[Nicholas Stone]

I'm just wondering, the "up to sixteen lines" bit of the challenge made me think that Lucy would be happy for us to write on in another verse form, but from what I can tell most people have maintained that of the original.

Do you think that will influence Lucy's judgement?

[Nicholas Stone]

Originally Posted by FOsen

Add she swore at me in Latin.

Catullus 16 comes to mind....

[Susan McLean]

Jenny dissed me when we met.
When I said I was a writer,
Jenny spat an epithet.
Written words do not excite her.
Once she reads this fierce rondeau,
she’ll be sorry she dismissed me.
I’ll forgive her then, although
Jenny dissed me.

[Graham King]

Originally Posted by Julie Stoner

Kenny missed me when we jet-
ted off last Tuesday night, my sweetie.
Seemed surprisingly upset
when he trailed us to Tahiti.
Says that I should let you know
not to hide me or assist me,
or he'll shoot you, too...although
Kenny missed me.

Clever word-play, Julie (#21) and Susan (#43). Those are my favourites so far!

[Julie Steiner]

Thanks! That one (#21) and my word-shuffling experiment (#14) break Lucy's rules, so they're just for fun.

Nicholas, I think the main thing that influences Lucy is whether it's funny. Personally, I felt I needed to cling desperately to the punchline-setup of the original form. Some others are less inhibited, with very good results.

Something that will no doubt influence Lucy is whether the poem is actually printable. I have a feeling that a lot of the honorable mentions this time won't be.

[Brian Allgar]

I wouldn't be too sure, Julie. Lucy is pretty broad-minded - she once set a competiton based on Larkin's "They fuck you up" - and 'The Spectator' is not 'The Washington Post'.

[Nicholas Stone]

Julie - thanks. I guess we'll have to wait and see what the composition of the winning line-up is.

[Charlie Southerland]

Jenny embalmed me when we met.
I'd died earlier on that day
before the stink arose and set,
and maggots had had their way.

Jenny probed and prodded me,
I never felt a thing.
She hung a gut once and I began to pee,
but dear Jenny had a fling

with all the male cadavers,
and late at night when things were calm,
the girl up and got the slobbers
for pasty white men and bag balm.

And there I was all stiff and straight
like I hadn't been in years,
I wish I'd remembered our little date
when Jenny pulled me by the ears.