• What is a poegle?
• The $100 Poegles Challenge
• Submissions Archives
• Can poegling make you smarter?
• Become a Facebook fan
• About the Editors
• Write to us
• 

• Subscribe to the Poegles Newsletter

  Receive our weekly updates and information about the $100 Poegles Challenge.

  E-mail:
  

  Subscribe
  Unsubscribe

• Search for:

• Thoughts

  “The poet dislocates language into meaning.” — Marshall McLuhan

• Featured Posts

  Poet, Professor kills wife, two children
  Craig Arnold
  Poegles looks forward to 2009
  Fun with English in Taiwan
  Curiosities
  Heavenly Poegles
  Another fine poegle from Brad on the Upper West Side
  Poegles that sting
  Lost and Found: Master's Program
  Of what use is poetry in hard times?
  

• Tags

  $100 Poegles Challenge Add new tag alaska Barack Obama Charles Simic common phrases cyborg poetry election elizabeth alexander everything happens for a reason flarf found poetry friday poegle contest gary sullivan Google Heidemarie Stefanyshyn-Piper inauguration poetry internet poetry Jamie john ashbery lost in space Mustaches For Kids new york times obama obama poetry poegle Poegles poetry poetry contest Poetry Hut poetweet polly roanoke college ron diorio Ron Silliman salomon arts Science Daily soul seeds twitter poems VCU video poegle virginia Virginia Commonwealth University washington post william burroughs

Dear Poeglers,

Happy Halloween.  So concludes our first week of poegling, and yet it is a truism that the journey of a thousand miles begins with but a single step.  Congratulations to everyone on their excellent submissions this week, but congratulations especially to Liz in Pennsylvania, who is this week’s winner of a plastic segmented jump rope for her superb poegle, The Couples Therapist & The Economists: Extreme Volatility.  An honorable mention and general well wishes also go to Jamey H. in New York for his own fine poegle, Economic Crisis.  You can read both Liz and Jamey’s poegles at the current submissions page.

We’d also like to thank Polly in VA for an extremely nice expression of the Poegle form in her submission, Dolce Far’Neinte, and we were very pleased with Jon F’s creepy Halloween poegle, There Was No Guesswork.

The theme for this week’s poegle contest is ”The Election.”  Poeglers are invited to submit poegles based on search phrases associated with this theme.   Some examples of phrases that could produce interesting poegles are “before the polls closed,” “the volunteer told me,” and “team of mavericks.”

New to Poegles?  You might be wondering What is a Poegle?  You can also review this helpful guide on How to Make a Poegle.

Please send your finished poegles to editor@poegles.com.  Be sure to include your name, the search phrase you used to generate the poegle, and a word about yourself.  A winner will be named next Friday, when the next contest is announced. 

All winners receive a plastic segmented jump rope.  Read our terms.

Poeglers, as we take up the mantle of the weekly poegle contest anew, let us above all be sure that we put our country first and generate the kind of change that we can believe in.

And congratulations again to this week’s winners!

Yours,

The Editors

 

First Kiss in the Park

Kevin gets his first kiss in the park after a spectacular catch, after he asked me for a date! That was a total status symbol! Afterward, we are disturbed and brutally attacked by a psychotic homophobe. But baby I didn’t tell the truth, the day I told her I loved her. Got my first kiss in the park, and slapped my first face when he kissed me mid-sentence. 

By Andrew in DC (search phrase “first kiss in the park”)

The Friday Poegle Contest is open until this evening.  We’ve had some great submissions so far.  Please continue to send in your poegles to editor@poegles.com around the theme “economic crisis” for a chance to win a plastic segmented jump rope.

We’re accepting poegle submissions on all subjects, all the time.  The best poegles will be posted here for the poegling community to share.

Discarded Glove

1
After dinner on my first evening, as I made my way back along the dimly lit route, I saw what appeared to be a discarded glove, lying on a rock.

2
A crumpled cigarette pack, a discarded glove, a still-damp paper cup. Place these in your golden box, take them home, and create an altar.

3
A photograph from 1944 shows a discarded glove lying on the wharf planks with the fingers twisted, as if pointing toward the sea.

4
In the 1960s, U.S. tracking systems monitored an American astronaut’s discarded glove, before it eventually returned to Earth.

5
Is the green fleck of paint on the garden fence of relevance to the crime? Is the discarded glove in the flowerbed?

6
While waiting to meet his sweetheart under the old oak tree, the singer comes across a note left for him next to her discarded glove.

7
When police inspected the discarded glove, they found the tip of his finger inside. After retrieving a fingerprint, they shortly had the robber in custody.

8
To know that a departing soul does not need a physical body. In the hereafter, the soul will not need a body any more than a hand needs a discarded glove.

