This is the description posted to me from Andy of the Open Source Poem tag and explanation. Below I have written the second Stanza, and I am now tagging Jo http://purpledragonslair.blogspot.com/ for a third stanza. It can be in any form, I think, and there are no set rules, so here goes........lets see if we can make thelongest poem ever seen........ From www.spicycauldron.com ‘Open Source Poem’ is the title of the poem I am proposing starts a new ‘tag’ in the blogosphere. I came up with the idea this morning and have my partner David to thank for the title, which I think is brilliant for what I propose. And what is that? Well, when a blogger is tagged, she or he has to answer a set of questions, usually, which are then passed on. Often, you have to say who tagged you and who you’re tagging, so that anyone interested will be able to follow the path onwards. Some of these tags do the rounds continuously, sometimes getting back to you, remarkably, more than once or twice. I imagine some tags will never actually end. Now, what if we did something along those lines with a brand-new poem? Here’s the plan: I’m going to write the first stanza of the Open Source Poem. I then pass it on to someone. I’m going to pass it to my dear friend Khari1967, who then has to write the second stanza, or couplet, or whatever, before passing it on. She will, of course, on her blog have to say who tagged her and who she’s tagging. We only pass the poem on one person at a time. We choose carefully who we tag, that’s the idea. We tag, hopefully, a person who may or may not have written poetry before but nevertheless is someone we consider to have the ‘power’ as it might be called, even if they don’t know it or even usually refuse to acknowledge it. Only bloggers can take part. Sorry Luddites. The decision on who goes next in the chain is made by the current blogbard - now there’s a novel and newly invented term, eh? - and not by any of the others who came before. It is both autocratic when it comes to passing it on, but democratic and, I hope, of sufficient intrigue to catch on and sustain momentum. Of course, any poet - professional, non-professional, novice, whatever - can be tagged more than once. If they are so lucky, well done! All headers on the relevant blog posts should just read ‘Open Source Poem’ followed by a Roman numeral, for example, Open Source Poem III, Open Source Poem VII, and so on. I’ve called the post you’re reading right now ‘Open Source Poem: starts here’ so people can find what is, basically, an introduction to the concept. The place where a magickal and hopeful collaboration, a web of connection, began. This is so we can easily search for ‘Open Source Poem’ whenever we want and get the relevant pointers in the titles as to where we are in the poem’s ongoing sequence. Anybody can then follow the path, wherever it leads. And by being numbered in such a distinctive way, finding chapters in the right order should be no problem. This could go nowhere. Or it could even keep on going forever and maybe, get us all collectively, into the Guinness Book of Records one day, maybe sooner rather than later. Who knows? So, my fellow blogbards around the world, are you ready to play the game? It begins as soon as I get the first stanza on my blog. Any questions, get back to me here, to this specific post - it can become a forum through the comments section for general discussion of how the experiment is going. I love an exciting project! I hope you do too, and look forward to seeing where this goes. -->

If every moment has a continued existence in the mind, isn’t it kind to think that the medium,here before you, his handlebar moustache marking him out as eccentric, the tweed trousers a mistake for his years, only forty, stands some suspect chance, admittedly, of revealing to you, the seeker, some hint, a shadow of her heart? www.spicycauldron.com To even have a shadow of a heart, one must first have had a heart, Admitted the senses, the feelings of humanity to oneself, Taken a part in that human game known as life, confessed their mortality. How could I then be known to anyone else? How could he know me? For him to truly know me, I would have to have knowledge of myself And that mystery of self is hazier still to me than to he. http://musingsofkhlari.blogspot.com

This is a poem that I wrote about my grandmother, following on from a series of flash images discussed in class.................... There were a few untold stories in there.

Speech flowing in caressing cadences telling your world, the before and after, the here and there telling only half your story. Since the children ,unknowing heard your demi-Parisian twang labelling it German, stoned you and Frenchy Rose in the street. Since the zeppelins shadowed London, one side of your tongue has been silenced. Swift-like you flit around the kitchen recounting Soapy Ethel's bathwater flying from the top window drenching your only hat. Locking Meme in the lavatory, as Marie Lloyd was waiting at the church. The warm brown of the big teapot and the flour in your hair. Blue Players Navy Cut from Miserable Sid's Warm by the fire in your yellow kitchen When you died we found 42 full cans Of rusted 'Bronco' distemper, all the shade Canary Yellow With a horsehair sofa Hoarded in the cupboard Underneath the rickety bottom stairs Behind the button boxes, odd china, indian brassware and the memories The stairs fell down when we took the tins out Needing the support, as we did.

I've been tagged by Andy, www.spicycauldron.com so here goes......... The power of four Four jobs I’ve had Bookshop Manager, Teacher, Receptionist, Lecturer Four films I watch over and over Razor Blade Smile, Muriel's Wedding, Subway, Bridget Jones' Diary Four places I’ve lived Sables d'Olonne, Vendee, France, Stoke Newington, London, England Hebden Bridge, West Yorkshire, England Marly le Roi, Yvelines, France Four TV shows I love Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Bagpuss, Doctor Who, Absolutely Fabulous. Four places I’ve been on holiday to Sighisoara, The Carpathians, Transylvania (Romania) Port Elizabeth, Western Cape, South Africa Liege, Belgium Riga, Latvia Four of my favourite dishes Fresh Pasta, Arrabiata Sauce and Salad Roast Lamb with Mint Sauce and Roast Potatoes Greek Yogurt with Honey and Almonds Beans on Toast Four websites I visit daily www.netgoth.co.uk www.spicycauldron.com www.bbc.co.uk www.hotmail.com Four places I’d like to visit Tokyo, Japan St Petersburg, Russia New England, The United States India Four blogs I’m tagging or trying to....... Musings of a Purple Dragon Musings of a Purple Dragon, Jo's blog www.spicycauldron.com Spicy Cauldron, Andy's blog it would be more, but my list just died and I can't seem to add any more Four dead people I’d like to meet Sylvia Plath, Frida Kahlo, Vlad the Impaler, Angela Carter I'm going to add another one.......................................... Four books I wish I had written Wise Children, by Angela Carter The Bell Jar, by Sylvia Plath The Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe, by C.S.Lewis Testament of Youth, by Vera Brittain -->