I really do not know if this is too cryptic but I wanted to submit something so there you go.

~~~

I was lost, a little boat cast adrift on the wild sea,

tossed from wave to wave among angry storms,

fighting the cold winds and the spray tossed at me -

and then

I heard your voice in the wind,

and felt your kiss in the spray,

and I looked into your eyes and they were my North Star -

and I'd give anything to go back to the days when I was lost,

when I didn't know which direction I was headed,

or where my North Star shone,

when the universe hadn't given me a place -

because at least then there was no star laughing,

laughing in my face.

It's been a while since I posted on here! Hello!  This was a lot of fun to write -- I haven't written any poetry in a while and I'm trying to get back into it.

and again, she searches,

wanders through forgotten fields,

caught in a gust of wind 

some dead leaf

ambling down a sidewalk 

a victim of the shifting seasons 

rotting beneath the weight of 

being seventeen. 

dusty roads, 

a broken down car, 

rips in my jeans, 

tangled hair--

appreciate it 

know it won't last 

these golden days 

of a final year. 

I let the battered screen door 

slam behind me to 

watch the sun spill into the horizon:

light dripping down the mountains

painting my skin

melting my honey eyes

and what if we decide to stay here? 

let our shoe laces curl beneath the ground

embrace the roots of the oak trees

let lichen blossom from our socks 

let flower stems crown our hair and 

they will never miss us because we 

will always be 

here. 

the sun slips behind the sky and 

I reach for your hand but 

my fingers only intertwine with the cool autumn air. 

let us be lost 

you whisper 

there is something so beautiful in uncertainty. 

for once

I walk away and 

dead leaves crunch beneath my feet.  

Everyone did such a great job! I wish everyone could have placed, tbh… I loved all of your work and I had so much fun reading it! Thank you for entering <3

Honorable Mentions

Moon Wolf - Good use of figurative language here! I enjoyed your word choice and the way you developed the story. The ending was great, too!

AvaraStar - I like the acrostic poem style you used and the happy ending! Nice job. 

Rainbow - I always approve of references to Greek mythology. This was good and relatable. I loved that last stanza!

Hawkstar - I love the use of planets and mythology. The rhythm is well done too. 

The opening lines are my favorite part of the poem!

Jaybells - I love this! You always manage to balance being abstract and relatable perfectly. My favorite line is “I am a creature devoid of being found, a vagrant, a Lostling.”

Indigo Frog - what an interesting portrait you’ve painted! I love how the person described is complex and in some places seems to contradict themselves - “hopeful and despairing,” for example.

WordSong - this was so cool! It was very mysterious and sort of spooky in a way I had a great time with. Well done and it’s good to see you back!

Placing

Amity (3rd) - I really liked this one! The metaphor is well done, and the story is clear. That ending was great, too! Good job.

Poinsettia (3rd) - I really liked this! It felt like it was going in one direction, but it surprised me by going in the other. How clever! Well done.

Woodwind (2nd) - Wow, this was great! I loved those questions. “Where do the gods go when they die? Myths forgotten, powers drained/insignificant in this ephemeral reality” were my favorite lines. Great job!

Peppermint (1st) - I loved this so much! The imagery was fantastic and so was your word choice. I think I liked that second to last stanza the best - plus, it contrasted perfectly with the final stanza. Congratulations, you are our next judge!

I unravel at your fingertips

Fall apart at the ev’ry parting of your lips

I must be made of string and stone

Fragile as a tower of cards made of sheets of bone

So call me a ‘weavee,’ because as much as I try

I’m the one to be pulled and prodded into shape when you cry.

Tumble me apart, a ball of yarn and braided flax

Watch me melt to your touch, peeling off like wax

I’ll crumble apart like olivine at the slightest sigh

Come apart at the seams under your affectionate eye.

i don't know where i was going with this. i'll probably hate it tomorrow but i think it's alright right now, so i might as well post it?

your rage is the moon—

it waxes and wanes,

shrouded by the sky-glow

of this glittering city,

regarded as beautiful, 

growing more distant by the day,

but not growing any smaller

your rage is the sea—

ancient, bitter,

dredged, drunk, drained by the

men it hoped to drown

docile when it kisses sand-strewn shores

but no man dares venture into its depths

your rage is a sweater—

warm, comforting, familiar

you got it from your mother 

but she can’t remember where she got it

kept up for appearances,

you’ll only find out what’s it’s made of

when you let it unravel 

All my delicately built up smiles

All meant for you, all created for you

All my carefully calculated opinions

Are they really mine? Or yours in disguise…?

My candlelight of hope which I kept

Blazing, glowing, flickering for you

That I’d one day please you and earn

A real smile from you…or at least a fake one

In which you say, “At least you tried,

Unlike all those times that you didn’t before.”

I’ve always climbed back up again

Despite the boulders of disapproval

You hurl at me, again and again and…

I’ve lost count how many times I’ve

Fallen to the bottom and had to

Build myself back up, but am I really

Built back up? Or am I as broken as the first time?

I tell myself I’m ready to face your frowns

Your obvious disapproving, disappointing thoughts

I tell myself it doesn’t matter what you think

But it does, deep inside…it always does

Then when I think I finally have it together

That I’m a stone fortress, impenetrable

No matter what you say, I cannot fall down—

It all unravels

The smiles, the tears,

The things I’ve built up

Over the last few years,

I fall to the bottom once again…

I don’t know if I can climb up again.

Drowning in white-capped obsidian waves

Lost in the deep ever always never cruelly blue

Until you’re drowning it’s the equivalent of falling

Sinking is eternal and fear is raw raw raw 

It’s always blue-sad blue, crying blue, hurting blue

Blue is a refraction of mourning, a reflection of me

Until it’s passion vengeance broken fire burning red

Cold still broken mean accepting fateful demise

But alive means red red red-red defines the hate 

Crimson lips contrast to the fangs hidden underneath

Shiny vermillion polish disguises livid claws in red

They wanted me a porcelain doll with lips painted shut 

Stolen smiles and perfect lies under layers of paint

The waves cresting higher to my cold stone cheeks lips neck

Ironically sinking like an anchor rivaling my shattered state

It’s red it’s blue blueredblueredblueredredredredredredred

It hurt and she hurt and I hurt and she made them hurt

Escape means defiance but I’m so so so tired of this big mess

Numb fingers skim the water searching for something solid

Salty tears slip down and plunge into brackish waves

Veneers of the unspoken slip off my now fragile shoulders

Forged memories of what was love unravel against the tide

The red that ebbed my vision fades into a serene blue

Dreaming blue sleeping blue falling blue forever blue

The waves are no longer the monsters that I thought

Lips red red twitch into a tranquil sense of peace

Foamy spray diminishes as my head sinks further 

All fear fades as I plummet to a great blue unknown

Why did I fear the protection of the deep dangerous blue?