Again, friends, Jim Harstad has suggested this month’s writing contest rules. Here they are: First, write a piece that is either exactly 25 or exactly 100 words long. Then, if you wrote a 25-word piece, you must expand that to exactly 100 words, then publish both those pieces together on the contest site. If you…
Bamboo Shoots breeze
Sting Ray
Trapped air moans from the open mouth at the edge of a splash zone. Silver bars of a hospital bed. Smell of iodine. Kiss goodbye.
Bamboo Shoots Submission for Year of the Ox Writing Contest -- April 2021 Contest
Hapa Anatomy
25-word entry (written first): She drew a line across her wrist. Cleaved her face in two. Delineated the left breast. Continued. Chinese here, she thought. Hawaiian here. Half everywhere. 100-word entry: What are you? they asked. She was night-blooming cereus against dark lava rock. ‘I’iwi feathers and the song of myna birds. She was water…
Bamboo Shoots Submission for Year of the Ox Writing Contest -- April 2021 Contest
Dying to Run
100 words poem – first 2019 Running mentally and physically I die I despise running We have cars now Why do we need to run It seems kind of pointless My body disintegrates Flat feet, twisted ankle Suffering, grunting, burning Blood blazing in my thighs In one word agonizing 2020 Pandemic mode – sitting…
Bamboo Shoots Submission for Year of the Ox Writing Contest -- April 2021 Contest
The Modern Poet
(100 first) Sharing the world her laboring tongue the modern poet knows what she is capable of when others insult her usage of words reproach her senseless paragraphs impossible to articulate scrutinize her utter opacity of meaningful convention. Words that busily multiply fewer and fewer cues for clarity deliberately dislocating language to fit music shaping…
Bamboo Shoots breeze
Boy and Uncle: China virus
Boy and Uncle: China virus –Boy, da news say dey attacking people in Chinatown. Telling dem “Go home! Go back to where you came from!” –Dey tink dey went bring da corona virus from China. –Dat no make sense. Most of dose guys nevah been to China fo fifty years. –You no remembah? President Trump…
Bamboo Shoots Submission for Year of the Ox Writing Contest -- April 2021 Contest
Decaf Map
(100 first) In China, one Beijing hotel and one Starbucks have decaf coffee. You can find tea. All kinds of tea. I don’t want tea. In Korea, Starbucks has decaf, but Coffee, Bean & Tea Leaf does not. I see some tea plants, but I don’t want tea. In Egypt there is no Starbucks, but…
Okay, Happy Year of the Ox, I hope your burdens are few, your pencils are sharpened, your pens are ink-filled, and your keyboards and mouses are lint free for the lunar new year. Jim Harstad has suggested this month’s writing contest rules. Here they are: Write a piece that is either exactly 25 or exactly…
Bamboo Shoots Submission for Year of the Rat -- March Contest
25 WORDS FOR MARCH
Write one piece twice, twenty-five words in one, a hundred in the other. Or a hundred first, then twenty-five. I chose the latter. Good fun.
Bamboo Shoots Submission for Year of the Rat -- March Contest
100 WORDS FOR MARCH
If your the art of poetry mentor asks you to write the same piece about writing twice, using twenty-five words in one version and an even hundred in the second, would you write the big one first, then cut it back for the second try? Or would you write the small one first, then expand…