Poetry Contest

Chatterbox: Pudding's Place

Poetry Contest

Poetry Contest

Well, we haven't had one of these in a while, have we? Time for a new one, I say! Welcome, resident poets!

The rules are pretty simple. I am the first judge. I will give you a theme, and you must write a poem relating to the theme. Be creative with your interpretations! I will then judge the entries by a set date, and the winner will then be the next judge, and set the next theme. And so on, and so forth. 

The first theme will be... *dramatic drumroll*

Stars! Whether you chose to write about the kind of stars you wish on, or the kind that take the stage, I will be eagerly awaiting your sparkly, shiny, beautiful poems. Have them in by... Saturday, March 18. Two weeks. Sound fair? 

I hope to see your poems soon!

~Booksy <3 

submitted by Booksy Owly
(March 4, 2017 - 8:58 pm)

back to the Pudding's Place

This is really pretty! I love how the words flow so melodiously (is that a word?).

submitted by Rainbow, age teen, Serenading the moon
(September 3, 2023 - 1:34 pm)

Woahh... the word choice and imagery and spacing and lowercase and this is AMAZING how?!? EVERYTHING ABOUT IT IS SO ABSOLUTELY PERFECT!!! 

submitted by CelineBurning Awed, age She/her(?), The FireMist Sea
(September 3, 2023 - 2:47 pm)

so gorgeous

submitted by Artemis
(September 3, 2023 - 10:01 pm)

Your Song 

 

 

Your song

Turns my heart to a metronome 

beating faster

and faster

When you sing,

it pierces my soul

In a good way.

 

My legs, strong

From years of hiking

turn to jelly

when you talk to me

That brain,

filled with information

that got As and A+s,

is wiped

clean

Your song,

The swish of your hair,

Your wave,

Your smile,

Your dancing,

Your eyes -

I’m hypnotized

You’re stuck in my head.


I wish I could be seen,


noticed, acknowledged, by you. 

I wish you could hear my song,

like I hear yours. 

I wish

we could sing together

Someday.


submitted by Sylver
(September 9, 2023 - 6:50 pm)

Sylver, I love this! It has this gorgeous feeling to it (I don't know how to describe the feeling though). And the words choices- wonderful. Especially love the bits "Turns my heart to a metronome "; and how you say how the legs that were stong (and you prove they were, too) turns to jelly and same with the verse after that (you set it up that the person has the things about them that are proven, then get torn down); and how you list all of the things about the other person, which the mc (for lack of better word) of this clearly noticed makes the character hypnotized; also how you repeat the "I wish"; and lines by themselves ("it peirces my soul / In a good way", "is wiped / clean", I wish I could be seen, // noticed, acknowledged...", "I wish / we could sing together / Someday.") makes the lines feel like a period/add-on. Like, the last bit, ...we could sing together. (pause) someday. Also the bit with the "and you could hear my song, / like I hear yours." feels so sweet and really makes the reader understand how much the mc really likes the other person and also how the last verse ties the poem back to the first verse and the theme beautifully.

submitted by Rainbow, age teen, Serenading the moon
(September 9, 2023 - 7:33 pm)

Beautiful... I love this so so much!! That conclusion is perfect. Everything is perfect. Wow

submitted by CelineBeingAmazed, age She/they(?, A State of Awe
(September 9, 2023 - 8:07 pm)

elegy to our song

 

the halls of my memories

are ornamented with oil paintings. 

kindergarten class pictures, corners

sepia. you & me in the back row, 

stars in our glittering eyes. freshman year

polaroids, confetti adorning the floor of your

new year's party, your fingers braided into

mine. graduation photographs, framed in 

mahogany wood, shiny diplomas & shiny onyx

gowns.

 

holiday lights & snow, white

feathers dusting our noses,

mittened hands tied together

by some invisible string placed

long before we were born. christmas

carols in the living room, stockinged feet

on the carpet,

dancing at midnight for no one but

ourselves.

 

spring air & afternoons studying

in the library, the heavy scent of

yellowed pages, fluttering guitar

strings plucked steadily. like we would

never fade. until

 

we did. until

the music died, the voices

singing our melody cut short.

college phone calls turning to

college fights, shouting, the knotted

strings snapping, the hearts shattering.

 

until

suddenly, our song

became pieces no

broom could sweep up.

 

~

This ended up a little less song-focused than I'd hoped... (: 

 

 

 

submitted by Cruciverbalist, chasing midnights
(September 9, 2023 - 9:19 pm)

This is so vivid and vibrant and beautiful and it evokes so many feelings in me and I'm explaining horribly how much I love this but I LOVE IT SO MUCH I LOVE THE ANALOGIES AND SPACINGS AND PARAGRAPHS AND THAT FIRST VERSE AND THAT SECOND VERSE AND THAT THIRD VERSE AND THE LAST ONES ARE SO SAD AND THE AMPERSANDS JUST REALLY TIE IN SO NICELY WITH THIS DON'T KNOW WHY I'M GLAD YOU DIDN'T USE JUST PLAIN "AND" IT WOULDN'T BE THE SAME AND THE WORD CHOICE AND THE DESCRIPTIONS AND THE TITLE AND RIGHT OFF THE BAT IT'S JUST LIKE ACKKK!!!!! I'm just literally rereading that first paragraph over and over again... it's so sweet and... perfect and I can't explain someone else will probably come and explain way better than me sorry just this is AMAZING.

