I absolutely adore the novel Candy by Luke Davies and the movie of the same name (with Heath Ledger, Abbie Cornish, etc.). The story is just filled with so much real emotion that draws you in and breaks your heart and that's what I want for this contest. I want life written about with a beauty that you can feel no matter how ugly things actually are. I want words that can make my heart ache.
I want you to be inspired by the poem from the movie, a quote from the book or movie, or both.
Don't just rewrite the poem. I want original entries.
Poem from the movie "Candy"
"Once upon a time, there was Candy and Dan.
Things were very hot that year.
All the wax was melting in the trees.
He would climb balconies, climb everywhere, do anything for her, oh Danny boy.
Thousands of birds, the tiniest birds, adorned her hair.
Everything was gold.
One night the bed caught fire.
He was handsome and a very good criminal.
We lived on sunlight and chocolate bars.
It was the afternoon of extravagant delight.
Danny the daredevil.
Candy went missing.
The days last rays of sunshine cruise like sharks.
I want to try it your way this time.
You came into my life really fast and I liked it.
We squelched in the mud of our joy.
I was wet-thighed with surrender.
Then there was a gap in things and the whole earth tilted.
This is the business.
This, is what we're after.
With you inside me comes the hatch of death.
And perhaps I'll simply never sleep again.
The monster in the pool.
We are a proper family now with cats and chickens and runner beans.
Everywhere I looked.
And sometimes I hate you.
Friday -- I didn't mean that, mother of the blueness.
Angel of the storm.
Remember me in my opaqueness.
You pointed at the sky, that one called Sirius or dog star, but here on earth.
Fly away sun.
Ha ha fucking ha you are so funny Dan.
A vase of flowers by the bed.
My bare blue knees at dawn.
These ruffled sheets and you are gone and I am going too.
I broke your head on the back of the bed but the baby he died in the morning.
I gave him a name.
His name was Thomas.
Poor little god.
His heart pounds like a voodoo drum."
Quotes from "Candy"
"you lose track of time, you know what i mean? Summer drags on. The air is heavy, sweet, hypnotic, hazy, like musk. Aesthetic effects suffuse the screen: on The Brady Bunch you think you see Peter Fonda in the dust. For a moment you think you’re in a Holiday Inn in West Texas, and the loose screw in the ceiling fan pops every 360 degrees, beats like a heart. The endless late-night movies you watch. Abstract tragedy. People you never knew. Anything to avoid what’s happening: Melbourne, heroin, now.”
"I wasn't trying to wreck Candy's life. I was trying to make mine better."
"We had a lot going for us. We'd found the secret glue that held all things together. In a perfect place, where the noise did not intrude, our world was so very complete."
“Everything is alright, isn’t it? Being so new to the path of wild abandonment… When you can stop, you don’t want to. When you want to stop, you can’t…”
"The high point of our life is the moment we plunge the needle. The self-perpetuating fuck. Once upon a time our bodies melted until they were a force field of sweat, the one indistinguishable from the other…And now this.”
"Adrift. At times it seems that i am floating in the beauty of docility. Pulling the needle from my arm, i succumb again and again to the luscious undertow of the infinite spaces between atoms. My arm an estuary of light in which all rivers gather. "
"I stare at my shoes, at the gray swirls of the concrete floor, at the bright orange lid of my syringe. And I realize--it's a kind of horror--that this is my life.
And I can't stop. I just can't stop. I can't stop anymore."
“Candy is beside me, drenched in sweat. She’s breathing gently, long slow breaths. I imagine her soul going in and out: wanting to leave, wanting to come back, wanting to leave, wanting to come back. The day will soon harden into what we need to do. But for now we have each other…”
“For a moment I wanted to stroke her, to comfort her, to turn the clock back fifteen minutes. Fifteen measly minutes. To say, “Not that. We will never go there.” But heroin was its own special hunger, and clocks ran in one direction only.”
"Somewhere the past changed. I don't want it. I don't want the present. There is no conceivable future."
"I thought if I could hold my breath for long enough, then finally tomorrow, full of light and pollen, would arrive."
"there's no going back. If you're given a reprieve, I think it's good to remember just how thin it is."
RULES
1) If you enter a prewrite, MAKE SURE IT FITS.
2) ONLY freeverse or prose. No rhyme
3) No full-blown erotica. I don't enjoy reading cheap romance novels in my spare time
4) I'll add more shiny things & points if I get entries that deserve them.
5) Put your AP name in your notes. For those of you that don't know what that is, it's your All Poetry name.
