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Pangur Bán
By Anonymous
Translated by Seamus Heaney

From the ninth-century Irish poem

Pangur Bán and I at work,
Adepts, equals, cat and clerk:
His whole instinct is to hunt,
Mine to free the meaning pent.

More than loud acclaim, I love
Books, silence, thought, my alcove.
Happy for me, Pangur Bán
Child-plays round some mouse's den.

Truth to tell, just being here,
Housed alone, housed together,
Adds up to its own reward:
Concentration, stealthy art.

Next thing an unwary mouse
Bares his flank: Pangur pounces.
Next thing lines that held and held
Meaning back begin to yield.

All the while, his round bright eye
Fixes on the wall, while I
Focus my less piercing gaze
On the challenge of the page.

With his unsheathed, perfect nails
Pangur springs, exults and kills.
When the longed-for, difficult
Answers come, I too exult.

So it goes. To each his own.
No vying. No vexation.
Taking pleasure, taking pains,
Kindred spirits, veterans.

Day and night, soft purr, soft pad,
Pangur Bán has learned his trade.
Day and night, my own hard work
Solves the cruxes, makes a mark.

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Random Poetry Prompt
Write a poem about two sides of a coin.
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APRIL 2021 CONTEST:

Remember this month you are allowed to send in as many entries as you like for our April Contest.  April's contest is a bit different from our usual contests.  We have a single prompt for the month. You can find out all the details in our April 2021 Contest Book.

MAY 2021 – POETS PUB 6TH ANNIVERSARY CELEBRATION:

Next month will be the Poets Pub's 6th Anniversary!!! Last year we had loads of fun with our month long "Virtual Block Party", so I think that is what we are going to do again!! We will have weekly challenges for you, to help us celebrate our 6th Anniversary!!

POEM A WEEK CHALLENGE:

The purpose of this challenge is to simply encourage writing, taking the time, at least once a week, to get a poem from your brain on to paper.  If you would like to participate, the "how to" is below.

We now have our 2021 participant's sticker!! It is hosted on Imgur.  If you are a Poem-a-Week participant I can send you a DM with the link or if you would prefer to have it sent to you directly by email send me a DM and I will get it to you.

HERE IS HOW IT WILL WORK:

1. Anyone that would like to join in needs to use and existing book or create a new book on their profile to post their poems in.

2. Send us a PM with a link to the book you will be using and let us know that you have joined the challenge.

3. We will post the cover of your book in the Chatter as well as here to let others know that you are participating.

4. Send us copies of your poems at least once a month, to post here in this collection.

5. Check the Pub Chatter 7th Edition each week for prompts for the challenge.  The prompts given in the Chatter are only suggestions, you can always write any kind of poem that you like for this challenge.

2021 Poem-a-Week Participants

A Paintbucket of Words by nubivagant_words

Genteel Reveries of an Outrié Poetess by MystresMyna

Petals of a Rose by Alkymarz

A New Leaf by most_bay

Five Drops of Ink by je2suisChris

Woven Threads by enchanting_figments

My One Last Gasp by BillTemple1957

Even As We Speak by MichaelTyger

Please stop by and check out their books, show them some Poets Pub love!

IF I MISSED ANYONE PLEASE LET ME KNOW AND I WILL ADD YOUR NAME TO THE LIST!

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Poem-a-Week Prompt
Week Sixteen Prompt
Write a poem about the "nine" lives of a cat.
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storytellers-saloon

APRIL 2021 CHALLENGE:

Our April challenge is up and running and we have some amazing entries already! We invite you to stop by and read and support our participants!  We hope that you will decide to join in as well!

Busted Gulch Vol. 15 Update:

Bishop Dorito sent a letter out to an old friend, talking about Busted Gulch and how he's enjoying the town so far.

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Random Poetry Prompt
Write a poem about the sound of a wind chime.
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March 2021 Challenge:

ATTENTION:

We will not be running anymore contests for the time being. Stay tuned for something even better!

We are still looking for ideas and themes for a collaborative story. If you have any, please shoot them to the Pub.

- Dryad

Some poetry fun facts for you this week:

-- George MacDonald (1824-1905) wrote a two-word poem called 'The Shortest and Sweetest of Songs'. It simply reads: 'Come Home.'

-- Allen Ginsberg's poem "Howl" is considered to be an iconic expression of the 1950s Beat Generation. Its frank portrayal of sex, suicide, and drugs was so scandalous that the publisher was imprisoned for distributing obscene material.

-- Sir Walter Scott composed much of his bestselling epic poem 'Marmion' while on horseback.

-- 'Rhapsodomancy' is divining the future by picking a passage of poetry at random.

-- Samuel Taylor Coleridge observed, 'Prose = words in their best order; poetry = the best words in the best order.'

-- Ezra Pound coined the word 'logopœia', which he defined as 'the dance of the intellect among words'.

I want to send out a HUGE THANK YOU!!! To all of you amazing poets!! We are so grateful to have you all here and members of the Pub!! The inspiration and kindness that you share here at the Pub is a testament to the generous, creative hearts that you all have!! We are honored to have you all as members of the Pub!!  I hope you all have a super-fantastic week!!

Remember to... keep those pens and keyboards flying!!

Cheers from you Mystres of Chatter
MystresMyna

P.S. – Children's Poetry Corner by BB
Write a poem about your favorite animal.