Hi, can I post mine tomorrow afternoon? I've been writing it, but it isn't quite done yet.

Please remember to post your poem soon so I can finish judging! Thank you :)

Hey Rainbow! Are you still going to submit your poem? I want to make sure I can judge so the thread can stay alive :)

Through the mist

I looked through the mist

And I saw

Terrifying visions

Of things to come

Why will you do this to me?

Must you betray

Me?

Your best friend?

The future seems bleak 

Without you

I cannot do this

Without you

Though can I really blame you

For what you will do 

In the future 

Especially to me

What will I do that will make you

Snap

Will I be too annoying

Too clingy or not there enough

Will it be that I say something rude, mean

Too controlling too ignorant

Lame stupid no common interests anymore

What will it be

Or maybe

Just maybe

It won’t be me

That’ll cause this

What if someone pressures you 

Who could it be

A future BFF, significant other

Family or bully

Still even if i know 

whatever causes this

(Or whoever)

It still hurts me just the same

I will try to bear these coming years

Though I know a sliver

Of what the future holds

For us

But the pain—

Oh, the pain and heartbreak

—That I felt

As I looked through my eyes

Will wear me down

Like river pushing past

Stony rocks

And breaking them apart

How will I manage it?

Perhaps I should

Be getting ready

For this

I’ll stay friends with you

But I’ll also look for

Another best friend 

To lean on when the time comes

Yes, but what if

My finding a new BFF

Makes you turn your back

(You can’t escape a prophecy after all)

Maybe that means that

No matter what I do

This will always happen

Sooner or later

So I might as well

Just enjoy my time with you

And not think

Of what will come in the future 

But still, when looking through the mist

I saw

Terrifying visions

Of things to come

Okay, here’s the judging! Sorry I’m a little late. Also… when I chose the theme, I decided on ‘future’ because I thought it would be interesting. And apparently, past-Silver also had the exact same idea, because the last time I judged I also chose the theme ‘future’. @Jaybells and Hex, sorry for making you write two poems about the same thing, I completely forgot until just now, deepest apologies for not remembering my own choice T-T

Now, onto the actual judging:

Honorable mentions (in no particular order:

Hex~First of all, kudos to you for managing to include so many usernames while still having it sound so natural- I counted nine! I really enjoyed the imagery, too. But the ‘tick tock’ and the message of how growing up is difficult because we will eventually all have to leave our childhoods behind and that includes leaving this place, too, was the most impactful to me. I think it perfectly encapsulates the resentfulness of growing up. 

Jaybells~This is so incredibly relatable. The last line is my favorite- ‘future is a nightmare/the most terrifying of concepts/in many ways’- because it’s so true. It’s so terrifying because we have no idea what will happen next and it can be so scary to not know. The unanswered questions posed at the beginning mirrored that feeling of not knowing. I think you capture fear or the future really well. Great job, Jay!!

Eclipse~Oh, this evokes so many feelings of nostalgia. The emotion comes across perfectly, and the spacing works so well to do so. The rhyming and rhythm is very well done as well. I love the line ‘scrambling up jenga towers of rope and wood/daring gravity to try and pull me down’.

Rainbow~I love a good betrayal! This conveys the feelings of doubt about someone that we trust very well. My favorite line is ‘just maybe/it won’t me me/that’ll cause this’, and I also love the way that you repeated the first stanza at the end. Very pretty!

Third Place:

Periwinkle~Peri, this is so poignant; your imagery is so incredibly vivid. The emotions are conveyed so well through your word choice and punctuation. The last line manages to tie the entire thing together as well as connecting it back to the prompt. The ‘maybe I’m the one to blame’ line was all too relatable. Very beautiful <333

Second place:

Peppermint~Ohhh I love this! Your poetry voice is so distinct and illustrative. The colors, the questions in parentheses, it all ties together so, so well. I could practically see the things you were describing down to the very last detail. The last line was so significant, I loved the way it changed the tone so suddenly. Beautifully done!

