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  Bard Con Virtual

Collaborative Poetry Workshop:
The Mondo
March 30th- April 5th

The mondo, is a Japanese poetry form and comes from the Zen practice of rapid question-answer between master and student.  The poetic tradition of the mondo is a collaborative verse written between two poets--with one asking and one answering a question. 

The Mondo is:
  • written by 2 separate poets, one asking a question, one answering the question
  • 2 stanzas of 3 lines each, 19 syllables or less, often 5-7-7, sometimes 5-7-5 is used for each stanza.
  • The first stanza is the question, the 2nd is the response.
  • written in the spirit of Zen, responsive through meditation and observation of natural surroundings.
Picture

Poem Example:

How many stars are
basking out in the cosmos
waiting to be seen?

One for every wish 
thought or felt, dreamt or spoken
waiting to be real. 


​~ Paul and Michael 


What We Are Doing and How You Can Participate 

We are looking for up to  40 poets to partake in this virtual workshop, with the intent on producing collaborative Mondo possibly to be published in a chapbook after the project is done. 

Step 1: Write your question verse and email it to us at

bardsvirtualworkshops@gmail.com 

Step 2: We send your question verse to another poet who will write the second verse and send you back another poet's ​question verse for you to respond to. 

Step 3: You write an answer verse to the question verse you receive. 

Step 4: We all enjoy the results of the collaborative poems. 



Workshop Filled. Thanks To Those Who Participated! There are still some more poems being written so check back for more results. 
​


Workshop Progress

We've had a bunch of good completed collaborations emerge so far!
We expect there is some more good work coming!
​Below are the results so far. 

How can birds still sing
in the hush that has become
our world? Pandemic.

The bird's song just is...
The world keeps spinning around
The courage to live.

~ Poetess Bethany Camille James ​​& Katherine Gotthardt, M.Ed. 
 

Do bees love honey...
Do they pollinate with it?
Pollinate all the flowers.

The way they do it,
giving back to all the world.
This sweet, vibrant life.


~ Katherine Gotthardt, M.Ed & Poetess Bethany Camille James ​​


When the ocean roars
Tossing, turning, revolting
What is the message?  
                                    
Under scarless waves
Manatees swim untouched by
Man's isolation
 
 ~ Jamie Ann Colangelo  & Megan McDonald
​When time is finite
And walls surround isolate
How then can words soar? 
    
Words, not bound by time
Nor by walls built to contain
Soar via sound waves.
 
  ~ Megan McDonald & Jamie Ann Colangelo

Where will my footsteps
direct me as I wander
seeking out a goal? 

Sometimes skipping can
add weightlessness to a line
that we must not draw.

~ Sharon Anderon & Annemarie  Murzin
​Why did the white owl
roost in the lavender bush
at the curve in sidewalk?
 
I find my answer
lies not in the question, why,
but in the "whoo."
​
~ Annemarie  Murzin & Sharon Anderson

I'm afraid Mommy
It's so dark.
Where are you? 
 
I'm scared too, my love,
but simply open your eyes.
I'm here, and so is the sun.
 
~  Laura Lefebure Godler  & Mike Croghan
​What will be revealed as 
each of us delves
into the deep well of solitude?
 
A healing of wounded memory
Gulping the oxygen of time
 
~ Mike Croghan & Laura Lefebure Godler

Since I know that some
day I will die, then how should
I live my life until then?
 
Fearlessly I stride.
With my chest out and head high,
I take on the world.
 
~ Sarah Ritter  & John Dutton
​
​Virtual teaching,
sign of the apocalypse
or a passing phase?
 
It's a phase proving 
people who still crave knowledge
will find ways to learn.
 
~ John Dutton & Sarah Ritter

For whom waits
The calm of waters
The stillness of pines ?
 
I wait,  like the bird,
who hovers in the spring breeze
over its nesting chicks.

~ Anant Dhavale & Lynette G. Esposito
​How many leaves fall 
from the weeping willow tree
at the start of fall?
  
And how many 
Make it to the ground
Unscathed 
 
~  Lynette Esposito & Anant Dhavale 

Who will nurture us
when it's man versus nature,
the moon a witness?
 
Few shall nurture Man
Naught but humankind itself
Or their dearest best friend
 
~ Mary Langer Thompson  & Marc Rosen
​

​What lies at the core
Of the dreaded global threat
Known as humankind?
 
Time to make a choice--
a mix of good and evil--
all our hearts the same.
 
~ Marc Rosen ​ & Mary Langer Thompson

Do the starfish cry 
Because they do not shimmer 
Like the stars above?  
 
