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

Hey! I just realized I forgot to judge today. I'm so sorry! 'Twas a busier day than anticipated, but I should have the results up by tomorrow. All of the poetry is amazing.

submitted by WordSong, age Forever, Under a rock
(November 29, 2023 - 8:20 pm)

Dang, y'all. I always forget how good everyone's poetry is until I have to pick a winner. All of these poems are so beautiful, but alas, I have to pick favorites. Here we go!

Honorable Mentions! As always, in no particular order.
Moon Wolf
I love this poem so much. Reading it feels like watching a timelapse of the forest as the seasons change, birds rushing across the sky with the clouds, leaves turning fiery and then fading away. My favorite is the beginning, because the splits in the lines feel like water tumbling over rocks and it runs so well into "Suddenly, the / Leaves are turning / Shades of sunset". The way you use your words is absolutely stunning. Well done.
Hawkstar
The imagery in this poem is so good, and the intertwining of the farm imagery and the love story is absolutely beautiful. The repetition of the word "falling" feels like it could be in a song. My favorite part is "And as I'm falling / The flame trees spark / And all around me leaves are falling / Falling / Falling". I already used the word "intertwine" but I want to use it again because I love the word so much and it's such a perfect description of your poem, like two threads woven together into a tapestry. 
AvaraStar
This poem is so nostalgic, because my grandma makes homemade applesauce and it is the best thing ever. I love the progression of time throughout this, and the acrostic is masterful. Speaking of which, I haven't written an acrostic poem in so long. They're so fun. My favorite line is "The cold creeps / Over the / World, but our house / Is warm and cozy." because it feels like that's the essence of the poem, just sweet simple fall memories. Incredible.
Celine Burning Bright
Celine, I have seen so much of your poetry at this point, and I am in awe of how consistently great it is. This poem has such stunning imagery, and, like Avara, you manage to distill the essence of what fall is. I love the use of ellipses and this might be a stretch but the way the ellipses force the reader to hover reminds me of a leaf before it falls, poised to tumble into oblivion. My favorite part is "Autumn is that season / Of breath on frosty panes / Idly swirling figures appear / Disappear again…" because the imagery is just perfect, but I also love that it ends on "It's all temporary…" because the temporary nature ties into the ending of the poem, and yet the ellipse seems to imply that it goes on, which reminds me of the cyclical nature of seasons. Anyways, beautiful poem.
WildWolf
This poem is beautiful. Unlike some of the other poems, which tell the story of the entire season of autumn, this poem encapsulates one single moment, and all the things about it. Reading this, I feel like I am also swinging in a hammock, and I can feel the things you describe. The contentedness of this poem is an emotion I try to capture quite often, and the softness of the imagery does it so well. I'm not going to pick a favorite part because it's so short and I wanted you to know that that's because I love every second of this poem so much and not because I don't like it. Well done!
SwallowPoint
This poem is short, but packs a punch. I can't quite explain what it is about it but this poem makes me hopeful, even though it ends on a sad note. It's bittersweet, because the leaves will decompose cold and alone, and yet at least they have that one moment of absolute joy and freedom. I don't know, I think I'm projecting human emotions onto these leaves. Again, I can't pick a favorite line because it's all so perfect, but I am partial to the WOOSH! because there's something about it that's so joyous. Anyways. I love your poem a whole lot.
Fourth Place . . . Rainbow!
I know there's not usually a fourth place, but it killed me not to shout this one out, because holy moly this poem is incredible. The formatting? The imagery? The way the last word tumbles off the page? I keep looking at it and I don't know what to say to make you understand why I love this poem so much. My favorite line by far is "I feel like Atlas / but / I'm not strong enough / to hold up the sky". I've never understood how people write lines like that that say so little and yet say it all. Also, the line breaks are amazing. Everything about this poem is amazing.
P.S. I just listened to Take the Weight and I'm obsessed. Also, I intended the prompt to have the double meaning, and I'm very glad to have at least one poem with the other interpretation.
Third . . . Amethyst!
This poem makes me smile so much I almost want to cry. Hope is something so delicate and beautiful, and after so many pessimistic takes on fall I really really need this. This feels like something I try to hold in my hand but can't, but it's also the acceptance of that fleeting feeling, and the perfection in the imperfect. It's relaxing and it's loose and it makes me want to go outside and run through infinite fields. My favorite line is "life is throwing out your arms and spinning around / the wind blowing your hair across your face / your laugher, that you didn't mean to laugh" because it is all my favorite things about the poem and it is all my favorite things about the world. Beautiful job.
Second Place . . . Silver Crystal!
I don't know where to start with this one. The clumping of pairs of lines that at the end dissolves into one lonely statement? The line breaks that split four sentences into bite sized pieces, that ensure the poem runs on, chasing its tail, until it can't anymore? The use of the world darling? I could write paragraphs about this poem and still not quite describe it. It hurts me to not place this one higher and I want you to know that. I wish I could shout out every single line, but some of my favorites are "summer melted in our palms", "sew them back together in / a Frankenstein attempt to / recreate sepia-toned nostalgia", "autumn came knocking with / his hooded eyes and scythe. I'll hold / your hand for as long as I can but / darling, you are not immune to / the bite of steel and neither am I." Marvelous.
First Place . . . 

