Welcome to the new LDW poetry contest!

With all of the interest in the Fan Fiction Forums, we thought it would be fun to have another writing contest - actually - two contests in one!!!

The contest will feature two types of poetry - Haiku and Tanka (see description and examples below). Beginning today - March 3, 2008 - and closing April 3, 2008, midnight PDT, enter your own original LDW inspired poetry to win special brag tags (titles) and t-shirts!

When the contest closes, selected poems will be placed into a poll, and the forumers (you! Yes you!) will vote for their favorite Haiku and their favorite Tanka. Voting will be open until April 10, 2008, midnight PDT, when winners will be announced.

You may enter multiple poems of each type, but only your best Haiku and your best Tanka will be entered in the final contest.

***Spoilers must be CLEARLY marked***

Description:

Haiku is a form of Japanese poetry. In English, it is traditionally written with a syllabic pattern of 5-7-5.

Tanka is an even older form of Japanese poetry. In English, it is traditionally written with a syllabic pattern of 5-7-5-7-7

Examples:

Haiku -

Haiku and Tanka (5)
poetry that's short and sweet (7)
write, enter, and win (5)

Tanka -

A contest of words (5)
Poems about LDW (7)
Villagers, plants, fish (5)
Win! Get brag tags and t-shirts (7)
Enter now! Forumers vote! (7)


**No soliciting (begging, lobbying, bribing, etc) for votes -
violators may render themselves ineligible for prizes**

I love writing Haiku's lemme give this a try. Oh, is there a prize for winning? If not, that's fine:

#1:

Shores of Isola,
Villagers have settled there,
We help them survive.

#2
Time to go to school,
First it's time to plant some plants,
Hopefully they'll live.

#3
Carla and Arthur,
They work hard all day and night,
Making awesome games.

My personal favorite #4
Farmers, builders, more!
Who else is there on the shore,
Villagers galore!

#5
Water all your plants,
Don't forget to check your tribe,
Also feed your fish.

#6
Look the fire's out,
Quick go to the pile of wood,
Don't forget the grass.

#7
Whoa it's time to go,
First I better plant some seeds,
Hopefully they'll grow.

#8
Start with just a seed,
Water it and feed it to,
That's what it will need.

I'll do some more later.

I Can not wait for
VV3,It will be fun
Just you wait and see!

Wow Bravo to the both Jazzo and Berry!!

I'd not be able to do that but I like!

It’s all in the Hand
It directs the villagers
And keeps them happy

Ode to Lapis, (My late beloved villager, a master at each skill) I wrote this in school

Lapis you're the best,
Hardest worker no contest,
In peace you shall rest

*teardrop falls*

Oh! Even in shcool you write some Haikus! nothing can stop you!!
This Ode to Lapis is very good!!

Good poems. I don't think I much good at poetry though but I will gave it a try.

The happy little virtural villagers.
Fish and harvest crops all day long.
See them run and jump.

That's good Ann, but the lines have to be 5, 7, 5, syllables, not words. But other than that it's a good poem.

Anyone can participate in this laurence... don't sell yourself short!

Thanks but I'm afraid that I'm not good enough in English!

I stink at English too. It's to bad that is the only language I speak. I say ol’e chap, give it a try!

I'm fluent in 17 languages no, I'm not. I speak Latin, Tempus Fugit, Amo amas amat, cogito ergo sum, veni vidi vici

LOL, and I can count to ten in 7 languages:
English
Spanish
French
Italian
German
Latin
Hebrew

And I am good with English cuz my mom's a grammar freak

lol

"cuz" she's a grammar freak huh?

I said grammar, not spelling

(c'mon more people enter, plz)

My first Tanka (it's just a tanka version of ode to Lapis)

Lapis you're the best,
Hardest worker no contest,
In peace you shall rest,
A master at everything,
For you I'd do anything.

Tanka #2

Watch them work all day,
Farming, building, healing too,
That's Isola's way,
As a tribe they'll all pull through,
Solve a puzzle shout woohoo

That's an ABABB rhyme scheme.

