Thanks so much, Abigail! And congrats to Stardust - I’m excited to start on my adventure poem!

Hi!

I'm going to submit my poem now, and I'll be the first one apparently, (no pressure on me), so, here we go!

Creeping through

The shadows,

Dashing through

The night.

She's a survivor

In a dead world,

Scavenging.

Snow falls in fast flurries,

Cinging to her hair,

Her makeshift robes,

The bag she brings

To steal the food,

The only thing

Keeping her alive.

It would be an

Everyday adventure,

For some,

But for her it's a job,

A chore,

Like taking out

The garbage

Would be,

For a normal person.

She's not normal.

Life is an

Adventure,

For everyone.

This,

Is not.

It's basically 3 different poems that kind of fit together about kind of the same thing. It's not great, but I hope you like it!

...You guys?

Ok, I guess I need to extend this. I get it, it's March. March is the worst. No holidays, full weeks of school, just altogether sad seasonal depression month.

Anyway, the deadline is now March 16th.

Please enter! 

I'M SO SORRY!!!^~^ (That no one posted!!! I hope that was clear XD) Yeah, I'm sorry, even though I'm just one person and coludn't have helped that no one posted.......I'm still sorry lol. Anyways, here's mine.

Adventure.....more like death sentence~

hair, flying, whipping around

sticks, leaves, crunching

as shoes, mud splattered and encrusted

with streaks of grass stain and hints at

history that can only be unfolded

and told by one, the one

who is running, heart thumping,

sweat flying past her ears

suddenly the brown and green

forest, a leafy, muddy mess

becomes a sea of grey

sharp, hard points and soft

moss-carpeted rocks, some

jagged, some smooth

when the girl jumps from one 

to the other, sliding and

slipping and gathering more

and more black and blue

bruises and slashes of deep

crimson, her mind swarms

she has no clue where she is going

until a crack slips out from a 

rock seated snuggly on

the rocky terrain,

then she knows she is going down

~

puddle of warm, salty sweat drip

from the forhead of the girl's face

and when she is out of bed

and out the door, she sighs

when she arrives in a loud, light

flickering, spit-ball smelling place

from a gum filled bright yellow 

bus, she sighs again

clangs and laughs ring out

as shoulders brush against hers

and the congested hallways

grow more and more

evil to her, as she just tries 

to make it through this nightmare

without falling through like

she had in the nightmare

the night before this horrid day

if you couldn't tell, it was a dream and then a girl going to middle school 

Log cabin, fireside

a time when a thousand unset suns would

collide and revel in their rainbow-soaked crowns, sitting

placidly on the yellow horizon for a 

golden-haired girl singing once upon a dream, when

i would fly unaided on wings of song, brush my

fingers against the honey-filled

clouds, bursting with hope and mystery; these

days, palm trees and beaches, mountains and

hushed woods, days that sit forever on the

mantle, old stories to be retold; once upon a 

time, i was young in courage and

old in wisdom, and i walked side-by-side with adventure.

Hey, it's judging day! Hooray! Now I'm rhyming. It's not May. My sister's using clay. She's baking it on a tray. Everything's okay. My favorite Star Wars character is Rey. No it's not. I'll stop now, haha. Anyway, now for the actual judging.

In third place, we have WordSong!

I loved the way your poem was clearly telling a story. I could see the girl in my mind's eye, snow in her hair, bag in her hand. I liked the idea of a dead world, and I was always wondering what was going on. Great job in general, my only critiques would be to try not to break up your ideas with line breaks, and not to explain away your metaphors, as it can break the immersion you've so masterfully created.

In second, we have Spellbound!

I felt like I was watching a movie in my mind when I was reading your poem, exciting aerial shots of your character running over rocks and through trees, and then the sudden contrast for the school section. Overall, the flow was very good and purposeful, and it was overall well-composed. I was wondering where you'd go when you had the whole beginning be a dream, and I feel like you did have some untapped potential there. You could have used that to create a deeper meaning, it would have really gone above and beyond. That said, the whole poem was very evocative, and I think you should title it Nightmare.

And... In FIRST PLACE... we have... yeah you guys already know this there's only one more poem... whatever imagine the suspense... Luna-Starr!!

I couldn't read your poem just once. I read it at least three times over at first. I know I've said this about everyone so far, but the imagery is just so evocative. It feels nostalgic and adventurous and just... so good, Luna-Starr! So good! It's like you picked a color palette for your words, I can't describe it. I'm always impressed when I see people on here manage to convey such a clear meaning in a short amount of words, as it's something I never seem to be able to do. Anyway, I loved your use of POV to help your meaning, and your careful use of tone to lead the reader in a given direction. I especially liked the "honey-filled clouds" and the "stories that sit forever on the mantle."

Congratulations all around, whether you got first or you just entered. You put pen to paper and wrote something down, and that is something to be proud of. This was a really fun round, and I can't wait for the next one. Seriously, this thing is the reason I write poetry. Keep writing, keep improving everyone! 

This turned out a bit darker than I intended, but hey, at least it's something!

swept in 

the girl sits on the cool beach,

staring out at the slate blue expanse

of layered waves.

the wind blows her sleek mess of hair to the side,

but she doesn’t feel the cool touch on her neck.

all she feels is the monotonous ripple of the water:

back

and forth

back

and forth

and with each repetition, she feels a piece of soul slide out

of her, join the others hidden beneath the waves.

with each repetition, she feels a tear dry from her eyes,

until she is swept in entirely, rocking

back

and forth

back

and forth

in an endless rhythm, absorbed 

by the blue