Poetry contest!

[OokIa the Believer]

I am pleased to announce that I will be hosting a poetry contest!

Details:

To participate, draft an original poem, NOT AN AI GENERATED ONE*, and submit it to me in a pm, or in the link to a creator corner below.
These poems will be public. They will be sent out, to be judged.

How to win:

The winner will be chosen by a mixture of judges, me, and voting. Who gets to be a judge? The first two people to respond to my Status Update pinging my name and asking to be judges are the two who will be judges. They will discuss in pm with me.
The participants and any sharpers may vote for any poem by pm to me, or in the corner by saying “I vote ‘this’ one”. Each of these public votes count as one. They will be displayed in a vote count list to give participants an idea of who may win. If you vote by pm, you vote won’t be revealed, but will be counted up at the end of the contest. Judge votes count as two. My vote counts as three.

Dates:

Today markes the beginning! Send me poems or pm or corner!
On November 26, the submissions end. The winner will be revealed either then or the next day.

Prize: Glory! Fame! Honor! Rep! But actually this will be decided by participants in the comments blow this post or in the corner.

Note: 

You may only submit one poem, but you may sub it out at any time within the submission period.

Prose:

Prose is not poetry, and many modern poetry reflects prose more than poetry. However the rules are very lax on this. Don’t make prose. If it looks poetry ish don’t worry about it. You will be fine. 
 

*There is no honor in submitting ai. I won’t be able to tell, and we rely on the honor system. Don’t do it.

This post will be edited to include other things like vote count.

————————————————————————

Current judge list:

Spoiler

WitistheBest

Current participant list:

Spoiler

@JJDReffitt - Real?

Spoiler

What ‘real’ is really real

We persevere it with eyes

With ears hear it all

We speak about it with

Using our voice and text

 

But do we REALLY know

It could all be a dream 

All just waiting to wake

And how would we know it

So then do dreams come true?

 

I mostly have nightmares

Fears made reality

Manifest in my mind

Does that make them real then?

Or just another hoax?

 

Forgetting, forgotten 

Those are the biggest ‘reals’

You will forget one day

And be forgot the next

Now you know my nightmare 

 

This is ever waking

The nightmare that is time

Smothering me to age

Age after age after

Repeats in every life

 

Such is the truth of real 

Insufferable truth

I die, you die, we die

It all comes crashing

And it all ends in dark

 

Would living forever

Really be so awful?

There is so much to see

And so much more to do

I think I would like to.

@InfiniteInsanity - Were still breathing.

Spoiler

Look at me

I am alive

I am breathing

I am moving forward

 

Look at me

I’ve taken steps back

But I’ve taken more

forward

 

Look at me

See all the bruises?

And the brace?

And the tears?

 

Look at me

I stared down Death

With others by my side

And we won

 

Look at me

Look around

Look at you

 

Look around

See the pill bottle

Just a few more

Little red circles left

 

Look around

I flipped Death’s weapon

Around

It saved me

 

Look around

Once I thought

To use them

To end the pain

 

Look around 

Now I use it

To endure

The pain

 

Look around

Look at you

Look at me

 

Look at you

You’re here

You are alive

And that is a gift

 

Look at you

You may have

Stared down Death

Or not

 

Look at you

You are you

And that is enough

To strengthen others

 

Look at you

You are breathing

You are thinking

You are still fighting

 

Look at you

Look at me

Look around

 

Look at me

I am alive

Look around

Take it all in

Look at you

You’re here

 

We’re still breathing

 

@Lotus Blossom - I Paint Sweet Marzipan

Spoiler

I Paint Sweet Marzipan

Alas, when violently your sun has set,
Such leaves have fallen, arid in your frown:
The yoke has grown too heavy through your sweat,
And rain has cruelly stormed upon your crown;
Still, I’ve remained here yet, is this not true?
I’ve carved my scars and battled your own beast,
As None halt’d my eternal love for you
I paint sweet marzipan on rage released;
And yet, when hurricanes blow my weak smile,
Your love has never once lifted a brow.
O, Fate, this scale has tipped such unfair trial!
Where were you when my spring gave barren bough?
        You had gone, as eternal one may be;
        Soon tiring Time shall take me to rest free.