Tankas and Haiku do not have to rhyme - although its not a bad thing if they do

I'm sure people are working on their poetry

And how are we supposed to compete with you Jazzo!!!!!

Thank you Eyeshigh for this contest I shall have to get my thinking cap on!!!!!

I stink at Haiku
It all just makes me so blue!
But rhymes I do like!
So that is what I've written.

Syllables to count?
I rarely take all the time
to put so much in
to the words I would spin here.

I know, but I like them better when they do I'm just impatient

*gasp* Just when I thought this might be a contest I had a shot at... The great Jazzo appears with his amazing poems!
LOL

EDIT: Okay, I thought for a while and came up with one of each... I may do more later, once my creative energies have recharged. Neither of them rhyme... that's what I get for trying this at night....

Tanka:
These little people
Can cause us to act crazy
At times we are seen
Yelling at our computers:
“Go get the mushroom!”

Haiku:
Our pixel people
Run back and forth on the map
Of our VV games!

ANOTHER EDIT: Do these poems have to be about the VV games? Because I'm considering coming up with something for our admins and mods! And possibly one about PT.... hmmmm.... lol

LDW related

write to your hearts content

I just wrote these
Don't know if I will have a chance!!

Swift, choppy ocean,
Washing up colorful shells,
Kids splashing about.

Strong builders nailing
Sheltering, safe strawgrass huts
Protection from rain.

Beautiful blue sea,
Mothers show their shy babies,
Whispering softly.

Smooth, tender green leaves,
Blossoming soft pink flowers,
Leaving fragile seeds.

Magical island,
Isola is it's true name,
Full of mystery...

Pebbles in the tank,
Fish swimming happily too.
Strange mystery eggs,
We may get fish that are new,
The magic fish may be near.

The small tribe of mine,
Works to find its only food.
The guiding hand helps,
But we still may not survive,
Help our small village to thrive.

A baby is held,
By a nurturing parent.
Soon to be a child.
The parent shows the baby,
The ocean the waves, the sun.

Isola is pure,
Isola is magical,
Some do not survive.
Villagers co-operate,
And lend eachother a hand.

can it be plant/fish tycoon related?

Loki, yes. Any thing LDW related is good to go. Plant and Fish Tycoon are LDW related so feel free to use them.

Sweet. Okay, so, here's a couple of Tanka's, one about the admins here on the forums and one about PT. (Again, no real rhymes, and some odd structure (I think) in order to fit the syllable guidlines.)


Soil in the pot, then
Add in a little water
Drop in the small seed
And wait for it to grow tall
To show us its pretty blooms

Arthur! And Carla!
And LadyCFII!
Our problem solvers!
“Hip Hip Hooray!” we all say
When they help us with our games!

Wow!! That really good, I like it a lot!!

i love LDW
they know how to make the games
i know how to play

More!!!

Tanka #3

Research, farm, and build,
Everyone has lots to do,
Get the food bin filled,
Hey this puzzle's almost through,
which job have I set for you?

Tanka #4

Isola is great,
Villagers are living there,
we control their fate,
We guide them and let them thrive,
First they must learn to survive.

Oooh, I wanna try ! Though I'm not very good...

Haikus

Under the hot sun
A celebration is made
a mystery solved

Just beyond the shore
Golden Gates of Isola
Reveal a village

So much is unknown
Yet so much is dicovered
On this new Island

Go sit in the sand
Feel the rhythm of the sea
Between you and me

Go look around you
Isola works its magic
Some that you can't see

Tankas

A villager falls
Only on desolate land
Forever in fear
Of a crate never to come
But in hope of to anew

A new mother rests
With a baby on her lap
Gazing at the sea
Or looking up at the sky
And reaching for whats beyond

Basking in the sun
Is a large crab in its wake
Very unaware
Of a boy standing above
A spear ready at his hand

How about:
Look at my village,
The villagers fish and build,
Where is your village?

