Poetry Contest ~ Round one

[Rei]

The stage itself has been temporarily cleared for the moment. The wooden structure decked out in red and white intricate decorations. A line of stools has been set up on the stage. On each stool sits a single red rose. Spectators are welcome and encouraged.

As each contestant's name is announced they are led up to their seat.

Torino
K'sel
Nephele
Kalierre
T'ke

The first round begins. One person will be eliminated.

Rules
Keep it clean guys.
Your poems can be about anything you choose.
They do not have to be romantic if you don't wish them to be.
Only one poem should be recited per character.
Make sure it's your own work.
Have fun ^^

When everyone has submitted I will open up a poll.

Good luck!

[Ember]

Why'd she decide to participate? Even Nephele wasn't sure. She was supposed to avoid drawing attention to herself and yet there she was, getting ready to recite poetry of all things. Charming chittered amusement to Mother while Sweetheart gave her ear a small lick. Much to her amusement even her brown had been drawn back by the mere idea of his human participating in a contest of words...again. The firelizards certainly didn't remember the event, if they had even been around at that time, but Nephele did. It hadn't ended well, in her opinion.

One of the culprits that had made the Storytelling so (supposedly) horrible was also in this contest. At least, short of reading pornographic poetry, he couldn't bother her much more than his presence did. The other competitors besides K'sel were...Torino, Kalierre, and T'ke. One was a candidate she had recently Searched, and the other two only looked familiar from the times she had visited Erilena in the infirmary during her friend's shifts. Well, hopefully the mix would make things interesting.

When it was her turn to present, Nephele stood with a small smile. Erk...nervous. She almost brushed her hair back behind her ear as a habit but then she remembered the rose she'd stuck there. She'd broken off any excess stem pretty quickly after being seated and put it there. Poetry and roses went together well, so why not add the poet into the mix too? She managed to make her voice clear and loud, though strangely somber and contemplative considering the general mood of the Gather. She read:

"Drip, drip
Time melting down,
I watch it flicker and wave.
Dripdrip
A gust and time stops -
if only, if only.
Drip...drip...."

[Ruby]

Tornio was slumped attractively on his stool, contemplating the red rose held in one limp hand. He was dressed all in black, today, covered from neck to toes in garments with various levels of fading and age damage. Even his soft, supple shoes were black, ancient leather that seemed inches from popping a seam and disentigrating. The only contrast was in the form of a white and black patterned scarf wrapped once around his neck and thrown over a shoulder. His hair was especially heavily styled, today, the poof above his brow seemingly disconnected from the head underneath.

Downcast eyes lifted briefly as another name was called - K'sel. Interesting, sounded a bit like Kasella, but Torino didn't look at the man for more than half a second. The rest were unknown, besides Nephele, who had searched him. He didn't bother listening to Nephele's offering or sizing up his competition - he would be losing. No one would understand, and if they did, it would mean he'd screwed up. He was so over this already, he'd only signed up because the world needed to hear what he had to say. Now... well, suffice to say he wasn't so convinced he couldn't just tell them each in person.

Whatever, too late, his turn. Without standing, the Candidate somehow managed to take the floor via attitude alone.

"Rose.

Myriad dichotomy, ubiquitous fallacy.

Prolific.

Deduce the mundane, interference of inference.

Rose."

[Lotty]

No lies. K'sel had distinct ulterior motives with his entry into the contest. He had come to the sign up booth of his own volition, yes, but it was all merely passing curiosity until he had seen the one and only name printed on that roster. Torino. It could have been a coincidence... it wasn't like duplicates never happened, but there was the nagging feeling that told the brownrider that this wasn't the case, and well, he had to confirm his suspicions himself. Sure he could have just lurked in the audience, but that just wasn't as fun, because if this name did in fact belong to his missing brother then he could reunite and re-ignite sibling rivalry in one well swoop. If it wasn't him though, then there was no harm done. A win-win situation if he ever saw one, but as usual things fell apart for him. Nephele had signed up after him, further cementing his opinion that the entire world was out to get him.