@Morningtide - Waking up to a world of shadows

Spoiler

Waking up to a world of shadows

Up at midnight in the company of stars

To slowly drift down the river toward sleep

A thought falls like a drop a lake

World alight with the anticipation

Of dreams hovering on the edge of consciousness

Shadows that wait for you to close your eyes

 

 

Edited November 22 by ΨιτιsτηεΒέsτ

[Ookla the Lotus]

Here's my submission!

Spoiler

I Paint Sweet Marzipan

Alas, when violently your sun has set,
Such leaves have fallen, arid in your frown:
The yoke has grown too heavy through your sweat,
And rain has cruelly stormed upon your crown;
Still, I’ve remained here yet, is this not true?
I’ve carved my scars and battled your own beast,
As None halt’d my eternal love for you
I paint sweet marzipan on rage released;
And yet, when hurricanes blow my weak smile,
Your love has never once lifted a brow.
O, Fate, this scale has tipped such unfair trial!
Where were you when my spring gave barren bough?
        You had gone, as eternal one may be;
        Soon tiring Time shall take me to rest free

 

[Ookla the Imaginary]

Here's mine! 

Spoiler

Waking up to a world of shadows

Up at midnight in the company of stars

To slowly drift down the river toward sleep

A thought falls like a drop a lake

World alight with the anticipation

Of dreams hovering on the edge of consciousness

Shadows that wait for you to close your eyes

 

[InfiniteInsanity]

Here's my submission.

Spoiler

Look at me

I am alive

I am breathing

I am moving forward

 

Look at me

I’ve taken steps back

But I’ve taken more

forward

 

Look at me

See all the bruises?

And the brace?

And the tears?

 

Look at me

I stared down Death

With others by my side

And we won

 

Look at me

Look around

Look at you

 

Look around

See the pill bottle

Just a few more

Little red circles left

 

Look around

I flipped Death’s weapon

Around

It saved me

 

Look around

Once I thought

To use them

To end the pain

 

Look around 

Now I use it

To endure

The pain

 

Look around

Look at you

Look at me

 

Look at you

You’re here

You are alive

And that is a gift

 

Look at you

You may have

Stared down Death

Or not

 

Look at you

You are you

And that is enough

To strengthen others

 

Look at you

You are breathing

You are thinking

You are still fighting

 

Look at you

Look at me

Look around

 

Look at me

I am alive

Look around

Take it all in

Look at you

You’re here

 

We’re still breathing

 

 

[Ookla thePresentParticiple]

Mine:

Spoiler

There’s a hole in my heart,

A hole in my heart for a place,

First and foremost, yet also it’s more.

 

How do I feel homesick, for a place I’ve never lived?

How do I feel homesick for a place that’s just a place,

To me?

I put things in the hole, to try and fill it.

Books, writing, Shard.

And yet that hole just keeps getting wider,

Death and despair, greed and sloth.

Never to be gone.

 

And yet,

And yet,

In one place there is no hole.

This one place I long for, this one place I wish to be.

Love I feel for it,

Or is it something else?

Nay, for what could this feeling be, but love?

Do I truly wish to go there?

O, why do I ask these questions to which I know the answers?

Never will I stop yearning for this place.

 

[Ookla-The-Stick]

okay. I think I'm ready.

