Science Fiction or Fact? Combatwords, July 8-11, 2011

Sean McCollum: "In the future every baby was born with a computer in its skull which in turn was inhabited by a pixilated ghost prostitute. In the future, cannibalism. In the future, nuclear-powered unicycles were pedaled into the holographic wastelands where we did battle with a race of subterranean Adonises. Moons were lassoed together and flung like giant bolos across the solar system."

Wessington: "Keystrokes and flickered intention on monitor
Linked by the wireless data to trolly:
Sphinx of the fogbelt, lynx of the kilobit,
Minx of the fence—she is orange or tabby."

http://combatwords.blogspot.com/2011/07/combatwords-for-july-11-2011-rules-of.html

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Tales From The CombatWords Arena. 26.75 More Hours of Combat Left!

http://combatwords.blogspot.com/2011/04/combatwords-april-1-2011-nostalgia.html

If you've been avoiding CombatWords because you are threatened by the idea of competitive writing, maybe you should be. I want you to note the timestamps for this combat after you admire the quality of the offered samples. If you can't take the heat, that's cool, but consider being an anonymous chicken and critiquing the comps. I mean, you might bring up valid points, but trust me, nobody is going to feel threatened by someone too scared to step into the arena him or herself.

Onyxsupersonics (April 1, 2011 4:52 PM PST http://onyxsupersonics.blogspot.com/):
"my first trip to philadelphia, my first trip to new york, when i saw guernica at moma, my first flight to london ... i always thought i could do it again and it would be even better ... sometimes i did it again and it was, sometimes i did it again and it wasn't, but usually i couldn't and i'll never know whether it would've been or wouldn't have been ... "

Valerie Valdes (April 1, 2011 5:32 PM PST http://candleinsunshine.com/asthemoonclimbs/):
""In Cuba, it wasn't like this"
was the common joke
when something bad happened
in America."

Amalia Dillin (April 1, 2011 6:42 PM PST http://blog.amaliadillin.com/):
"My cousins and I jockeyed for the center seat, crawling over one another, climbing, twisting. The hammock twisted and one of them was hanging upside down on the outside, clinging like a monkey. We helped him back in, pulling him up like a sailors dragging a drowned man from the sea. "

Steven Marty Grant (April 1, 2011 7:30 PM PST http://roomspimp.blogspot.com/):
"Of course I know
I fought with her too
but those battlefields
are green and over grown;
Appomattox, Utah beach,
Hue City. "

Seann McCollum (April 2, 2011 11:34 AM PST http://carrioncall.blogspot.com/):
"In all the years since the weekend you
“didn’t sleep with” that fellow
you met at GothFest at the Trocadero"

I can't sit this one out--looks too fun. It's an extra good combat this week which is why you should try it out. I respect anyone willing to fall flat on his or her face in public, even if not for the quality of composition.

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The World is Ending! So Play Some CombatWords!

Sure seems like the end of an era to me: http://combatwords.blogspot.com/2011/03/combatwords-march-18-2011-end-of-era.html

Steven Marty Grant http://roomspimp.blogspot.com:

"It is finished

Two thousand years of grace
covered the lower ground
of man’s last temple; Manhattan

Allah Akbar "

Seann McCollum (RToady) http://carrioncall.blogspot.com:

"How could they prohibit our tradition?
Our memories condemned, our past made sin.
Would they deny Marcel his madeleine?
Reproach the kosher Jew for eating brisket? "

Read, play, or critique: http://combatwords.blogspot.com/2011/03/combatwords-march-18-2011-end-of-era.html

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Combatwords Wants YOU

I know your kind: your hollow fealty to words. You claim you'd die for literature, yet you fear to be slain in the arena. Well Combatwords ain't your uncle and it ain't Sam neither... but it wants you. It wants you to fall on your face and break your dainty nose. It wants you to scream for blood between the lines and it wants a final, wordless yet implied 'fuck you' as you lie defeated in the sand.

http://combatwords.blogspot.com/2011/03/combatwords-march-11-2011-reversal.html

RToady (Seann McCollum) http://carrioncall.blogspot.com March 12, 2011 2:20 AM :
"A modern Salome, or Magdalene,
all she had to do was grin;
gripped between her perfect teeth, the blade
she emancipated bananas with,
flinging them up to the grubby gamins
begging at the edge of the pier."

I was late to the game March 12, 2011 9:58 PM :
"Admit it, you've suffered reversals.
Desire, so the Buddhists declaim,
Is the root of one's woe as if life
Were a trifle. It's huge. It's the only
Certainty, other than death."

