I'll provide one of the readers, at least, if there are any takers.

I have a feeling the proposed length will deter many would-be entrants, though. Besides the investment of time and -- er -- poetic energy it would require, 100 lines about anything is about 84 more than most mere mortals can manage. Even the long distance writers among us may not start out with a set number of lines in mind. Or perhaps they do. Do they?

Ed

Ah, but the length is a mere hurdle, Ed! Though I agree that your poems are perfect in their succinctness.

I'm pretty sure I can pump something out within the parameters, or would at least be game to try (it's the spirit of the thing). I won't do it without an avowed competitor however.

I thought you might go first and then the rest of us could respond.

I do. I design the form before I start, so that I'll have a sense of the size of the canvas. Otherwise, I wouldn't know how to handle details in each part of the whole. It's a mostly intuitive production, which would be much harder without knowing the length in advance.

PS: I can see myself writing 100 lines on mixed nuts. Yes, I think so.

That's fascinating, Mary. I'd never thought of it that way, but it makes a lot of sense.

Ed

100 lines is not enough for all the Republican candidates for the presidency.

Today's intelligence test:
Would you rather
A) Read Poetry Daily and Verse Daily on-line
B) Write about flying pigs or mixed nuts on Eratosphere
C) Google pictures of interspecies snorgling on youtube?

Dear Gail,

Having just done this, for the first time in my life, I would find *any* other option preferable. Frankly, I think I'd rather stick my arm into a fire ant nest. All the way to the elbow! ;)

In fact, I think I'd rather be this guy: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YIMigVo1pyA

Yikes!

Thanks,

Bill

I agree, and I typically do the same thing. I'm primarily a sonnet writer, so that makes it a bit easier, but when I've written other forms (Swiftian satire, Rhyme Royal, Villanelle, Ghazal etc.) I've had a firm idea of the length in mind before I started.

In fact, in my early days of writing sonnets, I used to jot down "A, B, B, A, A, B, B, A, C, D, C, D, C, D" at the start of each line before I even began. It would help me better visualize the track the poem would need to take. It was sort of akin to knowing how many letters a particular answer was in a crossword puzzle.


Is that the gauntlet? Do we need a starter pistol to fire to declare it's on?

I'm already on line 17.