The Great Fray

In the end,
we’re fictional
rivals on a stage.
Dressed for combat.

Composed.

Ready to dodge,
                          kick,
                                     throw,
                roll.

Multiplayer mayhem.

Limited directional controls.

Stuck
in Time Mode.
Recover from life’s blows.

Sudden Death.

Somebody I used to know.
A real-life
Super Smash Bros.

d’Verse Poet’s Pub | Quadrille #184 Smashing Poems – 44 words “smash”

Cover Artwork: Mr. Popart “Mario cubism”

Gotye “Somebody That I Used To Know”

34 responses to “The Great Fray”

whimsygizmo

Goodness, I LOVE the way this spills. The shape brings so much movement to your verbs here. A powerful piece, and I love the song you’ve offered, too.

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1. K.F. Hartless
  
  Thank you. I had a lot of fun crafting this one while my littles played Smash Bros. 44 words, does a poem good (sometimes) 🙂
  
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johnlmalone

haha; this is very timely’ atm I’m rolling wit the punches from an old relationship while throwing a few of my own; you convey this well esp in the design of the poem 🙂

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1. K.F. Hartless
  
  Thank you, John. I decided it was okay to be playful. Form is something I can definitely use to learn more about in my poetry.
  
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  1. johnlmalone
    
    I must admit: I underplay the opportunities offered by design —
    
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Ron.

I love the way this both jumps and flows simultaneously.
I think the single line stanzas drive the whole poem. Salute!

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K.F. Hartless

Thank you, Ron. If only we could power ourselves up as easily, friend.

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msjadeli

Andy Warhol meets Mario, I love it! Playing games can be fun as long as you can turn off the console when you want to. Creative spin on smash, K.

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1. K.F. Hartless
  
  I can’t rennet the last time I played. But my kids love their limited play time on Nintendo.
  Of course, I get to watch. 🤣
  
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  1. msjadeli
    
    My “kids” are almost 40 and we still play games. It used to be hard copy board games (and we still have those) but since covid we have started playing them online through a game forum and we talk on conference call while we do it. About the limited game time for the younger kids, understandable. They’d get lost in cyberia if you didn’t.
    
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Gillena Cox

Nice on K.
Thanks for dropping by my blog

Much🖤love

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1. K.F. Hartless
  
  Thank you, Gillena. 💜
  
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Björn Rudberg (brudberg)

And from the smashed we end up a mash-up…

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1. K.F. Hartless
  
  I have no idea how this happened. I think mg life is one big mash up. 🤣 Could be worse, I suppose.
  
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kim881

I like the shape and layout of your quadrille, especially the movement in the words dodge, kick, throw, roll, and the alliterative ‘multiplayer mayhem’.

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1. K.F. Hartless
  
  Thank you, Kim. I’m glad you found the playful format appealing. 😀
  
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Jim

Lots of action here, “combat” indeed. And the writer went wild. Did the hero here die or the enemy? Thanks for peeking in on me. Bing’s ai helpers and I can’t locate “Borano”? I didn’t ask google.
..

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1. K.F. Hartless
  
  Someone died without telling me? 🤣Video game life and death is much easier to handle. Oh, I meant Burano, Italy. 🤦‍♀️Long days here. Thanks for dropping by. ~K.
  
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Laura Bloomsbury

Love the opener before the action – such a unique take on the prompt too

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1. K.F. Hartless
  
  Thanks, Laura. It’s a bit sad that this game wA a the first thing to pop to kind. I blame my children. The tune eerily close to Goyte.
  
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Miriam E.

Wow, I really like the flow of your poem… the movement is fantastic & you manage to make it look easy. A great quadrille, I really like your style. Now I’ll have that song stuck in my head for the next couple of hours… 😉 Wonderful work!

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1. K.F. Hartless
  
  Thanks, Miriam. Such kind words.
  I appreciate them very much. 💜
  
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ben Alexander

KK ~ this is so so so good. I love the imagery you employed to convey the relationship with this individual!

Much love,
David

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1. K.F. Hartless
  
  Thank you, David. I didn’t know where it was headed yesterday when I finally got a chance to write, but I’m glad I took the leap. 💜
  
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Susan St.Pierre

A great take on the prompt! Bravo!

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1. K.F. Hartless
  
  Thank you. 💜
  
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Melissa Lemay

Very clever. And a great metaphor.

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1. K.F. Hartless
  
  Thanks, Melissa. I was able to control it with the 44 word cord. 😀
  
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Samantha Burgett

Love this one and all the action! And I love this song—instantly throws me back in time.

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1. K.F. Hartless
  
  Thank you, Samantha. I get to see my two littles get fired up for Nintendo. Brings it all back.
  
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Colleen M. Chesebro

K. I love the movement in this piece. The placement on the page is perfect!

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1. K.F. Hartless
  
  Thank you, Colleen. I think I should experiment more with my form. It was a fun one, for sure.
  
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  1. Colleen M. Chesebro
    
    I like working with forms too. It gives another life to our poem on the page.
    
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Lia

This is so excellent.

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