English Poetry Contest - April

child of the other side · Geplaatst: Wo Apr 02, 2008 16:34

Hello everybody and welcome to a new English Poetry Contest!
This challenge will be organized every month, by Marlie (child of the other side) and Charlotte (Sweet Hermione).

The idea is very simple. We decide the subject, you write the poem. (And of course, we’ll try to make an entry as well.) This can be anything that’s inspiring; another poem, a lyric, a title, a picture, a word, etc. We’ll try to vary the subject as much as possible.

Every participant has to maintain the following rules:

About the voting:

Well, those were the rules and now the most important part; PRIZES!

1st place - 40 sickles
2nd place - 30 sickles
3rd place - 20 sickles

No one can win the first price more than 3 times in a row. If so, SH / Cotos will decide what to do. I hope you all understand why we do this.

The subject of this month is YOU! Write a poem about yourself, your emotions, some memories, things you like, etc. As long as it is about you. That shouldn't be too hard, right?

Please send your poem between the 2nd and the 24th of April.
And you can vote between the 24th and 30th (24.00) of April.

We wish everybody good luck and lots of fun. If you have any suggestions, tips, notes or ideas; feel free to use the lovely pb-button, it’s begging to be pushed.

Charlotte (Sweet Hermione) and Marlie (Cotos).

Sweet Hermione · Geplaatst: Wo Apr 02, 2008 20:05

1st poem

The subject this month was 'you'. The last two years was some mess in my life, so I decided to write something about that. You're warned, it can get cheesy :') I choose to rhyme as less as possible because rhyme gives the feeling 'yes, this is right', and that's not how that period was. And since it's the subject of the poem...

---

My heart was dwelling in a garden of pain
Each flower a sting, each thorn made me bleed
But then her eyes blinded me, misguided me
As if her soul was within mine
If only I had known back then
It was just a dream
It was just what I wanted to see

My grief was consuming me as I couldn’t bear my life
The enticing ocean I could not resist
As I wanted to flow away with the meaninglessness
For that was how all of this felt
My endless endeavours to escape from the world
Just ended with a blink of an eye
As she held me in her grip, I was a willingly lamb

What does now remain but the question
Was she the wolf and I the pray
Or was it just the other way?

Sweet Hermione · Geplaatst: Do Apr 03, 2008 12:50

2nd poem

This poem I wrote is about the hard times I go trough. Sometimes things happen that are unexpected and unpleasant, things that make you feel a little like dying.
Those times make me think about what life really is about. I realize that some things may happen just to make us stronger in the end.

---

Stronger

Loneliness and Darkness
With a sparkling Light.
My Life keeps on turning
In Circels without an End
And I ask myself
A thousand times.

I search the World
But Never found what I’m looking for
And Never reached the Place where I was going
And I just can’t wait.

My Journey goes on
Untill the End
Of a new Beginning.
And I keep on believing
In what doesn’t exist.

I’m running
Forever going
I passed my Final Finish
And didn’t notice it
I left it behind me
And I don’t look back.

I don’t turn my Head away
From Problems and Mistakes
I know Today
Tomorrow, I’ll be Stronger.

Sweet Hermione · Geplaatst: Do Apr 03, 2008 14:07

3rd poem

This sort of sums up my general view on life. It's a bit messy, but that's probably because I tried to say a lot at once. Hope you like it (: Oh and please look beyond the cheesy title xD
By the way, when you understand the way my mind works (there are only a few people who do, but never mind) and when you look close enough, you might find that there are lots of things in this poem pointing in my direction.

---

Always look on the bright side of life

Late night strolls along the beach
Laughing fires filled with love
Dancing away in admiration

Guitars gently playing
Going out of their happy minds
Captivated by the smiling sun

Positive thinking is what I say
Picking sunflowers in the garden
Tender hearted banana ice cream

Summer beauty hugging me forever more
So I’ll never stop talking about you
Visual through teasing sunbeams

Writing letters on my reddish skin
When will we turn green?
Illustrating the news about free hugs

Silently kissing the night goodbye
Softly enjoying delicate songs and smiles
I turn and dance away

Sweet Hermione · Geplaatst: Wo Apr 09, 2008 17:05

4th poem

When I thought about myself, the first thing I thought about were promises. The thousand promises I make each day, and even more the promises I break the same day.

---

Broken

I sit and stare at the broken memories
For years I believed them to be locked
Save inside my head where no one comes
But now they are on the table, forcing me to see

Again I promises myself I will get better
I will get out of all these lies and live
Tomorrow, my new life will start
And tomorrow, all the broken memories will be fixed

Today will be the last day that I cry
I won’t return to you tomorrow morning
But when I’m leaving tonight you’ll beg me to return
And again the broken promises remain forgotten

Sweet Hermione · Geplaatst: Do Apr 10, 2008 14:08

5th poem

This subject was really difficult for me. I wrote in the past four years hundreds of poems about myself but none good enough. this poem has made me realize so many thing about myself and somewhere it helps me a bit with the situation I'm in at the moment.
I decided to start the poem with the moment I made one of my biggest mistakes ever. A mistake that is still following me every moment I feel down. It's emotional for me and somewhere I am really proud of it, because it gives me a good feeling about the past years.