The builder gets wood,
And the builder gets dry grass,
Then the fire burns.

Lol, I'm not too good, but I'm posting more.

On Isola's shores,
With help, a small village thrives,
Children find mushrooms,
The adults harvest and build,
And the scientists research.

Sit in the ShoutBox
ARs favorite to do
Besides post and help
fellow forumers today
and make avatars for friends

Some spoiler ones

Mystical writings
ancient moseics burried
gong pieces to find

a slippery rock
makes a villager fall
to Isolas land

Vurtual people
thrive on Isolas island
working to survive

A villager sits
with a kid in both her arms
by a waterfall

early in the day
small collectables apear
lined up on the shore

a beautiful pond
a villager jumps in to
and SPLASH goes water

The gong sound dies out
villagers rush to the sound
to hear of past

Ok, I am not eligible to win but I had to add one of my own.


Gamey's Haiku
Tmac and Gamey
playing insane asylum
in pink rooms they sit

Ooh! GAMEY! You gave me an idea for another Haiku!!!!

I call it: Insane Asylum.

All of us crazy
"Shout"ing out many odd things
As we played the game

I LOVE IT GAMEY !!!!!!!!!!!

where does obi go
when he leaves his island home
only gamey knows

our red haired obi
the little traveling man
going to far lands

[SPOILER]



waves splashing the shore
the sun making the sand hot
no golden child here

I don't know what that means

I un-der-stand now

I understand now
how this is surpose to be
before was confused

Here is one that fell out of my head this morning.

Sun sparkle delight
warms earth and the buried seed
bursts upwards in sight.

Algae in the sea
No crops growing; lucky me
And a new baby

What Should I Get First?
Farming? Or Engineering?
I Just Can’t Decide

The Village Love Curse (A series of Haiku's) by Jazzo (And do we choose which is our best i.e. which we want to be in the final contest?)

Something special's here,
It's attacking villages,
Isola I fear.

Sometimes it is nice,
Sometimes it ends happily,
Sometimes sacrifice.

What it does is this,
Villagers will fall in love,
That seems like kindness.

Here is the issue,
Sometimes it won't work both ways,
Now grab a tissue.

Then what happens? This:
Villagers get heartbroken,
Not even one kiss.

You can't force on love,
Sometimes things just won't work out,
Then I look above,

Why do things get worse,
Why can't love always be fare,
But that is the curse.

I hope that my tribe,
Gets the good end of this curse,
Not the heart-break vibe.

Wow, that took a while to write. Especially cuz each one has an ABA rhyme scheme. I know they don't have to rhyme but I'm a rhyming freak!

We (moderators) will choose our favorites (only one entry per person max) and then there will be a vote from those.

Oh I just realized, one line has too many syllabes. Can u replace "Then you grab a tissue" with "Now grab a tissue" please? Thanks and I see it's only one favorite, so I guess this "group" of haiku's can't all be in the finals. Oh well.

EDIT: Thanks Gamey

Quote:
Why do things get worse,
Why can't love always be fare,
But that is the curse.

____________________________________

And fare needs to be fair
lolz

The beauty of life,
We give to our villagers,
Keep them warm and safe.

A crackling fire,
In the middle of the night,
Wake up, see it glow.

Cute village newborns,
Nurture them with all your heart,
Never let them go...

Becca123, those are really good !

:-PPPPPP and nice poems btw

I have some more on page 3

LDW,
A brilliant, clever team,
Creative people,
Not to mention very fun,
Arthur, Carla and Lady.

I once saw a game
A very wonderful game
VV was its name
I said "never have I seen
A game better than VV!"

I'm a villager
You may think i'm really small
Arthur programmed me
Becca took great care of me
And my parents brought me up


Breathe the air deeply,
Feel the moistened, healthy breeze,
That helps your plants grow.

Darting through the tank,
Skimming across the surface,
A colourful fish,
Has never been seen before,
Maybe it will grant magic!

