Ode to the Enigma!

[MotherEarth]

Gee, our resident observer should write a Ode. Or anyone else that has a
few kind words for those trying to untangle the wily things!

Personally, I am getting a bit short tempered 

[Firefly]

deciphering code,
deserves an ode,
before motherearth implodes.

to wit a solution
won't be my contribution,
its beyond my constitution.

but let's not be sad,
an answer will be had,
but by us... no, by a lad...

.........whose name may be josh.

[Josh]

Guess that's my cue 

In ancient days, on ancient tongues the riddles of old were said
Designed to test the very best, impatience and frustration fed
But given time, and a little luck, an answer won't be lacking
Crack the code these riddles provide, and soon you'll be sent packing
To windswept desert, where burning sands hide your final reward
So don't give up, for soon a solution your hard work will afford

[udo]

I'd like to offer up the solution
But I'm clearly not that smart
E'en after millions years of evolution
I find the enigmas are really hard

OK I tried.

[Givens]

I'm a poet and I mean it,

Anyone want a peanut?

  Sorry, couldn't resist exhausting my poetry skills.

[MotherEarth]

Haven't imploded yet...but close.  Josh is certainly of

laureate

 quality.

I am only at the Mother Goose level, higgily, piggily.

At least the grandkids think I am OK!

[Angus99]

Oh, would that I could,
for I know how simple your answer will be.
An object I should plainly see,
an item obvious as can be?

tooth, sun, water, hair...
plow, moon, mountain, chair...

Thoughts turn to anguish,
for I know my mind was working yesterday.
solution forthcoming I pray,
how long should it take, an hour, a day?

cow, glass, shadow, pail...
egg, shoe, candle, nail...

At last, I've realized your clever riposte!
Thank you Google, thank you Yahoo,
thanks to Wikipedia too.

[Firefly]

nice poetry, angus99.  you've got a good ear for verse.     we should start a poetry topic! 

[DR]

Why don't we try to break the record for the world's longest poem?  That honor is currently held by a Frenchman.   Quoting from an article, "A 30-year-old Frenchman has put on display what he says is the longest poem in world - nearly 7,600 verses written on a roll of fabric that stretches to almost one kilometre on a car-race track in south-east France. " 

This is somewhat shorter than the 100,000 couplets that make up the Mahabharata, but if it's good enough for Gusiness, it's jolly well good enough for me.  We could write the longest jointly composed poem in existence.  Each post could be a new verse.  What do you think?  Everyone would be welcome to contribute.   

[Maximus]

The forum is back!  It seemed to be down for a while this morning. 

I think creating the world's longest poem would be interesting.  It might take us a year, but it would be quite an accomplishment.  Anyone else in?

[Firefly]

i think it's nuts.   

count me in.

[MotherEarth]

Let's get organized...Maxi, you "put the couplets, haiku, or such together after each
submission.  I haven't figured out the "quote" business.  Josh is so good, as well as
Angus, multiples from them will help with the Texas mile of poetry!

[Josh]

Intriguing idea, but I wonder what the standard for 'poetry' is in this case? After all, free verse could be just be lines of anything...is rhyme scheme a necessity, or meter, or such? In order to be a coherent piece of poetry, perhaps we better agree on a few of those things before we start. But count me in, it'd be fun. Not to mention, along the same lines, a running story or prose would be just as fun for anyone else here who likes writing. And who knows, we might even end up with a pretty good story.

[MotherEarth]

Maybe someone can be the "chorus" as in Shakespeare's Henry V to sorta recap the
entries and keep us moving forward.  But of course, flashbacks are fine.

[DR]

Intriguing idea, but I wonder what the standard for 'poetry' is in this case

An excellent question.  Do we go with simple sonnet structure, iambic pentamenter, etc. and so forth?

To keep things simple, we might want to stick to couplets, a simple AA, BB, CC format.  That would make it easy for others to pick up where we've left off.  We could of course go with free verse, but it would be fun to introduce some sort of rhyme scheme.  Quatrain would also be easy to achieve:   ABAB. 

Anyone have a preference?  As far as keeping things moving, I think picking a moderator is an excellent idea.  I'm sure that our site admin would be willing to institute such a scheme.  I think our most accomplished young hero, Josh, would make an excellent choice.  Josh, are you amenable to acting as a moderator?