Date: Sat, 13 Jun 1998 20:38:22 -0400 From: Burning Eyes Subject: EXERCISE: shards, splinters, sheets... [thirteen, fourteen,... fifteen! Oh no, that deadline approaches -- tick tock, tick tock, tick tock BUZZZZZZ! Get on your keyboards, pencil and paper, fine fountain pen, chisel and limestone, dictation device, etc. -- yes you may use a scrying orb if you're licensed for chicaneries and other mysteries. And write. And send to corbett@AXA.SLU.EDU quickly, quickly before the end!] Just a few scattered thoughts more than a careful exercise. First, the theme is glass. Window pains, cracks in the windshield, an over and under shotgun hanging in the rack in a pickup wind'r? Or the clack and click of marbles in childish hands? Perhaps the stalactites and stalagmites thrusting into the emptiness where something broke through the glass? The various kinds of glasses that hold a cup of cheer or dregs most drear? The shiny reflections in the mirror? Or perhaps a monocle, magnifying glass, telescope, microscope or carefully crafted optics of some kind? Peering through goggles, binoculars, or the ornate elegance of opera glasses? Glass. An amorphous blob of silica fused at high temperatures. A super cooled liquid. And the theme of our contest. [You didn't know we were having a contest? Click up your Web browser and visit http://web.mit.edu/mbarker/www/summer98/summer.html to read the rules and look at the submissions.] Take your pick. Glass -- literally or in various metaphoric incarnations -- has a role in many places and situations. It's your muse that can take the broken glass on a family portrait as a sign of... well, I'm sure you'll tell us about it. Second, an observation. Although the rules allow up to 50 lines, one need not use them all. If you want to write a haiku about the hahchoo that blew your contact lens who knows where, do it! If you prefer the stately waltz of a sonnet, let the rhymes begin! Peering into the depths of my magic window, I see... are you really writing that? Well hurry, there isn't much time left.... and over there, what's that -- is that silvery shape really reaching out or is it just a trick of the flaw caught in the glass? tink