The Last Day Of Work,
I'm sure Arthur dreads the day,
He loves making games,
In just always every way,
KEEP ON MAKING GAMES FOR US!!!

I you see a plant,
That has a thirst for water,
WHY DONT YOU FEED IT!!??

WE anciously wait
for VV3 to release
on the edge of seats
we wait for its arrival
as patiently as we can

Thats good AR!

VV3 will come
Already ninety percent
We can only wait

Sorry AR I stole your VV3 theme!

I need to do some more Tankas:

Totems stand erect,
They deserve complete respect,
They're fun to collect,
They are not easy to earn,
You must triumph, work, and learn.

i like it Jazzo!

The masters at play,
All the children are laughing,
Its a lovely day,
And the ocean is sparkling,
It's playtime in the village.

BTW - sparkling is 2 syllables, google it if u want to

When is this contest over?

check the first post.

The waves give a sack,
The sack has 200 food,
Yay! We will survive.

Thanks

Last Day of Work team
They gave us near perfect games
V.V. 1 and 2

A pink petal falls
It glistens in the sunlight
Then it disappears

The children gather
And crowd the village center
Just to play a game

(The tanka below is to To Jazzo and other SPVC members for fun :P XP XD )

The SPVC
Is an organization
That helps villagers
Protects them from the cruelty
It may save hundreds of lives

I love the first one Izzy!

Heres another of mine:

The sea is salty,
The yummy fish are tender,
The water is warm,
The villagers excersize,
Children watch curiously.

I made up an Isolan lullaby:

The wind blows sofly,
Over the mountains and trees,
Across hills and seas,
It blows right over our hut,
And lulls you softly to sleep.

another:

The village is still,
The ocean is calm and cool,
Fall into a dream...

A true story: In Haiku..

clicking, dragging, drop.
no sleep, the village can't stop.
as head hits desk: plop!

Haven't done this in a while, so:

VV3 we wait
in breathless expectation
of new challenges.

vh713

Water slowly seeps,
Into the dried-out lagoon,
Hydrating the ground.

Hello bright parrot,
Hello beautiful blue sea,
Mom says crabs are cute,
Just like my sister and me,
We love Isola's creatures.

The secrets untold,
The whisper of Isola,
Mysteries unsolved,
You can discover the voice,
The magic of the island.

I just made this up for fun, it is to the tune of "Twinkle Twinkle little star"

Laughter, laughter, in the air,
There are lots of children there.
Villagers at work or play,
Sometimes working everyday,
Come and visit my big tribe,
It will give a cheerful vibe.

Now that we know the name of VV3, here's a tanka about that.

The secret city,
What will the villagers find?
If they are witty,
Don't leave anyone behind,
Thoughts are going through my mind . . .


I had trouble coming up with a good rhyme for city and I avoided plenty of minefields

And we're all glad that you did, Jazzo!

Haiku

Rang the Gong today
Dont know why i did it man
takes health my guys gone

Tanka

Wouldnt you know it
Virtual VIllagers 3
is almost here yay
Time to take time off from work
Get into your comfy cloths.

Ahh, spring break is finally over. Mini vacations for the young but extra hard work for us grannies who keep the home fires burning. Not to mention sharing our computers with bored kids and grandchildren house bound from inclement weather. Deprived of my computer I spent my time composing Tankas. The first one is dedicated to all my lost villages:

Slumbering island
Such lonely whispering winds
Echoing laughter
Lost children skip-chasing through
This isolated terrain

And building on the VVIII theme:

Hello, VV Three.
Was for ever just a dream.
But now, Look! We scream
Arthurs' creativity
almost is reality!

The secret city
What a mysterious name
One big adventure
Into the third VV game
TSC is yet to come

//Ok, not exactly LDW, but still inspired by the LDW website//

Of Villager friends
on whom we all do depend.
What can I dare say?
We love them like our siblings.
They support our misgivings.

ooolalalalala this looks fun! lemme try! they might not be the best though

Isola's ocean
Glistening in the sunlight
Villagers delight

Frolicking with joy
Collecting yummy mushrooms
Villagers Enjoy

Red and quite hungry
The birdies munch and they crunch
On our yummy crops

thankies

VV number 3
When can we expect it; soon?
At 90 percent...