(drumroll please) 

peppermint!
Oh my gosh, peppermint. This poem is absolutely breathtaking. As someone is all too familiar with the terrible stagnance of the school year, this hit me like a ton of bricks and I almost started to cry. I don't know what to say. Your poetry is everything mine tries to be. I can't possibly pick a favorite line because each masterfull line tumbles into another one that I love too much to neglect. You write poetry like you're painting and also you happen to live in a fantastical land probably a long time ago capturing in a thousand brushstrokes the world around you, and yet somehow it is also about my life. Congratulations!
Anyways I just spent almost an hour doing this and it was so much fun but now I need to eat dinner. Congrats everyone!
submitted by WordSong - judging!, age Forever, Under a rock
(November 30, 2023 - 6:10 pm)

wow, thank you so much!! your words mean a lot to me <3 everyone did amazing!! the next theme is memory, and I will judge on December 15. can't wait to read everyone's poetry! good luck! 

 

submitted by peppermint
(November 30, 2023 - 11:02 pm)

Ahh thank you so much WordSong!!! And wow, seriously, your praise was so so so enjoyable to read itself! You write prose like it's poetry (and that's saying a lot, given your poetry)! You have such a way with words! And congrats peppermint and everyone!!! You all did so so so wonderfully!!! I'm sorry I can't comment on everyone's poems bc woah there really is just too much to say and not enough time to say it, so I'm just fully agreeing with everything WordSong said. Congratulations everyone!!! :DD

 

memory~ 


I have a memory of

bare feet on

soft cushion and

the feeling of safety blanketing me, draped over

all the fears and worries that were once so prominent now

nonexistent.

and I have a memory of

sunlight fading through the open window

filtered by the blinds

coming to a rest on

dappled sofa and

soft skin and

dappled and soft itself, filled with the wrinkles of time but

ageless.

and I have a memory of

wavering, unsteady, slowly rising

into the air my feet

lifting off the ground my hands

reaching for the ceiling....

 

it was a dream, I know now

(I know it but I can't quite believe it,

I can name the date when it came, just a few short months ago but

It feels like forever,

So real,

Felt like forever, I

Believe it's forever it was a dream of myself

Of magic and

Reality I

Know it's not but I

Choose to believe different) 

It was all a dream I see now

(But do I really? Eyes

Only see out to the external world but

Dreams and beliefs and memories are

Internal how much

Can you really see with these eyes? How much can

You trust?)

It was not really my memory, I understand now

(what is a memory anyway? Something you've

Experienced, now forever encapsulated in

The passage of time I

Experienced this even if it wasn't true it was

True to me, my

Dream memory) 

And so I try to let it go, I try to give back the

Thing that I have wrongfully taken, wrongfully

Called mine, but

Then I close my eyes and... 

submitted by CelineBurning Bright, age she/her(?), DriftindownNostalgiaLn
(December 1, 2023 - 12:13 am)

Congrats everyone! All of your poetry is so good!

submitted by WildWolf
(December 1, 2023 - 7:35 pm)

Thank you so much for your praise WordSong, it means a lot to me! I'll try and see if I can write anything before the 15th :)

submitted by Silver Crystal, age Infinity, Milky Way
(December 1, 2023 - 11:18 pm)

Congratulations, peppermint (and everyone else, too)!

Cordelia says "rumok". Do you mean rumor? and what rumor? You better not be telling people about the time a garden gnome knocked me flat! 

submitted by AvaraStar, happy!
(December 5, 2023 - 4:57 pm)

*replying to this very late* Tysm for third place! I appreciate it so much, and your feedback is always so inspiring and well-written :) Thanks for judging!

submitted by Amethyst@WordSong
(December 6, 2023 - 6:22 pm)

I can’t remember

The last time I saw

Your face

My mind is

Blank

Wiped clean slate.

