# August Challenge: "Camping Out"



## Chesters Daughter (Aug 1, 2018)

*AS PREVIOUSLY ANNOUNCED, IF YOU ENTER THE CHALLENGE, YOU MUST CAST AT LEAST ONE VOTE IN THE POLL. FAILURE TO COMPLY WILL RESULT IN YOUR ENTRY BEING DISQUALIFIED.

*The prompt for this month's challenge, as chosen by toddm is: *Camping Out

*You are free to interpret the prompt in any way you wish, though of course, site rules apply. If you are unsure of the challenge rules please read the 'stickies' at the top of the board. *Please note that all entries* *are eligible to receive critique in the voting thread.* 

*The inclusion of explanatory text or links of any kind within an entrant's challenge entry is prohibited and will be immediately removed upon discovery. As always, only one entry per member is permitted.

*As previously announced, anonymous entries have been abolished, therefore, entrants must post their own entries in this thread, or if you desire to protect first rights, please post your entry in the [URL="https://www.writingforums.com/threads/179420-August-Challenge-quot-Camping-Out-quot?p=2175824#post2175824"]*secure*[/URL][URL="https://www.writingforums.com/threads/179420-August-Challenge-quot-Camping-Out-quot?p=2175824#post2175824"]* thread*[/URL], and then post a link to it here in the public thread. *Failure to do so runs the risk of your entry being disqualifie**d*, so if you require assistance with the task, please PM *me*, and I will gladly help you.

If your entry contains strong language or mature content, *please include a disclaimer in your title.

*Kindly make sure your entry is properly formatted and error free before you submit. You have a* TEN MINUTE GRACE PERIOD *to edit your piece, but anything edited after that will likely see your entry excluded from the challenge. 
*
Do not post comments in this thread. Any discussion related to the challenge can take place in the Bards' Bistro. 

Everyone may now use the "Like" function whenever they so choose.



This challenge will close on the 15th of August at 7pm EST.

*


----------



## Chesters Daughter (Aug 2, 2018)

*Final Pine*

A place
untouched
[FONT=&Verdana]
[/FONT]by human hands
too tremulous to tackle
terrain or temperature
to construct
another abominable 
concrete menagerie
to encroach upon nature.
[FONT=&Verdana]
[/FONT]Peaks play peek-a-boo
with a patchwork quilt
of cumulus clouds
as dall sheep,
warmed by weighty wool
in their lofty locale,
keep to rocky steeps 
where predators cannot leap.
[FONT=&Verdana]
[/FONT]Sitka Spruce
bear witness to peace
and rustle so sweet
to celebrate
their seven hundred rings
[FONT=&Verdana]
[/FONT]never once disturbed 
by the horrible clatter 
screamed by progress
birthing a cement regret.
[FONT=&Verdana]
[/FONT]How I'd pined to await
the last, long good night
bathed in Northern Lights
with a trapper's shack
blessed by sod insulation
as my sole companion
and utmost consolation
[FONT=&Verdana]
[/FONT]but despite a decade
of pitiful pleas, 
never fickle fate 
offered only
its middle finger
and refused to agree.
[FONT=&Verdana]
[/FONT]Wild Alaska
beckons me
in her husky whisper
though she knows full well
that camping out
in an oxygen tent 
[FONT=&Verdana][FONT=&Verdana]mottled
by garish monitor glare[/FONT][/FONT]
is as close as I'll get
[FONT=&Verdana]
[/FONT]yet still she patiently waits
[FONT=&Verdana]
[/FONT]to first embrace 
and then perfectly place
my sooty remains
[FONT=&Verdana][FONT=&Verdana]
upon Denali's [/FONT][/FONT]
pristine south face.


----------



## andrewclunn (Aug 11, 2018)

*California Camping*

branches broken
leaves scattered
sparks fly
kindling catches
wind extinguishes
sparks fly
flame dances
fire roars
tinder melts
spirits flow
campers roar
marshmallows melt
ember flies
leaves catch
campers flee
Smokey cries


----------



## jenthepen (Aug 11, 2018)

*Man Out of Time*

 Reduced to camping out at home,
 he lives the life he knows.
 But fearfully now.
 Sharpened stakes in hand-hewned holes
 defend the land he saved.

 Alone in a homeland without a home,
 his father, god and memories
 stem panic fear and dread
 of alien eyes that are on him.
Death waits in far places.

 He hunts under the camera’s eye
 and makes the news abroad.
 For thirty years a diversion,
 fodder for assertions
that something should be done.

 He knows nor cares of the world beyond
 the jungle of his birth.
 His only quest to stay alive,
 survive as he was taught
 and honour his birthright.

 The faithful canopy his shield,
 dependable stars his guide,
 he survives alone
 in a shattered world
 and waits to join his tribe.


----------



## toddm (Aug 12, 2018)

*Overnight in Coeur d'Alene*

The sky is broken, a jeweled night spills out.
The watchful crows departed like shadows
to pursue the dying-coal of daylight
far into the darkening forest-deeps.
Dry wood burns best and brightest,
with less smoke. Our lives are leaves, 
poised and pierced by firelight,
shifting and shivering in the wind, 
in the sharp unfocus of the season
disturbed by blustery weather.
We sleep in the open air; dreams come strong, 
fragrant with cedar and damp earth:
dreams of owls and powdered moths,
of crickets and distant singing-frogs
all along the slumbering river.
The wind is dark in the tallest trees;
the morning will find us here.


----------



## Pelwrath (Aug 12, 2018)

*Camping Memories*


I read the post, the subject-camping out.
I secreted myself in my most comfortable chair,
Broken springs and tattered leather extraordinaire,
So I could line up throughout.

I thought of stone walls and cages
“He’s dead Jim” and “That’s Inconceivable.”
Now to make my “Holy Plot Twist’s” believable,
So you remember this for the ages.

Camping is for relaxation or instruction
So I needed a professional, someone who couldn’t be bluffed.
I went and asked H.R. Puff-n-Stuff,
to help me with this production.

Then I went to see Herman and Lilly
But Grand Pa was such a pain in the neck.
Then to their cousins, such a dreary trek.
Gomez and Morticia were like fine porcelain from Chantilly.

My last resource was out at sea
So a boat I did charter
I fear I’ll become a martyr
because finding them is no guarantee. 

I’ve finished this campy ballad burlesque.
I’m curious; did you find that you reminisced? 
About things from the past, a first lovers kiss?
I do so hope it wasn’t grotesque.


----------



## Phil Istine (Aug 14, 2018)

*[cleaved from daily grind]*

grip hold of zipper
guy ropes strained to breaking point
tent pole erected

pour fuel on camp fire
embrace great enlightenment
snuggle in cocoon​


----------



## ned (Aug 15, 2018)

*Neath Starry Skies*

.
Under canvas I underwent
the sleeping bag, heaven sent
dim the light to consent
a glimpse of stars through the vent.

To sounds of night, I relent
chirping crickets ever-present
hooting owls and less frequent
the nightingale's sweet lament.

All this fresh air has left me spent
breathing in the meadow scent
I wish to dream in this content
so close my eyes...with intent.


----------



## Chesters Daughter (Aug 15, 2018)

This challenge is now closed.


----------

