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

tysm!!! I worked during school on it, as my computer class 80% is just free tech time XD

submitted by KatanaLuna, age >:3, Falling in a raven autumn
(September 27, 2024 - 7:45 am)

I haven't fully decided how I feel about this one, but I don't think it's going to get any better, so here it is!

 

my mother weaves a tapestry, floral, endless,

slightly messy
in the depths of a summer long
long ago, inside a barren tower,
and she won’t know why she did it ‘til
she’s thirty six
and knows the allure of the romanticized
passtime – seventeen years old
and she wants to be a fairy tale.
she weaves in the abandoned tower
by candlelight and battery lanterns, instructions from an
antique book [the book is
dead now, as so many things are
as everything will be]
the only way to avoid an end
is to avoid beginning.
it hangs on the wall inside
the sunroom, with its honeyed yellow
walls, and three houseplants [only
one of which is dead] and the edges
[just the edges, now]
have started to fray. i am three 
and i pick at them 
while my mother doesn’t watch me,
reads a book, the honeyed
yellow sunshine falling on her fingers,
on my curls, neither of us knew 
what we were breaking.
i am twelve now, and i think it’s pretty 
to laugh under the moon, to think “if only”, 
write in cursive, watch the seagulls fly 
away to warmer days
and my mother put the tapestry 
in a wooden frame
painted gold [honeyed yellow, really
but with plastic sparkles 
that catch the sun]
and i have no friends 
but i’m hopeful, in a slightly 
hopeless way. i’ve stopped picking at the tapestry,
because it’s easier to find an edge
in the raveled mess of matter
inside my head,
and the sadness only grows, 
but as mother says,
it’s good to have something to 
do with your hands.
sixteen, sitting in the sunroom.
glass panes of windows gleam.
light illuminates my dyed-purple hair.
i sit and wonder.
[the tapestry in my lap, unframed]
[and i think about the phone call] 
[and the funeral]
and the fire in the candle burns
inches from the edge
it would take hardly a hiccup
to set it burning.
[just an accident would do it]
[and oh, how it would burn]
[like fireworks, or california]
but i don’t waver. 
i am stronger than a whim, at least 
today. i’ll unravel my mind
but i must leave her art intact –
it was a cruel thought to think,
but crueler to do.
and i set the candle down,
set the tapestry in its peeling yellow frame
hang it on the faded yellow wall
it’ll unravel in time – won’t we all –
but i won’t make it go early.
no one should have to go early.
submitted by WordSong, age Forever, Under a Rock
(September 28, 2024 - 7:11 am)

this poem is amazing!

submitted by Woodwind
(September 28, 2024 - 9:11 pm)

Thank you so much!

submitted by WordSong@Woodwind, age Forever, Under a Rock
(September 29, 2024 - 5:24 am)

-apart

It’s hard to keep yourself together
Easy to fall apart
Just a tug at the seams
Ripping loose strings
A precise cut
Getting torn inside out
Like kitten claws
That grab balls of yarn
Rolling it across the floor
Spooling out
Tangled in knots that can’t be undone
Attemts to leap over the fence
To jump outside the box
But always snagging
Tumbling over
Tearing - leaving - a bit - behind
A well placed word
A sneering smirk
Can make anyone 
Explode
But doing so 
Splits yourself 
In two
Jagged
A storm around and
The calm within
Rain can make tears for dry eyes
Washing everything away
Even yourself
Because it’s easy to just
Unravel
submitted by Hawkstar
(September 28, 2024 - 9:42 am)

because who would not want the sun?

who could feel its warmth, the fragrance it drew out of golden-green grass and perfume bottles and the way it made everything brighter and yet you couldn't even properly look at it,

and not want to reach it?

how can you resist being part of the sky, a bit too much dizzying blue, a bit too much power?

who could resist flight, in short?

it can't be called surprising that intoxicatingly new things called to him,

that he felt he was building dreams

(which he was - on air),

that he was a teenage boy higher than the sky,

and how perfect that he could reach the sun

(or thought he could),

that for a few fragile moments he was released from fate

(or thought he was.)

and after a century of imprisonment,

how could freedom not do this?

how could he resist the urge to be completely free?

how, with wings, could he keep from using them?

and maybe for a few minutes it was worth it, to feel the power that was not really there, to have a glimpse of possibilites beyond the possible,

maybe for a few moments it was perfect, to almost attain the sun,

maybe for a few seconds it was enough, to dream.

and the only trouble was that those few seconds were gone before he knew it,

because they were never going to be eternity,

and his wings unraveled,

and his dreams unraveled,

and his dreams betrayed him and the sun that had pulled him up here let him drop,

and he was icarus, and his dreams crashed and burned.

submitted by Amethyst
(September 29, 2024 - 6:24 pm)

Wow I love this poem. It feels very powerful~

submitted by Moon Wolf@Amethyst, age lunars, A Celestial Sky
(September 30, 2024 - 11:46 pm)

I like this a lot. It's beautiful and painful but lovely somehow.

submitted by Jaybells, Lost, somewhere
(October 1, 2024 - 5:09 am)

Tysm, lizards!! That means so much to me <3

submitted by Amethyst
(October 2, 2024 - 8:16 am)

EEP I really love the theme and want to enter so bad! I already have a draft--also, October 5th, the deadline, is the day of my first choir concert *gasp*! (Sorry, that was really random.)

