Wednesday, June 11, 2014

Poets United Midweek Motif ~ The Number Thirteen

“I believed in immaculate conception and spontaneous combustion. 
I believed in aliens from outer space and vampires, prophecy, and 
the resurrection of the dead. I had deja vu many times each day. 
I was thirteen.” 
― Kate Braverman



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File:Centered square number 13 as sum of two square numbers.svg
13 as sum of 2 square numbers


Midweek Motif ~ The Number Thirteen



Your Challenge:  Write a 13-line poem in which the theme has to do with the number thirteen.  Please post your poem by Friday the 13th.


Here are 13 of many possible inspirations:  
  1. Paraskevidekatriaphobia  (fear of Friday the 13th)
  2. Thirteen Ways of Looking at a Blackbird, a poem by Wallace Stevens. 
  3. The first line of George Orwell's novel 1984:  It was a bright cold day in April, and the clocks were striking thirteen.  
  4. Thirteen Reasons Why,  a novel by by Jay Asher.
  5. Saint Anthony of Padua whose feast day is June 13.
  6. Thirteen, a song sung by Johnny Cash (written by Danzig)
  7. Thirteen, a song by Ben Kweller
  8. Wilt Chamberlain
  9. Thirteena 2003 American film 
  10. 13 Tzameti, a 2005 French film ("Tzameti," "13" in Georgian)
  11. Thirteenth floors
  12. Apollo 13
  13. Covens

Panel from an elevator in a residential apartment building in Shanghai.
Floors 4, 13 and 14 are missing, because of the similarity between
the pronunciation of the word 'four' and 'death' in Chinese;
note also the "negative first floor", as the number zero
is considered similarly unlucky in parts of East Asia.



Please:  
1.      Post your  "13 lines on 13" poem on your site, and then link it here.
2.      Share only original and new work written for this challenge. 
3.      Leave a comment here.
4.      Honor our community by visiting and commenting on others' poems.


(Next week's Midweek Motif is  Light and Dark, or The Longest Day.)


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53 comments:

  1. I failed the thirteen line challenge but hopefully it has an air of Friday 13th! :~

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hey, Jae Rose! I'm trying to fix Mr. Linky. I'll stop by soon!

      Delete
  2. Fixed! But Huge! I think I'll send a message to the help desk and tell them our Mr. Linky has been haunted from Day One! May this week be good to you.

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  3. You have made it fun.
    BTW, are you playing loose and fast with the font sizes or is it my eyes :-) ?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Mr. kinky is mis-behaving. I have done the rest. I'll be by real soon!

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    2. playing fast and loose?
      got it wrong, didn't I?
      BTW, is a fast woman any different from a loose one :-)
      and I so hope kinky wasn'ty merely a typo

      Delete
    3. Laughter over here. No, not a mistake. It was once, but this time it's deliberate.

      Delete
  4. Nothing to do with Friday the 13th, but still 13 lines x 13 syllables... Great challenge!

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  5. This poem wrote itself but then I realized all my poems are in sets of 4.
    Happy Friday the 13th.

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  6. I was determined to do this week's MWM and done it....yay...great prompt Susan..and o my....Mr. Linky seems so obese this week.. :D

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. That is a kind way to say BLOATED.

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    2. hey, I'm kind of sensitive about that! :-)

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    3. Sorry, Mr. Linky! Note below, that I credit you with all the fixing and blame the worst on the number 13.

      Delete
  7. Fixed the Mr. Linky with the help of Mr. Linky. Did you notice that this occurred after the 13th comment?

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  8. This was a wonderful prompt!! first time on Poets united... I hope you like it ...

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Welcome. Arushi! I hope you will follow us!

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  9. Good prompt, Susan.
    Mine is up at: https://purplepeninportland.wordpress.com/2014/06/12/thirteen/

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  10. 13 lines hmm...almost ~ thanks for the inspiration, Susan!

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  11. That was a challenging prompt Susan..enjoyed it a lot ..smiles

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  12. Thirteen... my voice changed. In more ways than one.

    http://wojisme.wordpress.com/2014/06/12/puberty/

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    Replies
    1. Thanks, Walt. I identified in many ways ...

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  13. Interesting prompt, Susan. I finally found time to complete my poem.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Truly glad you did! I'm hoping to see Rosemary too.

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  14. Sorry, I missed the 13-line rule! And mine is confessional...if that's allowed here...!!!

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    Replies
    1. I forgot to count the lines! Must have been the power off the piece. Don't forget to visit the rest of us. Thank you for posting your "13."

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  15. Thirteen Ways of Looking at a Blackbird is one of my favorite poems. Happy Full Moon Friday the 13th everyone.

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  16. Funny poem to write... I am so weird about stanzas all having same number of lines lately. Then there is one line, sort of hanging out to dry... Odd but perfectly brill challenge! My Aunt Ruth was born on a Friday the 13th. Peace and thanks again, Amy

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  17. Great prompt, Susan! I had fun writing mine and am enjoying reading what others have come up with.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Kinda takes the edge off the day, doesn't it?

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  18. Still the right day.. yes fun prompt.. I think mine works :-)

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    Replies
    1. Yes. Somewhere in the world. Thanks for playing, Bjorn.

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  19. i waited til the 13th to make it official...and in at 13 lines...
    read to current---will check back when i get where i am going today

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  20. Now, if only all of those who have posted links (and on whose poems I have commented) would make the rounds, it would be a good Friday the 13th. So far 9 out of the 22 besides myself have been reciprocal. Hope some more will follow suit.

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    Replies
    1. You speak my mind! The day is young, and the incentive is strong. Have a good day, Mary! I'm heading out to physical therapy.

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    2. good luck with that mary...hehe

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    3. Yup, Brian, I know. Sigh!

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  21. Just managed to get it in on Friday (my time).

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    Replies
    1. I knew you would be here for this one. I've had my first Uh-Oh of the day, thinking my PT was at 11 AM and not at 9:30 AM. I missed it. For penance I will go and do my exercises very slowly, right now. I enjoy accomplishing them, so payback will be sweet. Have a lovely day and weekend too.

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    2. Past midnight here now. I'll have to come back tomorrow to look a others' poems.

      (How well you know me, Susan! Smile.)

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  22. I have entered my post. Thanks for the fun.

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    Replies
    1. You are the last one, Gail. I'm glad you made it!

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  23. This week was truly full of good reads! Don't forget about PU Poets Pantry tomorrow. Visit PU for good reading all week long.

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  24. Thank you Susan for a deeply interesting theme

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  25. Thank you Susan for a deeply interesting theme

    ReplyDelete

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