6) Don't type like you're having a seizure. It's dIsTrAcTiNg
7) Good grammar and spell check are your friends
Right now, I have it set so that each person can enter 2 poems. I'll see how that goes.
I've been browsing through the contests and it seems like a lot of them are either adult/erotica or the complete opposite. Neither side really appeals to me.
Imagery is a MUST.
You can use quotes from the book/movie that I haven't typed up. I'll probably keep adding more too.
Add beauty, pain, emotion, something. Make it more than dead words on a screen.
♥
I want you to be inspired by the poem from the movie, a quote from the book or movie, or both.
Don't just rewrite the poem. I want original entries.
Poem from the movie "Candy"
"Once upon a time, there was Candy and Dan.
Things were very hot that year.
All the wax was melting in the trees.
He would climb balconies, climb everywhere, do anything for her, oh Danny boy.
Thousands of birds, the tiniest birds, adorned her hair.
Everything was gold.
One night the bed caught fire.
He was handsome and a very good criminal.
We lived on sunlight and chocolate bars.
It was the afternoon of extravagant delight.
Danny the daredevil.
Candy went missing.
The days last rays of sunshine cruise like sharks.
I want to try it your way this time.
You came into my life really fast and I liked it.
We squelched in the mud of our joy.
I was wet-thighed with surrender.
Then there was a gap in things and the whole earth tilted.
This is the business.
This, is what we're after.
With you inside me comes the hatch of death.
And perhaps I'll simply never sleep again.
The monster in the pool.
We are a proper family now with cats and chickens and runner beans.
Everywhere I looked.
And sometimes I hate you.
Friday -- I didn't mean that, mother of the blueness.
Angel of the storm.
Remember me in my opaqueness.
You pointed at the sky, that one called Sirius or dog star, but here on earth.
Fly away sun.
Ha ha fucking ha you are so funny Dan.
A vase of flowers by the bed.
My bare blue knees at dawn.
These ruffled sheets and you are gone and I am going too.
I broke your head on the back of the bed but the baby he died in the morning.
I gave him a name.
His name was Thomas.
Poor little god.
His heart pounds like a voodoo drum."
Quotes from "Candy"
"you lose track of time, you know what i mean? Summer drags on. The air is heavy, sweet, hypnotic, hazy, like musk. Aesthetic effects suffuse the screen: on The Brady Bunch you think you see Peter Fonda in the dust. For a moment you think you’re in a Holiday Inn in West Texas, and the loose screw in the ceiling fan pops every 360 degrees, beats like a heart. The endless late-night movies you watch. Abstract tragedy. People you never knew. Anything to avoid what’s happening: Melbourne, heroin, now.”
"I wasn't trying to wreck Candy's life. I was trying to make mine better."
"We had a lot going for us. We'd found the secret glue that held all things together. In a perfect place, where the noise did not intrude, our world was so very complete."
“Everything is alright, isn’t it? Being so new to the path of wild abandonment… When you can stop, you don’t want to. When you want to stop, you can’t…”
"The high point of our life is the moment we plunge the needle. The self-perpetuating fuck. Once upon a time our bodies melted until they were a force field of sweat, the one indistinguishable from the other…And now this.”
"Adrift. At times it seems that i am floating in the beauty of docility. Pulling the needle from my arm, i succumb again and again to the luscious undertow of the infinite spaces between atoms. My arm an estuary of light in which all rivers gather. "
"I stare at my shoes, at the gray swirls of the concrete floor, at the bright orange lid of my syringe. And I realize--it's a kind of horror--that this is my life.
And I can't stop. I just can't stop. I can't stop anymore."
“Candy is beside me, drenched in sweat. She’s breathing gently, long slow breaths. I imagine her soul going in and out: wanting to leave, wanting to come back, wanting to leave, wanting to come back. The day will soon harden into what we need to do. But for now we have each other…”
“For a moment I wanted to stroke her, to comfort her, to turn the clock back fifteen minutes. Fifteen measly minutes. To say, “Not that. We will never go there.” But heroin was its own special hunger, and clocks ran in one direction only.”
"Somewhere the past changed. I don't want it. I don't want the present. There is no conceivable future."
"I thought if I could hold my breath for long enough, then finally tomorrow, full of light and pollen, would arrive."
"there's no going back. If you're given a reprieve, I think it's good to remember just how thin it is."
RULES
1) If you enter a prewrite, MAKE SURE IT FITS.
2) ONLY freeverse or prose. No rhyme
3) No full-blown erotica. I don't enjoy reading cheap romance novels in my spare time
4) I'll add more shiny things & points if I get entries that deserve them.
