Palisades of human skulls,
floating sacrificial displays
impaled on posts,
creating screaming walls.
Wooden tzompanti alters
their final resting place,
head racks for losers
of war or games,
honors sought by some
as the most worthy sacrifice.
Cultures created cranium banners
flown in victory
like over-ripened fruit,
adorning branches of gourd trees.
Corpse-created churches,
surfaces lined with faces of death,
tourists stepping on streets
of cobble-stoned skulls,
sadly, victims never truly receive justice
in any society.
Author notes
POM entry
Theme: Ancient practice of cultures building walls, churches, towns out of skulls (and whole skeletons).
Some records indicate that not all were victims - some elite felt it was a worthy sacrifice and volunteered. 
......Many tourists flock to see these 'works of art' - and some of them are astounding in their creations.
Makes one wonder at our visions of what we call art......
tzompanti: is the stucture, the type itself whether it be a wall of skulls or poles with skulls inpaled vertically.
I think this is unique..., lol - I haven't seen anything on this theme.....
(11-29-08 - thank you 'Cupcrazy' for your last-second help with this. I appreciate it!)
A contest entry
- Poem of the Month - POM - by Bear by Arkbear.
3500 points, ended December 1, 2008, 18 entries
Silver trophy winner
• next poem in this contest, remove from contest
Please tell me what you think
Comments
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Excellent
Such a great creation. So very well done. Congratulations on the silver.
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Thank you 'penman' - glad you enjoyed this somewhat 'gruesome' write...lol
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Congratulations
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thanks...
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Congratulations on your Silver win. A very unique theme and strong write.
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Thank you so much 'Skybow' - I'm glad you enjoyed, or at least found it interesting.
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Wonderful poem hun great imagery and liking your alliteration... good luck in the contest, though looks like you dont need it..
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Thank you so much Rob - glad you enjoyed this!
We all need good luck - and I appreciate your wishes.
best wishes to you also
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Hello and Welcome to POM!
Hello hun,
I must say i have learned more in the last 16 hours than i have learned in a few years.
Your poem reflects a poetic taste of being in class with a great teacher!
The theme was very creative!
The flow was good even in a gruesome write.
Well done.
My scores will be up at finale judging.
Best regards,
~Lisa~
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Thank you so much 'BeautifulFlame' for your lovely comment. I am pleased you enjoyed this.
peace/blessings/joys to you
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Hullo and welcome to the POM,
I thought this was fantastic, the words and imagery were top notch, and although the ending never exactly blew me away, truer words could barely be written, loved it. You should score highly in all categories my friend, the quality in this contest for the most part has been excellent and this is in the top tier, no doubt,
well done and good luck!
Floorboards. -
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Thank you so much 'Floorboards' for your wonderful comment - I am very pleased you enjoyed this.
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The ONLY thing I find to critique about this piece, is your last thought about Society........as you have created a Tone of Informative Speech after such a delicious write of Imagery, Visuals...movement and Creative Tone ~
I do not believe the last thought will hinder your score.......too much, but when the contest is over, I suggest editing it just a weeeee bit to conclude with that Powerful Theme you have brought to me.....to us -
I am loving this write....I shall remember it for a long time after I click the next entry......your Lasting Impression is the way to get my Attention......and you have done so here ~
Incredible and Creative......this is how you win
Good luck & God bless you,
Bear ~
Title 9.85...I did not love it, but it sure does work with your last L .....had me guessing for sure -
Flow 9.85....not bad...some of your L's tend to run-on.....but just a hair -
Depth 9.8..perfect, but gosh, I sure wanted to hear more
-Theme 10...Nicely chosen.-
Feelings 9.95....I was engaged in your personification and subject all throughout -
Grammar 9.9...I enjoyed your grammatical choices...simply beautiful for such a write of darkening thoughts-
Presentation 9.95...breaking up your S*'s in a 20 L allotment is nice....keep it up!-
Uncommonness 10...unique! -
Sit & Ponder Affect 9.95...I did ponder! -
Ability to follow Rules 10 -
Bears Score: 99.25
Excellent penning Boom!
No editing once a Judge has touched your work -
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Thank you so much Bear for such a wonderful critique and score - I am beyond thrilled...
I did have a prob. ending this - what with line restriction, and the fact I didn't want to go too 'gruesome'....I do want to change the ending on this - any suggestions? I'd appreciate them if you have some.....
Again, thank you so much!
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addendum...the more I read it the
more I think you should ponder leaving out the last line...you expressed that in the poem...I think it may even have more impact...to some anyway...lol
Best wishes in the contest! -
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Thank you 'islekine' - I agree - I myself wasn't sure how to end this with the line restriction - and not going too 'gruesome' for the last 2 lines.....I will need to think of how to re-do this ending......any suggestions?
thanks
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I would just leave out
"in any society" period....that's all it needs to be awesome...but.....I think you'll do just fine in the contest!
lol.....this is REALLY GOOD!!
Bravo!!! -
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Thank you 'islekine' - that's a good suggestion....after contest over, I'll ditch 'in any society'....lol
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Amazing Write!!