Go forth and fight:



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Tales From the Combatwords Arena: Randomness

Anton Gourman (http://forpuck.wordpress.com/) won last week's Combatwords, so he selected this week's topic. You can see him win here: http://combatwords.blogspot.com/2011/02/combatwords-february-25-2011-friendship.html

Read this week's combat here: http://combatwords.blogspot.com/2011/03/combatwords-march-4-2011-randomness.html

Valerie Valdes http://candleinsunshine.com/asthemoonclimbs/:
""When the time comes, choose
the top one." Lucky numbers
six, nine, forty-two."

Amalia Dillin http://blog.amaliadillin.com/:
"I am Europa, and this bull is my god. Zeus, Poseidon, Jehovah, Allah, Odin, Thor, or Amun-Ra. He leans into my touch, and I am blessed. I am alive. I am electric."

Seann McCollum http://carrioncall.blogspot.com/:
"Instructions tumble from your unclenched fist.
Each word can be interpreted six ways..."

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11.5 More Hours of Combatwords

Get your Combatwords right here: http://combatwords.blogspot.com/2011/02/combatwords-february-25-2011-friendship.html

Hikimadwoman http://preservativewoman.posterous.com/:
"i
hold
still
a rubber kick
my hands shattering"

RToady/Seann McCollum http://carrioncall.blogspot.com/:
"saguaro phalluses ablaze with blossom,
clumps of opuntia best approached with caution."

Vandamir http://vandamir.wordpress.com/:
"my lover sent me an irate message. His family read my online journal and confronted him regarding our relationship. They were concerned because I practiced magick and openly discussed birth control."

Anton Gourman http://forpuck.wordpress.com/:
"Five tables stood in line
Small candles flickering Morse promises
of future greatness and the perfection of the moment,
casting shadows of time on
the crayfish, cheese, bread and the paper plates,
which were ready to lose their innocence for our pleasure"

Naomi McArdle http://harmlessnoise.wordpress.com/:
"And yet, we're bound by
invisible blood-brother rites,
the ink of life that decrees
in small-print clauses and codicils
the benefactors of emotional wealth
on a pre-mortem testament."

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Excerpts From the Combatwords Arena 2/11/2011, 11:25pm PST

Combatwords (http://combatwords.blogspot.com/2011/02/combatwords-february-11-2011-sales.html) started 2/11/2011, 2pm PST. Here's the game so far:

Steven M Grant (February 11, 2011 4:27 PM PST) Dear Object of My Desire,:
"I called her cold
and she responded by
adjusting her caller ID."

Seann McCollum (February 11, 2011 9:20 PM PST) Fiji Mermaid:
"“You’d be so easy to love,” she warbles, but the fact remains
she’s awfully difficult to buy for."

HikiMadwoman (February 11, 2011 10:53 PM PST) committed:
"mom has her knives out
she's grinding them down
their edges stochastic infinities
and her eyes smell like rust
her breath full of religion
from a greased green bottle"

If you think you can write better, prove it. Go to http://combatwords.blogspot.com/2011/02/combatwords-february-11-2011-sales.html and bring your ink!

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Savage Disobedience [Combatwords Poem, from February 4, 2011]. Also, Combatwords JUST started.

Savage Disobedience [Combatwords Poem, from February 4, 2011]
From: http://combatwords.blogspot.com/2011/02/combatwords-february-4-2011-mischief.html
Wanna play? Go here: http://combatwords.blogspot.com/2011/02/combatwords-february-11-2011-sales.html The game is aggressive or tame, depending on the readers and players.

How does it feel to attract the whole mob?
Web intersections by hand and bike rage
Circles around you. They're calling; you come
Reaching for drivers like you—they've had it.
One of them swings at the crowd with truck door.
Missing, he leaps to the street and flings bikes
Out of the way and the crowd's confused. Pride
Strays to an anger—you call out, "hold hands
Break for the light and the traffic shall pass."
Spirits of violence giggle, slap off
Glasses and push you; they're balling threats, fists.
Shouldn't pedestrians trump their bike ride?
Shouldn't a carefully argued speech sway
Cyclists protesting cars... is it you?

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Meat [Guest Political Cartoon by Seann McCollum, January 6, 2011]

Seann McCollum's origins are shrouded in mystery and conspiracy. Satellite imagery suggests he writes books and sells them here: http://www.lulu.com/antvsant. According to our Top Men, he goes by @syntaxidermist on Twitter and maintains a gallery of frequently updated art and writing here: http://carrioncall.blogspot.com. He's not one to gloat about past achievement, thus inducing others to gloat on his behalf. See how crafty he is?

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