submitted by Celine In Awe, age :DDDDD, A state of amazement
(September 10, 2023 - 2:23 am)

Thank you so much!!! I'm so glad you like it! (:

submitted by Cruciverbalist, chasing midnights
(September 10, 2023 - 10:12 am)

baby pink and hidden things

chapped lips and gospel hymns
she sings
like the fire inside the sky
or the magic inside her eye
or the curved ceiling in the chapel
restless notes like sparrows fly
and lay themselves down to watch and cry
a bruising peach - a rotting apple
she steps outside; the morning light
the wizened trees, the honey bees
wonder, love, and dried pine cones
she sings of rain and coming home
harmonizes with mourning doves
she sings of silence and lost love
the smell of lavender and grief
the sky falls down, the seas turn green
and in the wake of tragedy
she sings a song that sets us free
submitted by WordSong, age Forever, Under a rock
(September 12, 2023 - 5:45 am)

Wow!! Thanks so much Rainbow! That means a lot. What is an mc?

submitted by Sylver@Rainbow
(September 13, 2023 - 8:34 pm)

Sry Ik you weren't talking to me but I'm assuming mc = main character?

submitted by Ce@Sylver@Rainbow, It’s Celine
(September 14, 2023 - 1:53 am)

Yep, mc = main character

submitted by Rainbow, age teen, Serenading the moon
(September 14, 2023 - 5:39 pm)
*Tumbles out of large tree* 
Thank you, everyone, for being so patient with the judging date... I was afraid that school wasn't going to let me off in an eternity. You all had amazing poems to share, and the judging was really hard, but here it is!
HONORABLE MENTIONS (IN NO PATICULAR ORDER):
Moon Wolf! Simple and to the point, which is something that I like about a lot of your poetry. You have a clear idea in mind, and it came out in the form of a bird's hopeful song!  
Celine! The way you chose to use 'a song of...' to show the departure of time and its changing power is very striking. The last two lines make a very good impression on me, for how the poem seems to drift away slowly is quite the feat.
Ayles.C! For some reason, your poem reminds me of haikus even though it has nothing to do with them. It's quite short, but it has a simple meaning to it, and sometimes that's much better than vague pilings of obscure sentences. Nice job!
Hawkstar! Your choice of the songs of ocean, forest, life, death, and home are deserving of a good ponderment. I especially like how you chose to show home behind life and death. You bring the reader on a winding path through the first four themes, finally coming to a rest in the warming song of home, and it gives the entire poem a warm glow and life of its own.
BookGirl! A second-person poem about the song of a rainbow! Quite the choice of theme, I would say. I'm quite fond of open-ending prose and poetry, and I like the question at the end of your poem, leaving the next step in the story unwritten and free for the reader to envision.
Wordsong! Your poem is very intriguing. It gives me the impression of life and nature- how human activity have destroyed it to the extent that it is no longer what it used to be, and all that is left is grief and regret. All in all, it's very inspiring and... it also rhymes! Great work!
Sylver! This is quite a jewel. It's a rather simple poem (dear me, is simple poetry the fashion these days? I must be quite behind the times. Just kidding <3), but the small details are what makes it so attractive, like the use of 'metronome' and 'jelly', which Rainbow has pointed out helpfully. It's very straightforward and you can really see the true feeling put into it.
Eclipse! I'm especially pleased by the mythology here. Its very unique, and the way you transitioned from the tale to describing the short, wonderful moments of our lives is seamless and so true. Good job, congrats!
Whew, that was long... thanks admins for reading all the way, because here come the top three: 
Third place...Cruciverbalist!
Your wide brush paints a sweeping summary of years that pass between the two people in this poem, and ends in an abrupt turn of events that seem inevitable but also out of the blue at the same time. 'The knotted strings snapping, the hearts shattering...' makes the truth break in upon the mind like a douse of water, leaving only coldness and a disconsolate feel at the end, dark and gray. Amazing.
Second place...Rainbow! 
You took a very enlightening approach with the formatting, and the way you used spacing and diagonal letters to form words is already meriting of this place. I love the middle lines 'And song  of  l o n g i n g,

a song of bewilderment and disarray

SPRANG up and soared out of her mouth,

reaching to join the tune of the twinkling stars.'  
It paints a powerful picture of an abstract idea- the song, and I love your creativity. Congrats, congrats!
First place...Pangolin!!!
Your poem is so. So. So. Amazing and true and heartfelt and- Well, mindblowing. You did stray a bit from the theme, that is true, but most of the time, themes are only there to inspire the mind, not to confine it to a set topic. I can't even decide where to begin with this. What stood out to me was the line 'I wish I remembered more of it', and then you go on to describe everything in acute detail. I can see a student telling themselves to keep studying and studying while willfully starving their heart of social interactions and friends and what middle school was supposed to be- perfect. There are thousands of students still brainwashing themselves like this, and I cannot even begin to describe the truth behind this poem. You're the next judge!
submitted by Ultimatum
(September 16, 2023 - 7:07 am)

whoa, thank you so much!! that means a lot <3 everyone had such incredible poems, i really enjoyed reading all of them!

the next theme is alight, interpret how you will. i'll judge september 30th. i can't wait to see your poems!

submitted by pangolin, age she/they, Outskirts of the Galaxy
(September 17, 2023 - 3:46 pm)
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