Wow! What a stark look at ancient practices. Dark but wonderful imagery. Enjoyed the author's notes. Thanks for the history lesson. Take care,
Sandy
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Thank you so much 'Sandygram' - glad you found this interesting. I always like to have some 'history' or 'learning' tossed into my writes that I try to do unique, as my other writes are more common and cliche....lol
glad you enjoyed
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Aloha and Welcome to POM!!!
So while I’ve been away…you have all turned into awesome
writers??? I never should have left!!!
This is truly grand…this is going to be a great POM…I can’t
wait to see who gets the Gold!! Best wishes in the contest…
my scores will reflect my impression…
Write on!
REMEMBER: NO editing once a judge has commented.
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lol - thank you so much 'islekine' - glad you enjoyed this.
You KNOW, that I have to find a UNIQUE theme!....lolol - it's like an 'obsession'
thanks again
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hey there!
quite a grit-jaw write!
I am very impressed...
well done
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Thank you so much 'Ryan.....' for your wonderful comment. I am pleased you enjoyed this.
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I love what you have done hun, it reads so well now and the list feel is gone, excellent imagery plus creativity. Great work and I wish you all the best, hugs, Bunny
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Thank you SO MUCH 'Cupcrazy' for all your help! I truly appreciate it!
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Lovely piece hun, I enjoyed the imagery, it is very well done, it had a little of a list feel though and I wonder if eliminating connective words made it less poetic than it could have been. Just my opinion though and still a very lovely and creative work, hugs, Bunny
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thank you so much 'Cupcrazy' for reading and your lovely comment. I am pleased you liked this - and didn't think I did too badly with it....
I didn't feel it was coming across as a list - maybe because of the limited lines, too? I will have to double-check that and see if I want to keep this, or just delete and start over....lol....I'm good at that!
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You can always be counted on to amaze us with your quest for uniqueness...lol, macabre! Good luck my friend, and happy hunting
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lol - Thanks 'cutiepie' - glad you at least found this interesting....lol
(I just did one on 'colored snow' for another contest...lol)
yes, this theme is one of those fascinating/morbid types I guess
best wishes to you also.
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Wow and I thought I wrote dark!
This is wicked! I have never seen the theme before and wow! What a theme! Beautifully penned and a great read, and again I learnt something new I didn't know some of this, tho I have seen pictures of some of this 'art' Sorry but you wouldn't get me volunteering for it! They must have had a screw loose 
Excellent poem, good luck
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Thank you so much LadyD - I am thrilled you found this 'wicked'...lol
I don't think it's 'dark' ..- the theme maybe, but it's also just a part of their culture and things that seem to fascinate many today....
Well, if you think it's dark - then maybe it will give you some 'inspiration' for your next writes....lolol
again, thanks - I am honored by your comment.
best wishes to you also
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Some of your wording is dark (impale, skull, corpse), created a dark air to it for me I love it!
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lol - yeah, I guess those are 'dark' words....hahahaha
it seems like a dark theme, but yet these places are all over the world - unbelivable some of the 'art'/workmanship that went into them - awesome yet creepy!!....lol
thanks again
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You are teaching me so much!!! I am awaiting your next interesting theme...I have seen a bit on this but I found your poem most intriguing! Best of luck in the contest!
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Thanks Az - glad you enjoyed, and learned something at the same time...lolol...if you have never seen pictures of some of these places, Google them - some of the churches will make your jaw drop with amazement, at the same time giving you shivers because of the 'unusual' building materials.....
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Good luck again to you! I truly thought this was well written by a good poet as you. THANKS!
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Thank you 'Pat.....' - glad you enjoyed. It's hard coming up with 'unique' themes for this particular contest....lolol
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I enjoyed this piece. This is truely a unique theme. I also learned something. Good luck in the contest.
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thank you so much 'Twins 4 me' for reading and your lovely comment. I am pleased you enjoyed this some-what odd write...lol....and that you learned something also. I was astounded when I saw some of these 'tzompanti' and the skilled workmanship that was put into them - fascinating, but creepy at the same time...lol...
thanks again
best wishes
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Well written
This is a rather uniqued write. I haven't seen anythin on this theme before.
Well Done.
*Go with God* my friend,
Valerie
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Thank you so much 'troyias' - glad you enjoyed this, or at least found it interesting. I always try to do something that I have not seen before - sometimes I miss things, though....
best wishes to you also!
blessings
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yes this is definitely something that I've not seen before.. interesting topic actually that I find quite fascinating.. though I do have a question about something. line 8 I don't think that you really need that comma after "wars" I think that is one too many.. that's the only thing that I could see that seemed a bit odd to me.. I think that you'll do just fine, I also think that you should enter these contests more often.. lol
good luck
kat
p.s. I'm glad that you posted this too
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Thank you kat - glad you enjoyed.
It does seem to hold a sick-kind of fascination for us, doesn't it. I was amazed at some of the churches and how skilled the workmanship was - at the same time, I shuddered with a feeling of a goose walking over my grave (maybe it was a tourist....lol).
Yes, I think you are right - I will delete that comma.....
again, thanks.
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Well I think it is unique and a great write I am glad that you posted this good luck in the contest be well
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Thank you Starz - glad you liked this.
I hadn't planned on, or even thought of, entering....then I thought of this and felt it might be unique....lol....
best wishes to you also!
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