The Tangled Branch Discussion Forums

Once this 2019 April NaPo Challenge is concluded, this thread will remain in place for about a month for you to reread and savor those poems that went by too fast, and to savor this celebration of the power and value of poetry in our lives.

Keeping the thread open for another month will also give you a chance to pull your own poems if you choose to.  One of the benefits of participating in the NaPo Challenge is that at the end of the month you will likely have a solid handful of drafts to work with.  So if you want to take these down, you are at liberty to do so.

After thirty days, the thread will be locked and archived in the lower dungeon of TTB.  This means that your  NaPo poems will not be accessible to search engines.  And this means that whatever later forms some of these may take, it will be hard to claim that they are previously published.  If that makes any difference to you.

Of course, if 30 days is insufficient and you need more time, just let me know and arrangements can be made.

Thank you.

Cheers.

T
 

I am not caught up with reading but am admiring of you as you approach & cross the line. What a month, aye?

I am in full agreement with the idea that next year each writer gets his/her own thread.

Thoughts?

I've just sneaked a quick shufti through the window at the side.  Looks as if it'll be grand place once they stock the shelves and take the dustsheets off the furniture at the end of the month.

Done and done 

Now what do I do?   

Suppose I'll buy the first round...no one else here...they'll be along presently. (He waits patiently)
Or have I died? Is this the afterlife? 

[Ambles in, pen stuck behind one ear, rolled up notebook crammed into one pocket, looking faintly bemused like a convict freshly released, gazing on a world which is familiar yet strangely different.]

All done and dusted for this year.  I guess that's Colm laid out on one of the tables tightly wrapped in a dust sheet.  I hope he's just doing a spot of research and not taking his final exam with Celestial Immigration Control.

Think I'll just sit in the corner with a pint of White Label Non-alcoholic Bitter, a Ploughman's lunch, and see who's next through the door.

Gyppo 

 

Wew! Made it. Boy my running fingers are tired, bloody and bruised. Might just be able to life a Guinness or two. One guest shrouded in mystery I see and another warily watching over a beer (call that a beer?). Seems like a nice quiet place to reflect on the last race.

D

(Lifts dust sheet slowly, just enough to see who's in the room...one looks friendly enough; but the bearded one...might be more prudent to suss him out before revealing myself)

You never know, Colm.  Anyone in here could be suffering from PTSD.

Poets Traumatic Shutdown Disorder.  Brought about by a sudden cessation of extreme poetic activity.  A few days of cheap doggerel can ease the symptoms, but does anyone listen?

As for the bearded one.  How does he drink that stuff when he looks like a poster boy for the Campaign For Real Ale?

HI Folks,

I'd love a pint of lager - I've heard we don't have 'real beer' in the states.

That was a fun ride even with a late start and the preoccupation of moving. I hope the hours I spent writing instead of sorting and packing were worth it and don't come back to bite me in the end. I'll know in 27 days. 

Tomorrow is my brother's and my youngest son's birthdays and I managed to fit in a few hours of shopping on top of the writing. I'm pleased with myself that once I committed, I stuck to it and put something out every day. It is a great exercise for those writing muscles. 

It was a good feeling to put my writing into a dedicated goal, set all else aside, insecurity, self-doubt, distractions, and even moving, to make myself write every day. I have a lot of material to pull from in ideas I didn't put to this year's challenge and a few offerings that may become decent poems with some work.

It was a pleasure making the climb with all of you and I thank you all for your encouragement and kind words. I'm looking forward to reading everyone's creations but have to bite the bullet for the next few weeks and get to cleaning and packing and cleaning again because we have to be out of here by the end of May. 

Today, I'm off to scrub the place we're moving to,  sweep, mop, scrape, wax the showers, sterilize and line the cabinets, etc... so it continues.  I hate that I have to stop playing with words to move but I am thankful for the break offered here and for the bonds I've made with all of you. I can't wait to get back.

Thanks for inviting me to play and for all of your support, the laughter and the tears.  I'm only halfway through reading everyone's offerings so there will be more.

Hope you all stay well. See you in about a month. 

~Deb

Magnificent.  I finished reading the last ten days of the thread -- you folks can write!
What an enjoyable ride -- I owe you all for your participation and contributions. You made this spectacular.