Poetry Contest September 2006 And now, dear colleagues, I invite you to sample, visit and taste three poems which have been submitted for our poetry contest. My invitation was to write a poem which relates to O p e n S p a c e in some way, and. .includes, reflects upon, honors or uses.t h e s e n s e s (sight, sound, touch, hearing, taste and / or any other senses you wish to name) I give you each 5 virtual stickie-dots to spend. You may place all dots on one poem, or some on each, vote for yourself or another -- however you would like to spend them to mark your sense of which poems speak to you. Please send me an email at lisah...@openingspace.net to tell me how you have placed your virtual dots for each numbered poem. I will collect your messages this week; on Friday (California USA time) I will count and report back to you which poem has received the most dots and therefore which poet (all will be revealed) will be our next Poet Laureate (* explanation below for those of you who are new on the list) for the OSLIST. And now.take a breath.and.begin. ________________________________________ #1 the symbols ring the voices sing the space opens my heart follows the day unfolds ... behold! ________________________________________ #2 The sense of things I have seen the texture of space felt the sound of silence, falling in a wide open offering tasted hesitancy and the sweetness of light touching time we sense into the most astonishing places together, you and I into the tight cracking of possibility screaming for release we let the humour of despair rest on our tongues, choke our eyes with tears and scour our nostrils with tendrils of acrid smoke. we walk together in circles dizzy with the sensation of silent music anxious that the soft holding be strong enough to withstand the wails of pain and joy that accompany liberation I have seen the music of leadership arise to dance with chaos; watched the bitterness of hunger fade into the dark recesses of the palette; heard the smooth and cool surface of flow course through networks of veins; tasted the colour of peace: its pure yellow flavour flecked with crimson notes; smelled the birth of worlds and the shifting of lives; in ever opening space. ________________________________________ #3 Diving Deep Diving Deep Are you ready? No I mean. Are you READY? The time is now Hold my hand Together we dive Into the river of heart and soul The water is deep and quick All there is to do is trust the flow Struggling makes no sense though We don't know where the river goes The choice is clear Ready Set Wait a minute Let me catch my breath Go. ___________________________ * The OSLIST has a Poet Laureate who invites and/or offers poetry to the OSLIST; often about Open Space but also about other things. I have had the honor of wearing the tiara of Poet Laureate for the past 6 months or so - you can see my various poems in the archives under 'Found Poem'. As our poetic reign lasts about 6 months, it is time for me to pass the tiara to our next Poet Laureate by - as is our tradition - hosting a restricted form poetry contest. Stay tuned to see who our next Poet Laureate will be. Cheers, Lisa ___________________________ L i s a H e f t Consultant, Facilitator, Educator O p e n i n g S p a c e <mailto:lisah...@openingspace.net> lisah...@openingspace.net <http://www.openingspace.net> www.openingspace.net * * ========================================================== osl...@listserv.boisestate.edu ------------------------------ To subscribe, unsubscribe, change your options, view the archives of osl...@listserv.boisestate.edu: http://listserv.boisestate.edu/archives/oslist.html To learn about OpenSpaceEmailLists and OSLIST FAQs: http://www.openspaceworld.org/oslist