---

Years passed since the first time
The first time in the passage
I could scream 'till my lungs failed
I could cry 'till my tears dried up

The one moment of truth
The one moment of betrayal
The steps were easily made
And the scars will never fade

Lies and broken smiles
It looked so easy at the beginning
But then again
Mistakes are so easily made

Walking in the dark
Searching for the light
Knowing that going back
Is the easy step

I tell you I learned from my mistakes
Knowing that I will still be lying
And give you the broken smile
Just to calm you down

Will I ever learn
To accept my mistakes?
Will ever learn
To live without the broken smiles?

Sweet Hermione · Geplaatst: Ma Apr 14, 2008 15:28

6th poem

This subject is hard for me. You'ld say that it's easy, just because it's about yourself, but it's hard to be honest. I am honest about this poem, I want to be me! Hope you like it..

---

I'm tired
tired of all those people around me
tired of their long faces
tired of their low level of energy
I'm getting tired of them

I want to be happy
cheerfull
maybe a litte weird
but they don't let me
I want to be me

Maybe it's time for me
to stop looking at them
to stop thinking of them
and be me
without being selfish

I am me

Sweet Hermione · Geplaatst: Vr Apr 18, 2008 8:04

7th poem

So, EPC - april. Subject: me. "Easy," I thought. I always write about my life, so... piece of cake. NOT! I couldn't think of ANYTHING to write about. It was pretty frustrating. Untill... (this is where the kettledrums come in xD)
I couldn't sleep last night, so I took my notebook, with no intention of actually writing something. And suddenly, this came out. And I don't think I could write something that's more about me than this poem. So, here it is.
(Oh, by the way, if you want to understand this poem, you've gotta know that my real name is Roos xD)

---

It's the complexity of simplicity that keeps me writing about the little things in my life

I saw a bird today
She landed on my garden
Wandered around for a while
Pecked at the lawn
Cleaned her feathers
And
Took wing
And flew off

I named her Roos

Sweet Hermione · Geplaatst: Vr Apr 25, 2008 14:14

And now, we want votes. A lot of votes.

About the voting
- Use more than 15 words to explain why you've chosen a certain poem. "I love it" won't do
- You only have three votes. The first vote will be 3 points, the second vote 2 points, and your last vote will be 1 point. We will count all these points per person. The three poets with the most points are the winners. Please, place these votes in the same post and think before you make a choice, we don't appreciate cheaters
- You have to vote before the given date, if you cast your vote later it doesn't count

How to vote:
My first/second/third vote goes to poem number:
Because:

You can vote till the 30th (24.00 o'clock.) of April. Good luck. ^^

Josse · Geplaatst: Zo Apr 27, 2008 18:49

Finally! I didn't forget to vote! : D
My first vote (3 pnts) goes to the first poem.
Why? Because it reminded me of the works of Oscar Wilde. I don't believe I could pay you a bigger compliment, so here you go.
I love the use of the words, the rithem and the question at the end. The poem sticks around.

My seccond vote (2 pnts) goes to the fifth poem. I loved the idea of a broken smile, it reminded me of a picture I once saw. I love the theme of easilly going back, it makes persons looks so vunerable, that we always want to return to our savest harbour.

My third vote (1 pnt) is for the seventh poem. It is indeed very short, and I belive the name Roos doesn't fit because it's a Dutch name and a English poetry. I would have picked Rose, but anyway. I love the idea of freedom, and in the simplisety of the poem, hides an enormous beauty. I liked it, it is very daring.

Pottergirl · Geplaatst: Wo Apr 30, 2008 18:49

This ain't gonna work if nobody's votin'! Come on people, vooooooting time!
I had a hard time voting, because the poems are so personal, it's really hard to criticize them (in both the good and the bad way).
I also noticed there were soooo much depressing poems, a lot of people seem to have had some really hard times in their life, or have a sort of pessimistic view on life! That really struck me.

First vote: 1st Poem
Why: I like the idea behind it. I like that you didn't rhyme because you thought rhyming makes a poem 'right', while the subject of your poem wasn't.
I do have to admit I thought it was a poem that made me feel utterly hopeless.

Second vote: 7th Poem
Why: First of all, I adore the title. I really do xD Especially because the title's almost longer than the whole poem :')
I just struggle a little with the 'Roos'-thing, just like Josse said. You could've changed it to 'Rose', because it fits better. But anyway, I really like the shortness and the simplicity of the poem.

Third vote: 6th Poem
Why: The whole concept behind this poem is the thing I like about it. The whole 'I am me'-thing. The poem sounds really self-conscious, which is a good thing (in my opinion). Chapeau (:

child of the other side

First of all I want to thank those two dearies who voted! SH and I really appreciate it. And of course, we thank the rest of you for participating.
Since SH received all the poems I cannot tell who has won but I will edit this post later. (:

1st place; Poem number 1 - (40 sickles)
2nd place; Poem number 7 - (30 sickles)
3rd place; Poem number 5 - (20 sickles)

Congrats everyone. The new contest will be opened asap.

Sweet Hermione

Congrats!

1st place: Poem 1 - Genner (40 sickles)
2nd place: Poem 7 - Loesewies Boterslag (30 sickles)
3rd place: Poem 5 - Catie (20 sickles)

Poem 2 - Dark_angel
Poem 3 - Pottergirl
Poem 4 - Josse
Poem 6 - Patricia