Where are my people?
They were here in the morning...
Are they all hiding?
OH! Oh my god; not again
I left the game on 2x

wow. jazzo yours r great!

Isola is here,
We can visit it one day,
See our villagers,
We can run around and play,
All you have to do is look...

Actually all you have to do is buy the game but anyway...

See the little kids,
Frolicking in the village,
Find the nursing moms,
Sitting by the waterfall,
Watch all the villagers dance.

Virtual Villagers
What a fun game
WhensVV3 out?

Another VV3 Tanka:

VV TSC,
Lots more fun for you and me,
Happy I shall be,
Food I hope there is plenty,
Lots of children yelling "WEE!"

had to give this a try - haikus are so much fun

Feed fish, water plants
Late at night, villagers dance
Oh, no... morning's here

A villagers gone,
The new tombstone has flowers,
Oh please do not mourn,
Your villager was alive,
Doing whats best for the tribe.

I don't know if anyone else caught this, but that line has 8 syllables, not 7
Poems A Bout L D Dou Ble U
See?

This addiction is
Stronger than I can be
I must go and check
To make sure my villagers
Are doing okay today

Maybe "LDW" was meant to be an abbreviation for "Last Day of Work"? Not "L D Dou ble U"? I'm not sure though .

On the monitor
Pixelated people work
On the colored screen
Pixelated children play
I then see my tribe needs food !

That would still be too many syllables...

Is poems two syllables (po-ems)?
If it is then it has nine syllables. I think that whoever wrote it had: po-ems a-bout L-D-W, forgetting that W is is three syllables not 1.

And Krystal, that 2nd line only has six syllables

Oh! I'm sorry, I must have missed that... how's this?

This addiction is
Stronger than I can be now
I must go and check
To make sure my villagers
Are doing okay today

Better?

Coconuts Call Me
- by HappyPlayer

The sky keeps clicking
The Guiding Hand is shouting
“Don’t you tell me, ‘No!’”

The clicking is gone
I sneak over to the groove
Coconuts call me

I hear from the sky
“No! Not the coconut trees!”
I climb anyway

“Stop all that clicking!”
I say to the Guiding Hand
“Coconuts call me!”

Hunger drives me on
Teacher with big crab in path
(Why don’t we eat that?)

I walk right through her
My coconut prize in hand
Clicking sound returns

“Hey!” I shout to Hand
“My feet shouldn’t leave the ground.
Where’s my coconut?!”

“No! Not the Fire!”
Suddenly I am let go
See mushrooms in flames

Clicking goes elsewhere
I hear my name in the wind
Coconuts call me…

Wow, thats a lot of haiku's, its quite interesting how you put it into a story, in other words - i luv it!

thank you!

i think that's going to be my only entry. i think i'm going to try writting a full story... maybe...

Cool

Here are some more of mine:

Pacific island,
By the name of Isola,
Home to many tribes,
Skirted by beautiful trees,
Surrounded by blue oceans.

Coconuts for food,
Crystal pond water to drink,
Fire to keep warm,
Luxurious don't you think,
I would love to live their lives!

A new golden child,
Wouldn't that be fantastic,
No parties again!

When the tide goes out,
And Isola is quiet,
And the wind is fast,
You should remember to yell,
"AAAH Tsunami Everyone!"

When you're all grown up,
And LDW's old,
Remember the games,
The feeling owning a fish shop,
The thrill of running a tribe.

This is such a marvelous collection of poetry. I'm glad I'm not a moderator because I'd have to grab them all. Perhaps after VVIII is a wrap the LDW team might consider printing them up into a nice booklet and offering them for sale in the gift shop?

Lovely poems here
Fun to read, enjoy and share
Forum fans, thank you...

