The APW Group Poem


Now that you've added your lines to these thirteen collaborations, sharpen your pencils and dust off that mouse pad and add your lines to this poem-in-progress.

Please read the title and first line from this poem by Afro-American poet Langston Hughes, and then follow your intuition. The subsequent lines have been written and added by APW guests. Once you have read through to the end of the poem, add your own line.

If the most recently added line ends with a period, please begin your line with a capital letter. If no period appears at the end of the most recently added line, you may add your line and end it with either a period, a question mark, or no punctuation at all.

Please add only one line. When you have added your line, hit the BACK button on your browser TWICE, and then hit the RELOAD or the REFRESH button to view the line you have just added.



Freedom's Plow


When a man starts out with nothing,
every thought becomes his goal.
Lina Noakes <Northern30@yahoo.com>
Corbeil , ON Canada - Thu Jun 29 19:08:32 2000
With bayonet he plowed the jungle in vain to cultivate freedom.
Cork Quasne <cquasne@ns.net>
Placerville, CA USA - Fri Jun 30 22:31:31 2000
He is a novice, and his furrows wander
Gary Kreller <gkreller@golden.net>
Kitchener, On Canada - Sat Jul 1 09:56:16 2000
like streaming stars when he shuts his eyes.
Suzanne Clark <capriole10@yahoo.com>
Bristol, TN USA - Fri Jul 7 20:45:56 2000
But a single glimmering star he aims at,
Rathnashikamani Bijja <rashima@igcar.ernet.in>
Kalapakkam, TN India - Sat Jul 8 02:31:53 2000
reaching with time-marked hands that frame the sky
Lezlie Kinyon <violettalezlie@wildmail.com>
Richmond, Ca USA - Wed Jul 19 13:01:57 2000
and absorbing illumination that will light his path into his future
kimble <kimble@horoscopes.uk>
MI USA - Fri Jul 21 07:54:50 2000
and realize all is nothing except his promise.
Martin Cohen <arts_humanities@webtv.net>
Egg Harbor, NJ USA - Tue Aug 1 02:00:42 2000
His promise to the one he loves dearly
Anaiya <animisedai@hotmail.com>
Shelburne, ONTARIO Canada - Thu Aug 3 12:16:40 2000
her name - freedom - whom he promised to claim
rosemary m. welsh <welsh@nni.com>
Sellersville, PA USA - Sun Aug 6 12:18:45 2000
as he strives to achieve his goal.
Anaiya <animisedai@hotmail.com>
Shelburne, On Canada - Sun Aug 6 18:24:46 2000
"Anaiya, your line was boring," he says with disdain.
brad <bradford222>
worchester, ma USA - Sat Aug 19 01:19:00 2000
"I hate you brad," he cried in pain.
Anaiya <animisidai@hotmail.com>
city, Ct USA - Sat Aug 19 01:21:11 2000
I just tell the truth, and your line was lame!
brad <bradford222@hotmail.com>
NYC, NY USA - Sat Aug 19 01:22:30 2000
Well, brad, I'd be just as right, if I said the same... you meanie!
Anaiya <animisedai@hotmail.com>
Shelbourne, Ontario Canada - Sat Aug 19 01:25:29 2000
Well, the last line are great, and all of them penned by you and me.
brad <bradford222@hotmail.com>
oklahoma city, OK USA - Sun Aug 20 02:20:24 2000
Brad, you're right! I love you. Let's never fight again.
Anaiya <animisedai@hotmail.com>
Shelbourne, Ontario Canada - Sun Aug 20 02:22:23 2000
Well, Anaiya, I love you too. But, I've leaving you. This fight has left some wounds that I don't think will heal.
Brad Stevens <bradford222@hotmail.com>
Palo Alto, CA USA - Sun Aug 20 02:23:47 2000
No, brad, I'm sorry. I'm sorry. Please, let my love heal your wounds!
Anaiya <animisedai@hotmail.com>
Shelbourne, Ontario USA - Sun Aug 20 02:26:38 2000
That sweet, honey. Really cute. If only you were a little better in the oral department, then maybe you could do some healing.
brad <bradford222@hotmail.com>
Shreavport, LA USA - Sun Aug 20 02:29:30 2000
What?! You said I was great. We were great together. I know you're just saying that becuase you're mad. Take it back before it's too late.
Anaiya <animisidai@hotmail.com>
Shelbourne, Ontario USA - Sun Aug 20 02:31:17 2000
All this traveling has gotten me tired. And this relationship is tiring too. Anaiya, it's over. You can contribute all the threadbare lines you want to online collaborative poems, but I won't be watching. It's over. Finished.
brad <bradford222@hotmail.com>
Juno, AL USA - Sun Aug 20 02:33:28 2000
And, that's what he wanted when he picked up that plow.
Anaiya <animisidai@hotmail.com>
Shelbourne, Ontario USA - Sun Aug 20 02:35:58 2000

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