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To Win Just Once
Introduction These are just some mind wanderings on winning or placing in Vocal Challenges as well as the almost daily multiple Top Story awards.
Mike Singleton - MikeydredPublished 3 days ago in Journal
I Pray It Is Tame
I hope you find joy from the harvest you planted and forgiveness from the one you didn’t. When your soil dries, I dream you’ll make time to water the lilies most days and learn to release the ones who couldn’t survive their newfound independence.
Sam Eliza GreenPublished about a month ago in Poets
Stranded
It was a gorgeous, sunny day in Southern California. Luke and his parents were about to set sail on a long cruise to Hawaii and the surrounding islands. The breeze tousled his short blonde hair in the wind as he stood on the deck, watching the other travelers gather on board.
Holly DraperPublished a day ago in Fiction
Carousel Dance
They're razing the old carousel today so I figured you'd come home. Still, it shocks me to see you after all this time. Your face is weathered now, your once supple skin sagged and sun-creased into frown lines that retreat behind your greying beard, and there's a middle-aged paunch that wasn't there before. But you're standing with those same slouched shoulders and your hands in your pockets, smiling that same gapped-tooth grin, and I recognise you in an instant.
Em StarrrrrPublished 5 days ago in Fictionmiles to go
It had been three years to the day since his mother passed. He was making the nearly two-hundred-mile trip back to his childhood home to spread her ashes with his family, and he was running late. The sun had risen several hours ago, and now he felt some distance from the task of driving. Now that he could see clearly in the morning light, the road stretched out before him, open and inviting. He allowed his mind to wander and muscle memory to take over. He had made this drive hundreds of times before; living in Southeast Michigan for the past eight years had provided ample opportunity for him to return to his parent’s home and visit while still affording him the space and distance he needed to flourish on his own. The drive was long, but he knew it well, and hours flew by like minutes.
When Jesus didn't answer me.
I was standing alone in a desert. It was windy and dark. The sun had already gone over the horizon, and night had come down to face me. By then I understood that darkness is inevitable and that we are only passing through as guests. I could only spot a few specific lights in this seemingly abandoned little town. Hopefully, there was someone to help me find a place where I could spend the night. My first stop was usually a fire station.
Oleksandr MatvyeyevPublished 3 days ago in WanderFirst Place in Full Moon Challenge
The Topsy Turvey Men
They sally-sauntered and jiggy-jauntered over the cobbled stone of the archy, bridgy, oily, smidgy pathway to its throne
Ward NorcuttPublished 27 days ago in Poets- Second Place in Full Moon Challenge
Winter Moon
On a sleepless night, my cat squats on my shoulder gnawing on my dreams. Awake or dreaming, I leave my son’s empty room,
Geoffrey PhilpPublished 27 days ago in Poets 
Tetrachromancy
I saw snowflakes dance in the sky on the day we met. I saw the bright crescent moon on the night of our first date. I saw a pure soul when you kissed me and I was enchanted by your smile, as sparkling white as my wedding gown.
Cathy holmesPublished 3 days ago in Poets
Full Moon Challenge Winners
Write a poem inspired by a crazy dream. In some ways, dreams are like poems. They often hide their meaning through imagery and allusion. It takes a keen eye to decipher both. And if you look at them too closely, you may not make out their meaning.
Vocal Curation TeamPublished 2 days ago in Resources
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Full Moon Challenge Winners
Write a poem inspired by a crazy dream. In some ways, dreams are like poems. They often hide their meaning through imagery and allusion. It takes a keen eye to decipher both. And if you look at them too closely, you may not make out their meaning.
Vocal Curation TeamPublished 2 days ago in Resources
Write Here, Write Now: The Reunion by Megan Anderson
Swipe left, swipe right- it’s a match. Settle in at a wine bar back table for a Tinder date that’s doomed from the start. Meg Anderson’s take on a classic revenge tale won’t end quite the way you might expect.
Write Here, Write Now: A Vocal PodcastPublished 3 days ago in Resources
Behind the Last Window Challenge Winners
Ah, dystopia. A playground for everything grim, hopeful and futuristic. For this Challenge, we asked you to start your dystopian stories with the following sentence:
Vocal Curation TeamPublished 9 days ago in Resources
So, How Do We Count Syllables?
In her story, Dear Vocal Judges/Fellow Poets, Creator Harmony Kent asks questions that we have been wrestling with ever since we launched Vocal. In reality, the very halls of linguistics have echoed with these same questions and attempts to quantify and measure all parts of the English language for a very long time. As often as we can, we like to defer to the experts on these issues, though even they, the keepers of the language, have conflicting views, and so do we.
Vocal Curation TeamPublished 15 days ago in Resources
Blue Haiku Challenge Winners
We love haiku Challenges. Not just because poems are shorter and it's easier to give each work its proper due, though it's always a joy when we get to spend more time with each piece of writing. No, we love haiku Challenges because they push writers to their creative limits. How much can be said in so few words? How deep can one go, quickly?
Vocal Curation TeamPublished 23 days ago in Resources
Write Here, Write Now: The Rarest of Human Qualities (If Cultivated) Can Unlock Superhuman Potential by Andy Murphy
From Write Here, Write Now: A Vocal Podcast, The Rarest of Human Qualities (If Cultivated) Can Unlock Superhuman Potential by Andy Murphy.
Write Here, Write Now: A Vocal PodcastPublished about a month ago in Resources
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