Some excellent (well, near excellent) entries in the First Annual Itchy Ankle Writing Competition, which closes on Sunday, so get your entries in asap. The rules, such as they are, are below.
The only problem I can find with the submissions (apart from Doris Brazil’s which is based on a fundamental misunderstanding of the location of Itchy Ankle –doesn’t she ever read this blog?) is that Itchy Ankle B.C. sounds awfully like Itchy Ankle A.D. 2010. Is this a lack of imagination from my would-be creative types or do they have it right? Is it likely that nothing has really changed in Itchy Ankle in the last 2010 years? Does seem possible…
Anyhow, the entry below is from Rex, a strong frontrunner, and is followed by Doris’s rationale for her entry. And then there are the rules. Start writing…standards have got to be maintained.
Dogs yawn.
Crickets sleep.
Uncles snore.
Sunlight tests a tentative twinkle,
on the lapping shoreline lulls…
But oh, so slowly,
Itchy Ankle sighs.
What is this modern world coming to?
It’s all getting much too bloody hectic.
Rex, (aged 60 1/2)
Doris writes:
Forgive the artistic license as I tried to really get underneath the skin of life in Itchy Ankle.
Doris Brazil (practically prehistoric)
The Rules
Write: A 200 word or twitter-length piece to help us visualize Itchy Ankle or Washington DC 2000 or more years ago. Feel free to refer to history or geography books (or even Wikipedia for God’s sake Doris) or my own elegantly constructed tweets
I’m a Piscataway. My neighbors are the Choptanks and the Mattaponi. We hate the Susquehannocks & the Powhatans. Itchy Ankle is ours forever.
If I could read Conoy I would know the sign says : Swamp impassable. Beware mosquitos. Washington B.C.
Closing Date: Sunset on Sunday July 18, Eastern Daylight Time
Judges: The Blarney Crone; Piers Morgan; Peggoty and Barkis
Win: Itchy Ankle Underwear (TM: The Blarney Crone 2010) 100 per cent pure cotton. Sizes: Ludicrously Small to Just Right. Slogan: Always Itchy (choose front or back printing and be sure to supply your correct size) Plus: International acclaim and a permanent showcase for your work on http://wordpress.blarneycrone.com
Tagged: always itchy, Barkis and Peggoty, Blarney Crone, creative writing, creative writing contest, Doris Brazil, itchy ankle, Itchy Ankle Underwear, Piers Morgan, poetry, poetry contest, prehistoric, prizes
