medusa netzine

[ all featured writers
contest winners
& editor's picks ]

FEATURED WRITER OF THE WEEK

Where I L..

"The Beast in The Man"
by Jason Mink

There's no moon tonight it's nowhere in sight
The stars are also sleeping not even peeking
No hide and go seek they've been gone for all weeks
Not even a shimmer they won't even glimmer
No call no show this dinner has gone cold
We've arrived late for the feast
Piece by piece it's devoured by a beast
He shares nothing grinding his teeth
They become scared and run with their feet
Only one stands still unafraid of the beast
He shares its hunger and its will to defeat
For he has sowed and now will he reap
Beaten with blood war is unleashed
Tortured by screams agony from dreams
What has become of a simple man
Took so much more than anyone can
Strong enough to keep it all in
When nothing is nothing why keep it all in
He chose to release and finish the beast
But the beast is him vanquished in sin
Ripping his flesh he tears from his chest
No longer does it beat his heart's in the street
A new man is born and no longer is scorn
He shall strive for the light and things to be right
Helping all he can help with all of his might
With the gods on his side nothing shall hide
His mercy shall show for a story is told
History has become a mystery
And this mystery is a man fed up with misery.

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HOW TO VOTE

You get to pick the winner who will be featured each week! The winner is the blog post with the most kudos at the end of the specified voting time. Plain and simple: you wield the power of the kudo, so use them only as you see fit; REMEMBER your kudos are your votes!

THIS WEEK'S NOMINEES ARE:

"This is a Happy Anniversary (or Abortions are Expensive)" by Maria Anselmo [Jan 14]
"[untitled]" by Elcie Kay [Jan 15]
"Toast, or How She Learned to Stop Believing One Man At a Time" by Eddie Cicero [Jan 16]
"1979 [50th Birthday Tribute to MARTIN LUTHER KING JR]" by Shirley [Jan 17]
"Bridal Station" by Garry Franks [Jan 18]
"Closed Session" by Gradly Bra [Jan 19]
"Whatcha think" by bloowriter [Jan 20]

VOTING ENDS JANUARY 27th

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EDITOR'S PICK:

EDITOR'S PICK

The editor's pick is where we decide what we like best to feature as a sampling of writing from the blog. Click here to leave comments on this featured piece.

Marc

"Federico Garcia Lorca Reminds me of Robert Frost"
by Marc Beaudin

On a night like this
you can hear the ropes creaking
in their pulleys as the moon rises,
and the click and hiss
of each star coming on,
a hum of machinery sounding
almost like wind through the trees
that hardly even look
like they're made of steel

When a coyote knifes the darkness,
you think of sirens.
When an owl echoes your question,
unseen,
you look for a door to lock,
a window to latch.
You pull your coat tighter
to your chest, and try
to remember that song from Sunday School;
but all that comes to your mouth
is the iron-salt taste
of your own blood.

It's then that you look down two roads
and wish you had paid more attention
to that poem
you had to read for class
years
and years
ago.

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WHAT'S NEW:NEW WRITING CONTEST
THEME: MEDUSA

any writing with the theme of MEDUSA, and what medusa means to you, namely the greek mythological character, but you can decide if it's a broader subject to you. any format, any length, any style, anything along those lines. deadline is february 8th, so get 'em in to us all speedy-like.

be sure to include your name as you wish it to appear, a title, and "MEDUSA THEME SUBMISSION" in the subject line, even if you are just asking questions about the contest. you may send as many as you like, but each submission needs to be in a separate email. contest deadline is february 8th.

NEW FEATURE ON THE PROFILE
PROFILE SONG

one of my big love affairs in life is music, so we have added some music to the profile, with a fun little twist: YOU get to pick it!

HOW, you ask? by commenting. at the end of the voting time [coinciding with the featured writer of the week dates and posting, just to make it easy and to have a two week delay to allow everyone time to comment], the person with the best, most productive, most constructive comments on the blog for that time period will get to choose the song on the profile.

now take notice of the wording there: it is NOT the person with the MOST comments, but the person with the BEST and MOST CONSTRUCTIVE comments. the point of this blog is to get people to really dig into how writing makes them feel and what might be re-worked to make pieces/authors better, to start discussions about the writing and to really LEARN and SHARE something new, different, open. so we want to reward you for taking the time to read the pieces and leave detailed and constructive comments. this is just one fun little way that we are doing just that.

some small rules:
WE get to decide who is the best commentor; sorry, but that's how it's going to be. if you don't agree with the choice, well, better luck next week. there can only be one winner.

YES, commentors can absolutely win more than once; you can win every week for all i care! just so long as you are leaving good, in-depth, detailed, constructive comments. you CANNOT, however, choose the same song twice. now, if it accidentally happens, fine, it's not a big deal. but we are trying to avoid the same song playing on the profile week after week, because the point is to hear some new songs, have a change of pace on the profile, showcase it as an art piece, not just a theme song. we want to get a sample of the music our readers and writers are blasting on their boomboxes [does anyone still have a boombox?] so we can get to know each other better.

please do not choose songs that are super inappropriate. we have people from all walks of life on here and cannot post any kind of explicit warning that they would see before they would hear it. other than that, it's up to you, and we certainly do not care about the genre - from showtunes to local bands to punk rock to hip-hop to you-name-it: show us your favorite songs. WE GET THE FINAL SAY ON WHETHER OR NOT A SONG IS APPROPRIATE. if it is not, we will simply ask you to choose another song; but most songs, really, are fine by us. this is just in extreme cases.

WE will notify YOU if you are the winner. at that point, send us the myspace profile, url, username, or search email to find the artist, and let us know what song to pick. easy as pie. along with that, you will get a bulletin posted about your song, and your name will be listed on the profile.

then...check out the profile each week to see a new featured writer, hear a new song, and find out about a new contest! and of course, subscribe to the blog, read it, and place your comments every day!

PROFILE SONG CHOSEN BY:
DOWNTOWN DROP OUT / SARA

each week, coinciding with the featured writer dates & posts, the person who leaves the best comments on the blogs during that specified time gets to choose a featured song for the week on the profile. check out this week's pick!
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