Okay, so, this idea came from something Caphat said in the SB... they graciously allowed me to use it.

"One Hundred percent
Would be terrific to see;
Then I can have fun
In the land of VV3!
I’m sure it will be great, whee!

I like it Krystal

Wow, people keep giving me ideas! This one came from a post by Tmac!

Waiting and Waiting,
Wondering what we should do
VV3 sure looks different
From the first VV and 2
All we need to do is wait…

It's the last day of the contest!!!

MY LAST TANKA!!!!

Ode to Collectibles:

Lots of different hues,
Different shapes and sizes too,
Kids wait for their queues,
Finally I see one there,
Oh my gosh, IT'S RARE IT'S RARE!!!

LOL, I like it!

I'm so excited for VV3!!

Oops, I just realized today is the last day, so I might do one more l8r. I'm in school right now.

OK, this time,

LAST TANKA (This one is about PT)

Plant the tiny seed,
Patience is a planter's friend,
Just don't over feed,
Yes, oh yes, it's time to dance,
I have found two magic plants!

C'mon, where's the poll? I got up early for it.

Where are the results?

Be patient - we have to choose the poems that go into the poll first. Its in the works. It is a very difficult decision you know - so many wonderful poems.

Ok, I'll be patient (though that's not a strong attribute of mine) just try to hurry so we can start voting!

Must remain calm and patient....

Oh, who'm I kidding???

Thanks do u think it will be up by Monday?

oolalala i cant wait

People

Patience is a vertue

dont think about it and you wont die to know who won

AR is right.
How did that rhyme go? ... oh, yeah...

"Patience is a virtue,
A little more won't hurt you."

Someone should write "closed" in the subject . . . *nudges Eyeshigh*

Thanks, Eyeshigh

Yes, thank you and will the poll be in this topic or in the polls forum?

Please be patient - the deliberations are taking longer than we anticipated. There are so many many wonderful poems to choose from!!

We will be extending the voting because of this delay.

Thank you

Ohh!! I cant wait to know who wins, they are all so good!

Read all 6 Haiku. They are in no particular order. Choose the one you like best, and vote for the corresponding number choice in the poll. It was a very tough decision for us, so take your time when voting


#1
Our pixel people
Run back and forth on the map
Of our VV games!

#2
Sun sparkle delight
warms earth and the buried seed
bursts upwards in sight.

#3
I hear from the sky
"No! Not the coconut trees!"
I climb anyway

#4
Isola's ocean
Glistening in the sunlight
Villagers delight

#5
Swift, choppy ocean,
Washing up colorful shells,
Kids splashing about.

#6
clicking, dragging, drop.
no sleep, the village can't stop.
as head hits desk: plop!

Read all 5 Tanka. They are in no particular order. Choose the one you like best, and vote for the corresponding number choice in the poll.

#1
A new mother rests
With a baby on her lap
Gazing at the sea
Or looking up at the sky
And reaching for whats beyond

#2
Pacific island,
By the name of Isola,
Home to many tribes,
Skirted by beautiful trees,
Surrounded by blue oceans.

#3
Isola is great,
Villagers are living there,
we control their fate,
We guide them and let them thrive,
First they must learn to survive.

#4
Slumbering island
Such lonely whispering winds
Echoing laughter
Lost children skip-chasing through
This isolated terrain

#5
Soil in the pot, then
Add in a little water
Drop in the small seed
And wait for it to grow tall
To show us its pretty blooms

And when is the poll over?

My bad!! Thanks!!

It's right above the part you quoted.

YAY, it's open for voting

yipee! voting is open!

yay

But... There are only 5 tankas!

yes, I think the "6 tankas" is a typo.

Yay! Open voting!

Thank you for pointing out the typo - I was so excited to get the polls up that I didn't do a very good job of editing. oops.

When it says 3 PM, is that 3 PM PDT?

It's 3 PM whatever time the server has on it that day!

What will happen on 3:00 PM?

So it's closed on Sunday 13 of April 2008 at Midday in San Francisco! No?