I seem to recall
When stars were incandescent  
And you swore you could eat them
 
~ Sharon Dockweiler  & Larry Jaffe
​

​A virus seeks to
survive without longevity
we ask why why why
 
Paused we survive
with levity
we try try try
 
 ~ Larry Jaffe  & Sharon Dockweiler
​


When I discard fears 
amongst trees and Earth’s creatures, 
what becomes of them?  
 
They return to dust
float gently on winds of grace
silenced at long last.
​
~  Tara Lamberti & Jim Landwehr
​

Where does the time fly 
with vapor trails of tick-tock 
waiting for no one?  
 
Up to the ether
time achieves transmutation,
becoming our dreams.
​
~  Jim Landwehr &  Tara Lamberti 

What, but, the feeling 
Of the weight of the grave 
Released in warm embrace?  
 
My heart holds you safe
beyond boundaries of
this earthly universe.

~ Timothy Evans &  J R Turek
Why do summer stars 
only twinkle for those 
who wish upon them?
​
A gaze of moon
Soothes the forehead 
With pale springs 
Of light
 
~ ~ J R Turek  & Timothy Evans 
​


Why do their eight legs
cause women to flee in chairs
while men find comfort with soles? 
 
Imagination
stirs women’s sensitive souls
to arachnid distraction. 
 
~ Stacy Savage  & Alex Edwards-Bourdrez
​
​Why is the moon shy
when crowds of stars swarm the sky
with their delightful laughter?
 
The moon is resting 
awaiting his chance to bathe 
and spotlight the newborn earth
 
 ~ Alex Edwards-Bourdrez & Stacy Savage 

How long must the Earth
Seek a sacred time of love
While its people spin blindly?
 
To love is to heal
Like love, the Earth is patient
She awaits divine timing​

~ Cristina M. R. Norcross  & Jeannie E. Roberts
 
When water ripples
Does its eternal whisper 
Reveal an ancient language?
 
Waves of wisdom flow
Water speaks in humming trills
Unfurling flowers listen

~ Jeannie E. Roberts &  Cristina M. R Norcross

Alone and waiting,
which made up place do you go
dreaming of escape?
 
In this world, the wise
know we are never alone
and that there is no escape
 
~  Iris Levin  & Joanna S. Lee
​

​planted years ago,
why do the white irises
first bloom in this fearful spring?

To remind you that,
life's beauty does continue,
in spite of it all.
 
~ Joanna S. Lee & Iris Levin

What window closes
as new leaves expand along
the dogwood branches?
  
Those called doubts and fears
Flowering Tree your mystique glory
Offers rebirth and love
 
~ Mary Goehring  & Janet Wade
​

​Why is my laughter
Mingled and followed by tears 
Overshadowed by scares  
 
Leaf scars are left
At the point of attachment
Let go for new growth
 
~  Janet Wade  & Mary Goehring 

a man i am Sam
from sperm & egg, i am, Stan
Sam & Stan, what makes a man? 
 
A man is not made
he forges himself through flame
like a social Frankenstein.
 
 ~ Robert Fleming & Ushiku Crisafulli 
​

Why do some souls scream
while others meekly whisper
a muted soliloquy?
 
To lure a lost lover
a lover’s call is called
on all wavelength waves

~ Ushiku Crisafulli & Robert Fleming 

Where is the sound of hope
when the world is stunned
into open-mouthed silence?
​
Within the fire
Warming our hearths
Kindled by survival
 
~ Mindy Kronenberg  & Megan Cody
Stars, with all their twinkling brilliance,
create our heavens.
Where does theirs reside?
  
They glint from the dark
of antiquity, buoyant
worlds shadowed in the past.
 
~ Megan Cody & Mindy Kronenberg 

What do you see there
Underneath all those layers
Of flesh, skin, and bone? 
  
Instinct tells me 
that somehow love still 
moves, beats, and breathes
 
~ Jennifer Criss  & Mary C. M. Phillips 
​

Where are the words that
slipped away gasping 
like ghosts to be heard?   

They have disappeared 
lost forever in the mist 
like her love for me
 
~ Mary C. M. Phillips & Jennifer Criss

I dream of your soul 
How could I sneak into there 
And host my sorrow?  
 
Like a scrap of paper
with a phone number written
in eye liner--and folded over.
 
 ~ Chryssa Velissariou &  Kevin Rabas
How many days 
Wasted to the screen, 
hands at The QWERTY keys?  
  
"Wasted" the keyword
Let's move step by step, go forth!
Try UIOP 
 
~ Kevin Rabas &  Chryssa Velissariou