Chains

Spoiler

 

 

 

I have chains

Attached to my heart

And my mind, weighing me down

They loosen

And constrict

But never fall off

They feel a part of me

And I wonder what life would be like without them

But they are my protection

My armor

I feel safe within these chains

They are heavy, yes,

Hard to cary, yes,

Painful, sometimes,

But part of me

I cannot lose a part of me

I have accepted that I carry these chains

That escape is unlikely

I know they might get bigger

Or heavier

Or harder to handle

If I am handling them at all

But, I have made peace-

If you can call it that

With them

They have names

Depression

Anxiety

Loneliness

Fear

Anger

Emptiness

And many more

I do not always call them by these names

But when I do

They sometimes feel lighter

But, sometimes they feel heavier

And other things creep in

To try and ease the weight

Of these chains

Bad things

Painful things

I struggle to keep them out,

But armor is heavy

Hard to maneuver in

Helpless against the tiny things

That seep in

To destroy me

And all I love and hold dear

Maybe, someday

They will be lifted

But I cannot see myself without them

It is a picture I can never see

In my mind, or anywhere else

But, someday

The will break

It is only a matter of time

Till my 

Chains

Break

And I am 

Free

 

-A poem by Stick

[JJDReffitt]

My submission!:

Real?

Spoiler

What ‘real’ is really real

We persevere it with eyes

With ears hear it all

We speak about it with

Using our voice and text

 

But do we REALLY know

It could all be a dream 

All just waiting to wake

And how would we know it

So then do dreams come true?

 

I mostly have nightmares

Fears made reality

Manifest in my mind

Does that make them real then?

Or just another hoax?

 

Forgetting, forgotten 

Those are the biggest ‘reals’

You will forget one day

And be forgot the next

Now you know my nightmare 

 

This is ever waking

The nightmare that is time

Smothering me to age

Age after age after

Repeats in every life

 

Such is the truth of real 

Insufferable truth

I die, you die, we die

It all comes crashing

And it all ends in dark

 

Would living forever

Really be so awful?

There is so much to see

And so much more to do

I think I would like to

 

[Ookla the Believer]

Hmmm here’s something…

Stars:

Spoiler

There are stars

In the sky.

And mud

In the ground

And lives

In between. 

 

So many lives,

Lived entirely,

Between the stars

And the mud.

Mud,

On bare feet.

Stars,

Filling a hopeful mind.

 

And a life

Stuck

Between

Everything

That can never be.

 

The stars are bright

And pure

And hopeful

The mud is dark,

And infectious

And hopeless.

 

And the lives

Are both.

Stuck

In an endless cycle

Between hope,

And hopeless.

Between the failures

And the successes.

 

Between the ground,

And the sky.

 

The mud

Or

The stars?

 

[OokIa the Believer]

Last day to send in poems! If you already have, post a vote! If you haven’t still post a vote!

[Ookla the foolish]

Spoiler

Wandering:

My mind wanders

 like an explorer of old

 stumbling upon ancient treasures

 that have been buried in the refuse of my memories

 

 It wanders

 flitting from place to place

 each idea not good enough

 or interesting enough to capture its attention

 

 And as a wanderer of old,

 it finds itself in darkness

 lost, alone, forgotten, afraid, hurting

 is there any point in continuing?

 

 There is, my friends, though minds like mine forget it

 continue because you are wanted, even if you feel otherwise, we want you

 continue through the pain because without pain there can’t be joy,

 continue because things will get better, even if you are lost now.

I’ve never really done poetry, but I tried.

[Ookla-The-Stick]

who won this anyway?

@Ookla the Believer

 

[OokIa the Believer]

Sorry for the delay, The winner is…

DRUM ROLL!

Edema Rue! Writing Stars
 

Second was Chains, by Just a stick.

Third was We’re still breathing, by Infinite Insanity 

 

@Ookla the Believer @InfiniteInsanity @Ookla-The-Stick

[Ookla the Believer]

48 minutes ago, OokIa the Believer said:

Sorry for the delay, The winner is…

DRUM ROLL!

Edema Rue! Writing Stars
 

Second was Chains, by Just a stick.

Third was We’re still breathing, by Infinite Insanity 

 

@Ookla the Believer @InfiniteInsanity @Ookla-The-Stick

AH WHAT I DID—

*dies*

Aaahh thank you humans, I loved all of y’all’s too!!

[Ookla-The-Stick]

*blushes*

Thank you! I didn't think I would even place!