Eratosphere Forums - Metrical Poetry, Free Verse, Fiction, Art, Critique, Discussions Able Muse - a review of poetry, prose and art

Forum Left Top

Notices

Reply
Thread Tools Display Modes
  #1  
Unread 09-02-2010, 06:35 AM
basil ransome-davies's Avatar
basil ransome-davies basil ransome-davies is online now
Member
 
Join Date: Jan 2010
Location: lancashire
Posts: 1,090
Default staggers the next challenge

No 4144 Set by Leonora Casement
A famous person spills the beans about the first lie they ever told.
Max 125 words by 16 September
comp@newstatesman.co.uk


The first lie? That's the one that really counts, isn't it? In my case it governed everything that happened afterwards. And it was only a moment of bravado. You see, I had very humble origins – no kidding, born in a cowshed, the old man a jobbing carpenter, minimal expectations... well, you get the picture. Anyway, cut a long story short, I was drinking with these fishermen somewhere in Galilee and they were bragging away as fisherman do and there wasn't much I could throw in the pot by way of achievements so in my cups I said 'I am the promised Messiah'. And they believed me! So I had to live up to it. Course, I didn't realise I'd be nailed up for it.
Reply With Quote
  #2  
Unread 09-02-2010, 07:35 AM
John Whitworth's Avatar
John Whitworth John Whitworth is offline
Member
 
Join Date: Aug 2007
Location: United Kingdom
Posts: 12,945
Default

Good one, Bazza. Bags I the snake.
Reply With Quote
  #3  
Unread 09-02-2010, 10:28 AM
Marion Shore's Avatar
Marion Shore Marion Shore is offline
Distinguished Guest
 
Join Date: Nov 2003
Location: Belmont, Massachusetts USA
Posts: 2,976
Default

Bazza, you've set the bar really high, as usual. Wouldn't it be better to say "nailed for" rather than "nailed up for?" That's the way the expression goes, and you'd get the double meaning.
What's the prize for this one, BTW? Not that it matters... We do it for the glory, of course.
Reply With Quote
  #4  
Unread 09-02-2010, 10:53 AM
basil ransome-davies's Avatar
basil ransome-davies basil ransome-davies is online now
Member
 
Join Date: Jan 2010
Location: lancashire
Posts: 1,090
Default thanks but

I wanted the parallelism of 'live up' & 'nailed up'. Also, if you are on a cross up is where you are.

Last edited by basil ransome-davies; 09-02-2010 at 11:05 AM. Reason: preterite corrected to infinitive
Reply With Quote
  #5  
Unread 09-02-2010, 11:00 AM
basil ransome-davies's Avatar
basil ransome-davies basil ransome-davies is online now
Member
 
Join Date: Jan 2010
Location: lancashire
Posts: 1,090
Default oh, the prize

Excuse my neglecting your question. Usual prize in the Staggers is £20, sometimes £25, & the bonus is a (sterling – £15) Tesco card.
Reply With Quote
  #6  
Unread 09-02-2010, 11:35 AM
Marion Shore's Avatar
Marion Shore Marion Shore is offline
Distinguished Guest
 
Join Date: Nov 2003
Location: Belmont, Massachusetts USA
Posts: 2,976
Default

Not bad!

I had to Google Tesco. Do you think they deliver to Boston?
Reply With Quote
  #7  
Unread 09-03-2010, 12:03 PM
John Whitworth's Avatar
John Whitworth John Whitworth is offline
Member
 
Join Date: Aug 2007
Location: United Kingdom
Posts: 12,945
Default

Send me your vouchers. I'll send you dollars.

The First Lie

I’ve never been vicious or shady
And I’ve never said more than I meant
But a gent can’t say no to a lady
And everyone knows I’m a gent.

And that preacher man down at the chapel
Is a miserable sort of a git.
He could see that she wanted the apple
And it wouldn’t have mattered a bit.

It was Sin that the daughters of Venus
(so he said) should all strive to avoid.
But it’s really to do with the penis.
You can read all about it in Freud.

So I told her the Sin wasn’t serious,
For reasons obscure and occult.
Girls are suckers for something mysterious,
So I swiftly obtained a result.
Reply With Quote
  #8  
Unread 09-06-2010, 01:01 PM
John Whitworth's Avatar
John Whitworth John Whitworth is offline
Member
 
Join Date: Aug 2007
Location: United Kingdom
Posts: 12,945
Default

Come on you Americans! There's George Washington with his little hatchet! He didn't REALLY chop the tree down, did he?
Reply With Quote
  #9  
Unread 09-09-2010, 02:29 AM
John Whitworth's Avatar
John Whitworth John Whitworth is offline
Member
 
Join Date: Aug 2007
Location: United Kingdom
Posts: 12,945
Default

What Bazza didn't tell you, because he's a modest fellow, is that he won money in the competition where you put a literary classic into the modern idiom. And what I didn't tell you, because I didn't know, was that I got an Hon Mensh. Should've won of course.
Reply With Quote
Reply

Bookmarks

Thread Tools
Display Modes

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

BB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is Off
Forum Jump



Forum Right Top
Forum Left Bottom Forum Right Bottom
 
Right Left
Member Login
Forgot password?
Forum LeftForum Right


Forum Statistics:
Forum Members: 8,399
Total Threads: 21,839
Total Posts: 270,784
There are 2504 users
currently browsing forums.
Forum LeftForum Right


Forum Sponsor:
Donate & Support Able Muse / Eratosphere
Forum LeftForum Right
Right Right
Right Bottom Left Right Bottom Right

Hosted by ApplauZ Online