Welcome, one and all, to a challenge catered to inspire the poet’s heart in each of us. A poem, any length and style, to be written about the chosen theme: Burning the Nail. So, what the heck does that mean? That is where the fun begins.
Thank you everyone that participated in our poetry challenge. The submissions were amazingly diverse and deep, taking our theme in so many different ways. We are in awe of all of you. We thought that perhaps it was time to give everyone a peek behind the curtain and tell you the story behind BURNING THE NAIL. So, what does it actually mean? We have no idea. Sheila’s youngest child came up with it. It was a favorite lyric substitution to many different songs from lullabies to heavy metal.
“I think I heard it sung for a least a week straight, both whispered quietly while playing to singing loudly with the radio in the car. The more I heard it, the more it called to me. What could this really mean? ”
So, now you know the truth. The words of a child; molded and shaped into a series of incredible works of poetry. Isn’t it amazing what such a simple phrase can be transformed into?
Eternally Grateful,
Sheila Hall and Robert Zimmermann
Untitled
by Ben Ditmars
Bury the hatchet
cut the cord
it’s time we break
and burn the nail.
Hand in Hand
hearts torn apart
we fall from grace
burn with the nail.
Eyes pried open
and glued shut
scratched, burning
by the fire of the nail.
Ben Ditmars
Ben muses from his home in Marion, Ohio, aspiring to become a teacher and always writing. He was first published in his college publication The Cornfield Review in 2010.
I have just been recommended to your site, if I have submissions to I simply post on here or do I post on my blog and submit a link as other sites? Any help gladly appreciated.
Hi Rambling,
This challenge is close for submissions. We held it open for about a week, and these posts are the poems we got from that.
Sheila and I are planning on doing another challenge in the near future (no date on that yet, or theme), and would be happy to have you submit in that one if you feel like it at that time.
Here is the original announcement post about this challenge, if you wanted to get an idea about how we do things. We keep it pretty simple. But things can always change to make it more fun. Who knows 😉
https://alifeamongthepages.wordpress.com/2013/03/04/calling-all-poets-burning-the-nail-poetry-challenge-starts-now/
*do*, forgive me it’s late and I’ve had a rough day here in Aus.