 

submitted by Cloud Bunny, age forever, Up in the Clouds
(September 30, 2024 - 6:50 pm)

winter is made up of springs,

a tight white rope wound out of thousands of strands,

the innumerable colors of each thread blending into an indistinguishable blur,

but

look

white is splitting back into all the colors of the rainbow

the coiled rope untwists into thousands of

new leaves white clouds saplings myriads of flowers

starring the grass like dust from the explosion

listen

the tight chord of silence

is being unwound into millions and millions of birds' songs

and horses whinnying as they gallop across the pasture

and your dad's lawnmower on flower-scented May mornings

and you know something is

happening

winter is 

un-

ra

vel- (spr)

ing

submitted by Poinsettia, very e e cummings
(October 1, 2024 - 8:31 pm)

*gasp!* that ending! All of this! I LOVE THIS!!!! :DDD

submitted by Celine@Poinsettia
(October 1, 2024 - 11:21 pm)

The threads unravel under my fingertips 

Dragging across the fabric

My thoughts falling apart in solidarity 

I am becoming undone

Chaos claims control

Sensibility is banished to the darkness

Folded away until it’s no longer distinguishable

Waiting and waiting for it to come back

Building it up

Weaving in and out 

A smile on my face

But every day, I come back—

Unraveled

_______________________________________
(very slightly/lightly inspired by Penelope of Ithaca, but mainly just that the first two lines popped into existence immediately upon seeing the prompt so I ran w/it then realized it sorta reminded me of her so yk) 

submitted by Rainbow, Unraveled
(October 4, 2024 - 11:02 pm)
thanks to everyone who submitted a poem! sorry I'm a little late on judging--been super busy this weekend! this was really hard to judge, but I love reading everyone's work <3
honorable mentions: 
(in no particular order)
jaybells-- I love all of your poetry and this piece is no exeception! the rhyme scheme and word choice feels every clean and precise. the visuals are perfect, especially the line "Fragile as a tower of cards made of sheets of bone". amazing job!
moonwolf-- this is a really powerful piece. your use of italics added so much dimension throughout the poem and helped to create a sense of uncertainty. I especially liked the ending--the contrast between the phrase "I cannot fall down" and the following lines was very impactful!
hawkstar-- I really liked this poem! I can tell you chose your words very deliberately because they all work together so well. your use of short lines is also really impressive! the images in this are so vivid. my favorite line is "Rain can make tears for dry eyes". great job!
rainbow-- this piece is so well done! it appears simple at first, but it holds a lot of meaning. I like the way the last word, "unraveled", ties in with the very beginning of the poem. the middle stanza was my favorite. every line feels really powerful! 
katanaluna--this poem is stunning! the repetition of the word "blue" was what really pulled me into this piece. it creates an almost uneasy feeling that gives the poem so much more depth. your imagery is also amazing! the last line "Why did I fear the protection of the deep dangerous blue?" is perfect. it's such a poweful way to end this poem. great job! 
amethyst-- I love this interpretation of the myth of icarus! it's such a classic, but this poem made it feel fresh again. you write so beautifully. I think the use of questions works really welll in this, and I like the way you incorporated parentheses too. my favorite line was the very first one, "because who would not want the sun?". 
third place: poinsettia! 
I absolutely love unique imagery and this piece is such a great example of it. I love the idea of describing winter as springs, especially since it's a play on words. The little details you include, like "starring the grass", "chord of silence", and "flower-scented", really bring this poem to life. the ending is also really clever! I love reading your work <3
second place: pangolin!
this is a really impressive poem! to start, I really liked the formatting--it makes the poem feel organized and approachable. I also thought this was an interesting interpretation of the prompt and such a perfect way to describe rage. all of the analogies feel really vivid. my favorite stanza was the last one! the lines "you’ll only find out what’s it’s made of / when you let it unravel" are stunning. 
first place: wordsong!
wow, this is beautiful! this piece crafts such an intriguing story, and I was immediately hooked from the start. the idea of following this tapestry throughout its life and interactions with the mother and daughter is really interesting, and you executed it very well. I also liked how you added extra information with the brackets--it was a good way to give the reader some more details. congratulations!!
submitted by pepper - judging!, age 17
(October 6, 2024 - 1:12 pm)

Thank you so much! I wasn't super confident about that poem, so that was a delightful surprise.

The next prompt will be stumble, and I will be judging on Sunday, October 20. Good luck!

submitted by WordSong, age Forever, Under a Rock
(October 6, 2024 - 2:48 pm)
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