"God Particle" found?

There has been talk today of the "God Particle" or the Higgs Boson and its potential existence as "a never-before-seen subatomic particle long thought to be a fundamental building block of the universe." Interesting. Read more...

http://www.cnn.com/2011/12/13/world/europe/higgs-boson-q-and-a/index.html?npt=NP1

eclipse contest winner

The mini-symbol contest was won by Selena Rosenthal who wrote that "One of the most important symbols in society today is the "celebrity figure" which is a symbol of power and greatness and the promise of eternal life."

Selena will receive a copy of Paul Muldoon's book, Horse Latitudes. Thanks to all who participated. Hope your eclipse was a good one!

A Challenge to the Wise: Symbols

What is a symbol? That central part of a lot of poetry. A symbol is something that stands for something else.

"A symbol is like a rock dropped into a pool: it sends out ripples in all directions, and the ripples are in motion. Who can say where the last ripple disappears? One may have a sense that he knows the approximate center point of the ripples, the point at which the stone struck the water. Yet even then he has trouble marking it surely. How does one make a mark on water?"

--John Ciardi (from "Robert Frost: The Way to the Poem," Saturday Review, XLII (April 12, 1958)).

What becomes a symbol to someone? Is white a symbol for madness or purity or transcendence?

I'd like to hold a mini-challenge: Send a maximum of 50 words outlining what is one of the most important symbols, in your opinion, circulating in society today. Send to: vallumcontest@gmail.com. You have until the lunar eclipse, December 10, 2011, to submit. Write the word "Symbol" in the subject line. You will get a free poetry book if you are selected.       /ez