Attached Link: My Blog

Scare me now.

Yep, that's the challenge. Things are way too quite around here so I'm throwing out a challenge to all our writers to join me in the Haunted Haiku Challenge. Closes at midnight, on all hallow's eve.

Spirits lurk

But do not quaver

Do haiku!

3-5-3 or 5-7-5, I don't care. I just want to see a little activity in here again. It used to be such a vibrant place.

Has the grave been dug?

Is the writer's forum dead?

Words faded into shadow?

So put on your haiku hat and submit some scary haiku. Post it to this thread. submit as many as you like.  We'll use the familiar 1st, 2nd, 3rd voting at the end and declare a winner. Voting will start November 1st.  Here's one to get us going.

**Frankenstein **

Awoke in anger.

Villages fled.

~jon

Full moonrise.

Panic raising now.

Hear the growl.

Come on now,

It is not that hard.

Give me yours!
~jon

Thoughtful Jon,
Hear the silence of
Apathy.

In other words, if the moderator and coordinator don't care, why should the members?  And why aren't the members more upset about being ignored?

Dear Jon, are you really the only left who cares?

Just passing through...I can't stay for long in such a dark place.

Take care, Jon.  You will always be one of my favorite writers.

 It made me smile just to see your name in my in box. Nice to hear from you, even if you are just passing through. Hope you are well, and not in any danger from the current brush fires. Take care.
~jon

Okay, I'm nowhere as good as Chiyo-ni, or Basho, and I'm certainly not good enough with written Japanese to do true justice to Haiku, but in the spirit of my two Haiku-masters (the lady and man named above) here's my first shot in a couple of years:

Fog.  The moon, adrift:
Sand cutting between his toes.
Night's victim, running.

This whole haiku thing is something that I can't ignore, so I'm sure that there will be other attempts a bit later on.

 Excellent! Thanks for participating, Chipka. I look forward to more.
~jon

In the midst of night
footfall approach from behind
breath caught inside chest

haven't done one of these in a bit

 Nice entry, netsia. Thanks for participating.
~jon

Just for fun!

Flaming eyes
Halloween is done
Pumpkin Soup

Crisp autumnal night
Moon aglow with eerie light
Spirits hear and sigh

across path
lacy web catches
spider nears

thanx jon

 Both good entries, Tresamie. Thanks for taking part. And another nice one form netsia. I believe we've got a contest going!

deep in bowl
the nemisis waits
candy corn

lol

I love/hate this time of year bcause I'm so addicted 2 candy corn   the rest of the year when I c it , don't want it....at Halloween, almost like I need 2 mainline it

Halloween draws near
My neighbor builds a graveyard
Bigger every year

..........

It's scary to think
Children with too much candy
Sugar highs abound

..........

I don't do gruesome
Halloween isn't my thing
But Haiku is great!

..........

I wonder how many people out there in RR land know there even IS a writer's gallery? 

The header on the writer's gallery front page is so outdated ... it's like a time warp.  Ever click on the Writer's Information Library link?  It's already been mentioned that the 300x300 image size is years outdated.  Ever get the feeling the writer's gallery is being ... ignored?  Does anyone on staff know the writers need an "adult content" warning, rather than just "nudity and/or violence?"

Helloooooooooo????

I just post poetry when I have things to say, and leave it at that.  Thanks for the Haiku out front in the gallery, jstro.  Sorry about the rant.  I usually just ignore the fact that we're ignored, but sometimes it comes up ...

The night is so dark
It hides everything so deeply
And scares little kids.

Mask and costumes are
Everywhere, hiding us
Changing who we are

It's time to go out
Trick or treating with our friends
Filling our bags full

I agree with Tara, we're invisible---and yes, we need "adult content" and yes yes yes!!!!! 

dripping blood
on a young ghoul's face
fact/fiction?

the way this forum was  5+  years ago is so different from now   sigh

I still miss TallPockets   :)

 More good entries. Thanks beachzz and netsia. We're up to 13 entries so far. There are still three hours left to get the final entries in. We'll start voting tomorrow.
~jon

Red moon brings fear to
My heart and makes me want to
Hide and mask my eyes.

The challenge is now closed. Below is a list of the entries. In general I'm using the first line of the haiku as a pseudo title. Pick your top three in descending order. For example:

3pts for George, Haiku is so cool

2pts for Paul, Smashed pumpkin in road

1pt for Ringo32, Ghosts hover

The highest points total wins.

Voting will close by 9:00am, Monday November 3rd. I'll tally up the votes and post the results by Monday night. 

Member      Pseudo-title

Chipka      Fog. The moon, adrift

netsia      In the midst of night

tresamie    Flaming eyes

tresamie    Crisp autumnal night

netsia      across path

netsia      deep in bowl

auntietk    Halloween draws near

auntietk    It's scary to think

auntietk    I don't do gruesome

beachzz     The night is so dark

beachzz     Mask and costumes

beachzz     It's time to go out

netsia      dripping blood

beachzz     Red moon brings fear

We had 14 wonderful entries. Thanks for participating!
~jon

I thought this was a challenge rather than a contest, but hey ... if you want us to vote, I'm game!

3 points - Chip - Fog  (for the sheer beauty of his writing!)
2 points - beachzz - Red moon (for the amazingly moody imagery)
1 point - tresamie - Flaming eyes (for the humorous, light-hearted twist)

I wish that I'd known about this earlier. sigh

I need to stick my head into the Forums more regularly.  I enjoy the frivolity of limericks, but haiku can be fun, too, as well as formal.

3 pt...  Chipka     Fog. The moon, adrift

2 pt... beachzz     Red moon brings fear

1 pt...  auntietk    Halloween draws near

Carolly

3 pts Chip--fog, etc, cuz he's just so damn GOOD!!
2 pts auntietk--it's scary to think, cuz i LOVE the line about kids and sugar!!
1 pt netsia-deep in bowl, cuz who else eats all the candy that's left over??  lol

3 points - Chipka  Fog.  The moon, adrift:   A vivid vignette

2 points - auntietk   It's scary to think    I can relate to that

1 point - netsia  In the midst of night    A very scary scenario

 Voting is now closed. I'll be back in a flash with the results.
~jon

With all precincts counted the break down is as follows:

Chipka in first place with 12 points for Fog. The moon, adrift

A tie for second place with four points each:
auntietk, 2nd place for It's scary to think
beachzz, 2nd place for Red moon brings fear

There was a three way tie for third place, with one point each:
netsia, 3rd place for In the midst of night
netsia, 3rd  place for deep in bowl
auntietk, 3rd place for Halloween draws near
tresamie, 3rd place for Flaming eyes

Congratulations, Chipka!

The votes have been cast
Glories fall upon the heads
Light, on one and all.

Well, really bad haiku on my part to to say thanks to everyone who participated. It was good to see a little life in here again. Hope to see more of you.
~jon

Chip rocks!!  This was great fun, thanks for putting this together!!

I concur ... I'm gonna have "Chip is God" bumper stickers made up one of these days.  Sort of a throwback to the Clapton graffiti days of the 60s. 

Thanks for the Haiku
The challenge was loads of fun
J Chip Howell kicks ass!

:)

A handful of words
Cast like stones into water
Rippling rings waken

Carolly

Congrats to Chip!  This was fun.  I enjoyed all the haiku :)

~Viv

Chip writes all the words
I wish I knew how to say
So I'll just read his

Congratulations to Chipka and to the others, I enjoyed your company.

Moon light bouncing on the sea

Blood drenched eyes stare at me

Paddles, paddles, set me free

I am not really sure what I am doing here but this sure seems like fun so I thought I would add to the mix. Thanks Randy