SLAM!

This is the LAST Prelim Round before the finales! GOOD LUCK!

Hide and Seek

I bragged often about my hiding place
where, I was certain, no one could find me --
hoping you'd take the dare, but you never did
until one day you agreed to play with me,
counting loudly to a hundred,
complete with Mississippi's,
as I ran off to the bathroom
and crawled under the sink,
bending my body around the pipe --
head at one end, knees at the other,
closing the door behind me.

I counted with you in the stifling darkness,
trying so hard not to giggle and
give myself away -- distracting myself
by imagining my triumph
when you would give up and call out
"olly olly oxen free!" and praise my ingenuity.
I tried to hear where you might be searching,
opening the door just a crack,
but the silence offered no clues --
I could only wait...

Much later I heard Mom
calling us for supper,
asking you where I was,
followed by your guilty laugh
as you admitted you had no idea,
having sent me to hide ages ago
to get me out of your hair.

Hot shame washed over me
though it should have been yours
when Mom finally discovered me
crying, under the sink,

waiting to be found.

Hide and Seek  (13+) Spring SLAM! 2006 - Prelim Round 4 Prompt #1092701 by Sophy - Happy Birthday Cramp!

READ THE PROMPT CAREFULLY!

PRELIM Round 1 Prompt:
POET'S CHOICE - You may write your poem in FREE VERSE (35 lines or less) or use the form of your choice. If you use a form, please specify what form it is.

As children, most of us had a secret hiding place, or a spot we went to get away from our families, our problems, our ordinary lives. It might have been a place in the woods, a fort in the yard or basement, a roof of the house, under the bed, or some imaginary place - or maybe reading a book or writing a story was a means of escape for you. Write a poem about the special place of your childhood/adolescence, and, if you want, a particular event/incident you recall that made you seek it out.


INSTRUCTIONS TO ENTER THIS ROUND:
To enter, click REPLY to THIS POST and paste your entire poem in your post.

If you want other SLAMMERS to r/r/r your entry, include a link to a static item of your poem. A static item link is NOT required - what IS required is the entire poem pasted in your post. If you only post a link to your poem, and not the poem itself, your entry won't be considered. Only those poems entered correctly (by replying to the original post) will be in the running for that SLAM! round.

After you enter, you are free to edit your post as many times as you'd like, up until midnight Friday. Any poems edited after the midnight entry deadline will be disqualified - but you may edit/change your poem as often as you wish before the deadline. We will be looking at correct spelling, proper grammar, etc. so make sure your poem is as perfect as you can make it.

Do NOT post questions or comments here - post them over in the "The SLAM! Green Room" .

GOOD LUCK!


Sophy - Happy Birthday Cramp!

Spring 2006 SLAM! is here!

SLAM!  (18+) Spring 2006 SLAM! - Congrats to the winners - see you all next time! #554585 by Cappucine