100 Substack Poets Collaboration.
PILOT UPDATE
Dear Aishwarya Kannan, Amruta Chaphekar, Apurva, Untamed Eulogy, Dr Pooja Laddha, Lavi, ma_hesh tewatiya, Mani, Melinda V King, Pratiksha Yadav, Renu Chakravarthy, Rinchin Tiku, Shubham Upman, The Flaming-Jen [Jenna], Usha, Vivien Beere
We are now more than halfway through our pilot run. Out of the 17 contributing poets, 10 have already submitted their lines. Below, you can see how our pilot poem is taking shape. In my view, it’s incredible how each poet takes the line they receive, makes it their own by taking the story on an unexpected path and then hands it over to the next poet.
(P.S. If you are new to this topic and wondering what this is about, all details are on the link below.)
So far, everything has gone smoothly. The only issue we’ve noticed is that some participants are not receiving notifications when they’re tagged. This may be a glitch on Substack’s side. To help avoid delays, I’d like to ask each poet to send a quick DM to the poet they’re tagging to confirm the notification has come through. Also, sometimes hyperlinks break, so please check that they work.
I’ve also been approached by some new poets who would like to join the project (z.wakeel and Swaraj Sharma). The original idea was to keep each poem to a maximum of ten contributors, though our pilot has already grown to 17 participants. I’m considering creating a list of interested poets and sharing it with the group. Since many of you will soon be hosting your own themed poems, you could potentially invite some of these poets to participate. What do you think of this idea?
100 Substack Poets Collaboration: Pilot Poem (so far).
Theme: Memories
She wanted to erase all of them.
But first, she wanted to resurrect them. Like,
a painter resurrects dreams and nightmares.
A painter resurrects dreams and nightmares
Imagining a new outcome with every stroke
Erasing years of tears
Packaging into oblivion all her fears
A silent spectator of everything she lost
A silent spectator of everything she lost
Thinking to herself of all that it cost
The fear, the tears, the ache, the pain
She kept thinking about it drenched in rain
She kept thinking about it drenched in rain
With tears trickling down her eyes
As they welled in pain
As they welled in pain,
As I melt in the eternal fires of hell,
As the demons strip away every bit of my existence,
All that remains will be the love I had.
All that remains will be the love I had,
Beautiful memories drift through my mind,
Echoes of our laughter gently unwind,
And if one thing I leave behind,
May it be the warmth we shared in time…
May it be the warmth we shared in time.
The countless moments I still call mine,
Our footsteps in paths we climbed.
Your smile, even on ordinary days,
My love hidden in a thousand ways.
My love hidden in a thousand ways.
Maybe I forgot what you said,
but I remember those laughs
when I called you mine,
and life crushed to a black shine.
Let me cry just one more time,
Let me cry just one more time,
As my heart longs for you like a fire.
The tears won’t quench the pain.
Memories won’t be burned to ashes.
I cannot rise like a phoenix.
How do I start my life afresh?
I’d love to know what you all think.
At some point I’ll take up light editing, changing minor things like capitalisations and punctuation. Of course, I’ll show you all the final version so you can approve your individual parts.
Much love to all of you,
Soham
Dear @The Flaming-Jen [Jenna] , @Dr Pooja Laddha , @Natasha , @Richard Pack , @Mark Crutchfield , @Blue shirt guy for the restack and for helping spread the word. I’m very grateful. 🙏🏻💖
Thank you for restack @Richard Pack 🙏🏻. Much appreciated.