5) Put your AP name in your notes. For those of you that don't know what that is, it's your All Poetry name.
6) Don't type like you're having a seizure. It's dIsTrAcTiNg
7) Good grammar and spell check are your friends
Right now, I have it set so that each person can enter 2 poems. I'll see how that goes.
I've been browsing through the contests and it seems like a lot of them are either adult/erotica or the complete opposite. Neither side really appeals to me.
Imagery is a MUST.
You can use quotes from the book/movie that I haven't typed up. I'll probably keep adding more too.
Add beauty, pain, emotion, something. Make it more than dead words on a screen.
♥
Contest is Over
- Contest was judged on March 29
- Rewards: Gold: 400, Silver: 75, Bronze: 50, Honorable mention: 1 people
- Final notes: I really loved this contest & the entries were wonderful. I know that I didn't get to comment on all of the entries yet, but I'll try to go back and eventually comment them all. Thanks so much for entering everyone and congrats to the winners. xx
♥
Contest Winners
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by amaranthine lover 67 lines, 4 comments, on Feb 5 9:10 AM. In Fantasy, Contemporary, Other, Abstract, My own style, noguest
Gold trophy winner
• Commented on by judge. Prewrite [remove] -
the heights were only cliff edges
limits braided, branded, into the color of my wrist• Commented on by judge. Prewrite [remove] -
Our destination was euphoria.
Innocence was left behind long ago.• Commented on by judge. Prewrite [remove] -
VI., V., IV, III, II, I• Commented on by judge. Prewrite [remove]
Silver trophy winner
Bronze trophy winner
Honorable mention
Entries [12]
1 - 12 of 12
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flat broke at 15, no job, nowhere to go;
only a pair of battered Converse, half-formed fantasies and dreams; and you....by kill the lights 15 lines, 28 comments, on Dec 29 10:04 PM 2008• Commented on by judge. Prewrite -
His wasted body lay bruised,
Decorated with the syringes of his mistress.• Viewed by judge. Prewrite -
I can hear his infidel heart pounding in my ears,
keeping me from sleep,• Viewed by judge. -
• Viewed by judge. Prewrite
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There is fragrant hole,
like silk in sovereign dimensionby kaibab 53 lines, 2 comments, on Mar 5 6:55 PM• Viewed by judge. -
• Viewed by judge. Prewrite
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Comments
1 - 24 of 24
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FWIW, I have several contests that are basically in the gray area. Some prompts go one way, some the others. Not plugging or anything, exactly; just noting their existence.
Also, wondering if addiction to an idea counts? -
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I didn't mean to imply that none are in the gray area. Maybe I should check them out now that I know of their existence
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You didn't say that there were none, just that you'd been having trouble finding any. And hell, you might as well if you're bored. (So what about addiction to an idea, for yours?)
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for this one I'm focusing more on writing style than on an exact topic, so as long as the style fits
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I
Candy.
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Isn't it just amazing ♥
You should enter. I hope I get some writes from people who've seen the movie or read the book. -
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I did put in a prewrite that I wrote before on the movie.
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Ahh, omfg!!
That is like, my favorite book and movie. I was actually watching it last night.
I'll try to whip something up for this, sweetheart.
♣ Tegan -
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eeep, I was watching it last night too!!
&& I'm also in the middle of reading the book yet again
It's brilliant & I can get a bit obsessive
I hope you enter
x
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can I use part of a quote and not the whole thing?
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sure
x
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I LOVE Candy. I read it all the time. the movie is amazing. I cry every time I watch it. soooo stirring it kills.
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It is amazing
I'm rereading the book yet again & Candy is one of the only movies that will make me cry every time I see it. I love it ♥
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I am so entering a fresh write. You deserve fresh writes, anyways, for such an incredible contest!
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yay!
I'm glad that people are entering who've actually seen the movie or read the book. It makes it that much better
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I LOVE that poem. Every time I hear it I just get lost in it. I'm so glad they put that video, Candy's poem in motion, on the DVD.
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i love that movie. i didn't even know it was a book ( i'm such a noob ) so i've definitely gotta check it out. i'll do my best to enter, love. <3
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Oh! I love both the book and the movie!!! Its so beautifully written. I'm actually rereading it again. I'm so glad someone did a contest for it! Yay!
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I know! I'm just in love with it
you should enter
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I'm gonna bookmark this. I definately feel inspiration from that poem
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thanks for the bronze. loved your contest. And congrats to all.
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thank you thank you thank you for the silvaaaaaaa!!!!
xxxx -
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you're welcome
xx
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