His writing always reflected it too, but that would be obvious soon enough. As it was, he had to... figure out what exactly he was going to do with this stupid rose sitting on his stool. As it was he was debating between plucking the petals off one by one and tossing the sharding thing on the ground, but the whole while he just tapped the thing against his chin and half listened to the other competitors. Torino was... definitely Torino, and he had to follow up on that. A task that he wasn't sure he was able to accomplish since the kid most definitely did have unique pinned down.

But since he couldn't just sit there all day, he eventually found himself releasing a long sigh and leaving the rose he was playing with behind on his stool and calmly sauntering up to the stage. He smiled affably for a moment as he patted down his current mane of hair and teased the audience a bit, "I guess, you guys wanna hear a bit of my authentic frontier gibberish..." Even he thought it was gibberish, the way it was anyway... nothing ever felt finished, but it was as good as it was going to get. The rider rested his hand on the belt loop of his pants before beginning.

"Like the poor starved schmuck who finally got his wish,
All the fish falling from the sky,
But not a single one left in the sea.
We've all been tricked, cajoled, and flipped upside down,
The lush carpet of the good green earth,
Has been pulled out from under us."

[Rowana]

Somewhere on the outskirts of Hyphen a blue dragon was laughing. This insanity had been Garaeth's idea from the start. T'ke didn't see how standing up and talking in front of all these people was supposed to help his confidence. Shard certainly agreed with him and had long sense disappeared into the crowd. Maybe he could use searching for her as an excuse to get out of this. Still, the competition was interesting. He thought he recognized two of them from before the takeover, but he didn't mention it. If they were from the group that left, he had to hand it to them for daring to show their faces. He just hoped the Wastelanders didn't make the connection. On the bright side, he could be wrong and then they had nothing to worry about.

Well, with most of the other contestants having gone except Kalierre. He had to admit he was interested to see what she would say, but it looked like he would have to go first. I hope you're happy Garaeth, T'ke muttered darkly. Standing, T'ke tried not to look as nervous as he felt and likely failed. He didn't dare try to walk forward just yet. Swallowing, he began in an unsteady voice that gradually grew stronger as he went.

"Earth
Darker, distant
Prisoner of limits
Caged away

Wing
Power, pumping
Champion of force
Gravity at bay

Cloud
Lighter, laughing
Dancer of wet dew
Forever to play

Wind
Whipping, whispers
Bringer of destiny
Future to say

Sun
Brighter, brilliant
Empowering life
Gifting its rays

Sky
Ever, endless
Boundless eternity
Freedom to stay"

[Requiem]

Kalierre was, of course, last. (Also a touch late. She blamed her cane. It was good for taking the blame when it came to such matters.) Naturally she was ever-so-polite and lingered on the side of the stage rather than entering while people were jabbering that meaningless garble. Poetry. The dragonhealer had always found it somewhat superfluous. Bunch of words strung together in the author's attempt to appear 'deep.' Which was a fancy way of saying don't say anything of meaning while still sounding like the words actually meant something.

So why had she entered? Because it amused her. And, just possibly, because she'd been tipsy when she saw the signup sheet. Unlike now. Kalierre had a few more drinks in her now and had passed into the mildly drunk stage. You know, the smiling gregarious stage where she wobbled a little as she limped across the stage and barely caught herself from falling off the stool when she flopped on it. Poor rose. Killed by a Kali rear.

"In such unfortunate times are we
Immersed in empty words and froth
A sharp mind hardly finds its way.
And slower minds? What hope for them?
By false beguiling beauty trapped
Their freedom captive, hope undone.

Immersed in empty words and froth
I yearn for simple, honest talk.
And slower minds? What hope for them?
They stumble through the grasping muck
Their freedom captive, hope undone.
They never see the mud for mud.

I yearn for simple, honest talk
If only to free the slow of wit.
They stumble through the grasping muck.
Let's free them, the pitied ones. Yes, these.
They never see the mud for mud.
But how, when lying demons rule?

If only for the slow of wit
A sharp mind hardly finds a way
To free them, the pitied ones. Yes these
By false beguiling beauty trapped.
But how, when lying demons rule?
In such unfortunate times are we."

[Rei]

Congrats to

Torino
K'sel
Kalierre
T'ke

You are all moving on to the next round.

A big round of applause for Nephele. Thanks for your contribution.

You are now free to watch the remainder of the performance and heckle the remaining contestants.

Edit: Next round will be up shortly ^^