First place:

Luminescence!!!~Lumi, you’ve always been one of the most talented poets on here, and I think this poem is the prime example. This has so, so much raw emotion in it, and I loved the way that you connected it back to the prompt. It’s just. Wow. The wording and punctuation and format all work together to create such a beautiful poem. I love how chaotic yet controlled it feels. Amazing job <333

I cannot stress how amazing each one of these poems is- seriously, I was blown away by them. It was really, really hard to judge. @Luminescence, you’re the next judge!

hi hello! i'm so sorry for the late posting of the prompt. Silver thank you so much for your comments they were so sweet <3 everybody else's poems were beautiful too so congratulations to everybody else :D

new theme is resurrection. i'll judge sunday march 5.

If Death is the Great Equaliser,

Then what does undoing it mean?

Isn't Death the Revolution

And Life the oppressive Old Regime?

How can we long for change and liberty

And yet when it comes, we try to throw it off

As if the enemy were not the tug of this moral coil

But instead the rest for which we ache? 

Life isn't meant to be fair, (that's for sure) 

So why claw and fight for its prolong'ment? 

As cruel as the world can be

It's just: It follows set laws, it makes sense.

Why destroy that natural order?

For what? A longer existence? Another chance?

If it were meant to be, it would have happened,

You must accept this fundamental truth. 

To bring back a lost procedure,

To re-alive a dead being,

To bring into re-use an obscure object 

Lost to the sands of time --

Indeed, it was all lost for a reason,

Do you realise the way you violate the natural order

By attempting to twist it?

Do you realise the gravity of your endeavour?

The consequences? 

Oh, foolish child,

Resurrection may seem a sweet fallback now,

A gimmick, a get-out-of-jail-free card, a last chance

But hun, it couldn't be further from reality.

You're setting yourself up for failure, for disappointment --

For utter destruction and despair. 

The world -- harsh as it is -- is that way for a reason.

You must come to understand, no action goes unpunished.

Each movement, a fraction of a second shaved from your time,

Each breath you take is one less you can use in the future

Each once of energy spent, one removed from your system forever --

Yet fear not. Worry not. Do not try to hoard what you have.

Use what you have now, and it will last as long as the world wills it.

Hold on to what was never yours, and it will fade.

Lust after and grab what us no longer for destined you, and you will be destroyed.

~~~~~~~~~~~

Sorry it's kind of all over the place. :/ 

brave

i hate to be mean, but i deserve better than you.

with you all, i am alone, and it doesn’t help that you laugh at me

when i say i’m strong or tough or…

brave.

“you’re not brave!”

not brave because i couldn’t sit through a horror movie

not brave because i didn’t want to go on the big slides at the water park

not brave because i’m still scared of the dark.

yeah.

no.

i see you and i know you’re dead inside -

your resurrection is more important than i am to myself so

i’m here to make sure you’re okay and protect you

because i know you need someone who loves you.

so i’ll give and give and give 

but by now i’m as lifeless as you and i’m exhausted, gasping for air.

on the ground of the battlefield that is life 

(the battlefield i ran into for you because i love you and i know you need me)

and i’ve given too much.

by now i’m crying for help but i’m also frustrated because still all you see

is the cheesy silly optimist i've been for you but that you’ve taken for granted way too long.

i’ve always been here for you.

you were just never here for me.

so now i’m giving up

because you don’t care about me.

because you don’t understand me.

because resurrecting you is killing me.

because yeah.

i am brave. 

more than you know.

underneath my boot the snow

crunches menacingly

my eyes water with cold, perhaps

if you were here

i would not mind

i would not mind

it is the frozen river

where i find your bones

it is the swaying trees

where i find your heart

it is the warm cocoa

where i find your hands

you hands that always warmed mine

this is the place of your resserection

this is the place i feel your heart beat

this is the place i long to be

this is the place where you are with me 

can you tell the flowers in my hair have shriveled up and died?

their delicate petals have lost their color and lost their life,

and somewhere along the way I think I did too. 

can you tell?  

don't look at me in the light--

you'll see my split ends, 

and ragged nails, 

and pale skin. 

yes, 

I am fine here in the dark. 

am I? 

my flowers aren't.  

flowers need light to thrive and 

you say I do too. 

I suppose I can trust you. 

but I thought I could trust a lot of people, 

and I think that was a mistake. 

you have lots of flowers in your hair, 

though, 

and all of them are alive. 

it's like a tiny, bright rainbow crowning your curls.  

you have bright eyes, too,

and a bright smile. 

perhaps, 

I'll let you pull me into the light. 

maybe, then, my flowers would come back to life.