Your eyes are

What?

Weren’t they deep

Or maybe bright

Didn’t words fail

Me

When I looked into 

Them?

Your hands

Wide and warm

Your arms

Weren’t they loving

When you pulled me

Into a hug?

Safe and

Warm and

Home?

My memory

Has faded

Your lips

Were they soft?

Did they whisper

Sweet nothings

To me 

In the dark?

You were tall

Right?

Tanned skin and

Chiseled jaw and

Long lashes fair?

You have been

Gone

For

Far too long.

Memories of you

Are distant storms

I can hear

Briefly see

Feel

And smell

But it’s far away

And I can’t touch

That storm

Those raindrops

Those tears

You.

Thoughts of you

They disappear

Because life

Goes on

Even without

Memories. 

submitted by Hawkstar, age Stars , My thoughts in Korea
(December 5, 2023 - 9:46 am)

Memories

I sit down on my bed, a long day finally over.

Images swirl through my head,

Like snowflakes on a windy day.

I run a hairbrush through my hair.

Like the time on that favourite vacation,

with rippled sunshine sprinkled down.

Pull my blanket above my shoulders.

Loving kisses on foreheads,

Hair brushed out of faces with gentle hands.

The light dims.

Out on the back deck,

shades of peach filling the air.

The light touch of breath on my upper lip

Days long ago,

reading stories with loved ones.

Memories float through my head, as I drift into sleep.

Good night.

 

submitted by WildWolf
(December 5, 2023 - 12:37 pm)

Memory

Remember

When you were young

And filled to the brim

With youthful energy?

Remember

When you hiked the

Whole mountain and 

Left me far behind?

Remember

When you laughed

And told me to pick

Up the pace as I lagged?

Remember

When you held me

Close and told me you’d

Never ever forget me?

Your eyes, once sparkling

Have lost their light.

Your hair, once ebony

Has faded to white.

You no longer nod and

Smile like before.

You just stare into

Space forevermore.

And all I can do is

To hope and wait

Desperately wishing for

A turn of fate.

But day by day your

World grows blurry.

Your face grows wrinkled

In lines of worry.

All I can wish is

That I treasured you more.

But if all will disappear

What was memory for?

submitted by Moon Wolf, age lunaryears, A Celestial Sky
(December 5, 2023 - 7:35 pm)

Last year I wrote a poem that was mostly about memories, but bc I had asked my irl friends for a prompt and I got "strawberries", I wanted to write a new one, sooooo
___________________________________________________________________

 

The past 

                haunts

You

Can’t 

Get

Away

 

It’s all your fault

Your brain chants

 

As the memories

Come flooding

                          Back

 

It’s all your fault

Voices seems to whisper

 

The ghosts follow you

They take away your joy 

 

There’s nothing

You

Can

Do

 

It’s all your fault

The memories prove

 

As darkness

                      creeps in

 

Again

              and

Again

 

              and

Again

 

 

              and

Again

 

It’s all your fault 

submitted by Rainbow, Holding up the sky
(December 8, 2023 - 6:27 pm)

a bit short, but I wanted to submit something and this is what my finals-addled brain came up with. happy holidays to everyone :)

***

Memory is a child

a child with shining dark hair

a child who lurks in the corner

she's always there, but you're not always here

trying to run away, stuck inside the box

mind over matter only outside the cardboard flaps

a flight of imagination, ship to nowhere

stuck floating between the passings of time

Memory sits in the corner

i'm afraid of her 

she's afraid of the dark  

submitted by Eclipse
(December 9, 2023 - 1:11 am)

This is a really good prompt! Here's mine:

~ 

A memory

Of that night

Still haunts me.

That night

When you took

my hand.

When you

Pulled me out.

Out into

The starlight,

And the moonlight,

And the light

Of your magical,

Sparkling

Eyes.

A memory

Of that night

Still burns in my heart.

That night

When we

Danced to the

Song of the stars

And the smile of the moon.

~ 

Critique is welcome!

submitted by AvaraStar, age 14, The Library
(December 9, 2023 - 2:55 pm)

This is really good! I especially like the lines "When we/ danced to the/ song of the stars/ and the smile of the moon."

It has nice nighttime/love vibes!  

submitted by Hawkstar, age Dynamite, My thoughts in Korea
(December 9, 2023 - 3:22 pm)
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