10 (business size) SASE required. Entries will be returned.
Limit of three poems per poet per month.
Prize: One winner to receive a Word Wizard Competition ribbon and the winning entry will be featured on Shadow Poetry.
Deadline: May 31, 2013.
Sorry, entries cannot be accepted electronically. Mail poem entries to:
Shadow Poetry
ATTN: Word Challenge Competition
1209 Milwaukee Street
Excelsior Springs, MO 64024 USA
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April 2013 Word List: invisible, park, flame, dark, stone, dance, meditate, evening, damp, reveal, mask, downpour, tunnel, mysterious, young
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Word Wizard Competition Winner
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Only a Moment
a young flame
dances through
an evening
in the park
a mysterious tunnel
of excitement
keeps the fire alive
in the dark
an invisible
stone wall
causes spirits
to meditate
dampness turns
to a downpour
stripping masks
to reveal fate
Karen O'Leary
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March 2013 Word List: wildflowers, whispers, gladly, serene, forest, starlight, misted, map, future, fireplace, resume, trail, tumbling, reason, butterfly
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Word Wizard Competition Winner
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Travel by Starlight
Though the map has led me to a future
That reason could never have presumed,
And I have embraced this trail's unfolding
Story, like an old forest embraces
The most tender, quivering, new creatures
Engenered in its fertile underbrush,
Gathering chaste courage to reach above,
In the starlight of dreams I would gladly
Resume that serene drive past misted fields
Of wildflowers bending their heads dimly
Toward immature roots as they settle
Into the sun-warmed peat beneath, their hues
Muted by the dusk tumbling softly
From the sky like a swarm of butterflies.
As I recall keeping pace with vast hay
Bales rolling themselves into great carpets,
Lining themselves up along the roadside
Just so, my heart flutters with nostalgia
For the summer thunderstorms, the midnight
Whispers between crickets and cicadas
and ancient oaks' songs that once defined me.
I've turned the map on its head, made east west
And west east, while searching out and finding
The Northern Lights flickering above me;
However majestic and surreal these
Wraths' dances may remain, their hold on me
Is fleeting. My dreamy reverie is
No more solemn - nor gratuitous - than
The gas fireplace crackle that has roused me.
Stephanie Harper
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Feburary 2013 Word List: flap, dreamy, duty, pondered, shrug, strip, valley, obscure, spectacle, scrumptious, harvest, wax, blot, know, questions
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Word Wizard Competition Winner
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The Decision
I ponder what lies
ahead in the strip
of valley called home.
With Dad's recent heart
problems, the harvest
blots out all else.
As my tires spin on
the obscure gravel road,
my mind rolls too.
Despite shrugs from staff,
I know my duty as son
far outweights being editor.
The rooster crows and flaps
his white wings. I laugh
at the spectacle he makes.
Mom and Dad are waving
and smiling on the porch.
Love is in their embrace.
We share a scrumptious
meal in peace as wax
slides down the candles.
Questions wait for dawn.
I slip into a dreamy fog
so glad to be home.
Karen O'Leary
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January 2013 Word List: doubt, frost, gray, size, tight, drizzle, crowded, pause, hue, research, foreshadow, lifeless, overheard, swirl, honey
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Word Wizard Competition Winner
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Grief's Grip
Research foreshadows
a pause for sadness.
What do they know!
Crowds of honey-coated
cliches swirl, overheard
they send frost up my spine.
My husband, my love, lies
lifeless with a gray hue as
tears drizzle down my face.
The size of the hole in
my life cannot be filled
by empty words and smiles.
What can be worse! My
chest feels tight as doubt
encases my icy soul.
Karen O'Leary
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