 

By Editor (search term “discarded glove”)

There Was No Guesswork

There was no guesswork in fixing those terms,” declared President Orr,
wlth some heat.
There are no nasty surprises working in HD.
The people, then, knew what they wanted and they go it. We see the
results in works.
They even took me along shopping. When that stopped, they just started
giving me money for birthdays and Christmas.
I have learned a new way of eating. I am never hungry and I have more
energy than ever. I find your lack of faith disturbing.
She had heard the screams. She had seen the bodies. It wasn’t Coleman
standing in the dark holding that knife.
Doing it like that, nobody was able to run much less get away.
The Twenty one patients had been in the hospital. The light was coming
from the left.
The man was paid by the yard to get the grips out and cover the pies
down with one foot of soil.
No gray area to ponder, no discernment necessary. What there was was
certitude and security. I knew when I was in the right

 

Submitted by Jon F in DC (search phrase “there was no guesswork”)

Dolce Far’Neinte 

In London they hurry over grey leaden pavements, under
grey leaden skies. Slip into bars, sunglassed and beautiful.
Shame on you.

Here, the rules are simple. Drink espresso standing at the bar.
Come meet with the artisans of the famous ceramics village;
bike quiet poplar-lined roads past abandoned villas.
Eat pasta inspired by gods.
A more authentic sound will undoubtedly become
part of your daily routine.

I’ve slept in that piazza, eaten chestnuts, seen a man
with illicit sandwich fixings hidden under clothes. Been chased
by Venus herself.

Just be forewarned, one night might not be enough.

 

By Polly in VA (search term “bring your own bologna”)

The Last Time I Saw Paul

The last time I saw Paul in person he was playing Scrooge, and playing him brilliantly. By then he was my husband and the father of my baby daughter. He was eating a sausage roll and turned to me as I left to say, “See you, doll.” Needless to say a lot has changed in his life since then. Years later I watched him from a distance in a parking lot in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. He was in a wheelchair. He was still getting around, but he was in pretty bad shape. I figured he was too freaked out by my punk life, so i just stopped calling him. I could see he was wearing a Lancaster Fire and Rescue t-shirt. It became clear to me then what a regular guy he was.

By Editor (search phrase “the last time I saw paul”)

Portrait of Bedouin Life

Follow the old Bedouin tracks to learn the meaning of their dances. Wide wadis, large rolling dunes. Saffron, frankincense, cinnamon, mint leaves, prayer. A slow rhythm dictated by the great heat. Young girls care for the young or sick in goat-hair tents. Carpet-weaving, the camel, the literature of the desert. The peacefulness of the oasis, the work of the tribe. Advice and wisdom. A belly dance show. The severity of circumstances; the extreme luxury of a thousand stars.

By Editor (search phrase “bedouin life”)

I swear, upon

Grover Norquist could almost feel sorry for Mike Huckabee, the Altar Of God, who was Eternal Hostility, And Will Personally Kick something downright witty and utterly obnoxious coming soon. Plus, Nexian Blood Stones won’t scream and I won’t let them scream either. Said Teresias: I beg you, no. Away with you blind wizard! I swear, upon the forces of goodness… to maintain the secret, of the true identities, of the Power Rangers who once told me two important things to remember about leprechauns.

-Submitted by Campbell in PA

The Friday Poegle Contest is open until next Thursday.  We’ve had some great submissions so far.  Please continue to send in your poegles to editor@poegles.com around the theme “economic crisis” for a chance to win a plastic segmented jump rope.

We’re accepting poegle submissions on all subjects, all the time.  The best poegles will be posted here for the poegling community to share.

Happy Friday.  The theme for this week’s inaugural poegle contest is “economic crisis”.  Poeglers are invited to submit poegles based on search phrases associated with this theme.   Some examples of phrases that could produce interesting poegles are “after I checked my 401(k),” “hundred year flood,” and “the difference between Wall Street and Main Street”.

You might be wondering What is a Poegle?  You can also review this helpful guide on How to Make a Poegle. 

Please send your finished poegles to editor@poegles.com.  Be sure to include your name, the search phrase you used to generate the poegle, and a word about yourself.  A winner will be named next Friday, when the next contest is announced. 

All winners receive a plastic segmented jump rope.  Read our terms.

When I Met God

When I met God in a McDonald’s on 42nd Street in New York City, a long time ago, I experienced what St. Paul called the indwelling spirit. I was still under doctor’s care on that night. I did not know where to get real strength to face the facts of life. He had known me a long time, had watched me from a distance, but waited to approach until I finally noticed Him standing in the far corner with the patience of a being I have never encountered. It seemed as though life was rather like a bike ride, but it was a tandem bike, and I noticed that God was at the back. You quickly get over the awe of meeting the Creator of the Universe. We were soon talking to each other very comfortably.