Post by Master of Tacos on Feb 10, 2019 12:25:35 GMT -5
Welcome to the February Poet Laureate Contest, all about growth. Below are the poems I received, ordered randomly by RANDOM.org. Anyone may vote in this contest, and the poem with the most votes earns its author the title of Poet Laureate! Remember, still do NOT share the authorship of any entry with anyone but me until the contest is over (11:59 P.M. Pacific, Sunday, February 17th).
Please give the poets their due courtesy and read over all the poems before voting.
Good luck to everyone, and may the best poet win!
Entry #1
With the deadline growing closer
And my time thus growing short
I must quash my growing panic
Pen some verses, failure thwart
With Writer's Block that's growing bad,
Muddled mind that's growing blank,
And a Muse that's grown quite silent,
My high hopes are growing dank
I could praise my growing children,
Watch the flowers grow in spring,
I could talk of growing older,
Or the growing joy you bring,
I will leave you with this question,
Since it's time to turn this in,
Did my use of growing grow on you
And maybe grow a grin?
Entry #2
Getting taller by the day,
Flowering along the way,
More of change, and less bark;
Redeveloping your indelible type.
Seeds embedded in the soil
Neither grow, nor form
Without much toil in the soil
A youngster cultivated,
A parent filled by delight ,
A venture just borne,
Or a hope striding wide,
For every type of strain,
Strides are made each day,
There'll be growing pains with their gains,
All along the way and all for today.
Entry #3
I remember the day we met.
Too young to see the danger.
I didn't know the devil you were,
That you'd fill me with so much anger.
At first you gave me comfort,
Numbed me from the pain,
But the light you gave me faded,
Brought blackness to my veins.
Your trap worked as always.
I am not the only one to fall.
So many friends forever gone now;
No one's left to call.
Dragged me to rock bottom,
Each day a life in hell anew,
Felt there was no possibility
Of breaking this dependence on you.
Every day I woke
With only you on my mind,
Desperate for your love,
More desperate for you to die.
Through time I saw you were evil.
I watched you steal my soul.
Each time I tried to get away,
You would not let me go.
Tried to scream and cry,
Eventually accepted my fate.
Everyone had tried to warn me,
And now it was too late.
Family and friends could never understand,
Couldn't hear my silent plea.
They did not want to see
The sick effect you had on me.
You locked me in a cell.
You made me freeze at night,
Made me deceive those I loved,
Made me live in constant fright.
Left broken, battered, and bruised,
My number of scars grew.
Both physical and mental,
While the number of wasted years flew.
Went through the motions like a zombie.
No longer did I see
Any type of future
In this world for me.
You erased any shred of hope
When everyone turned their backs.
Difficult to escape this dark hole and cope,
Impossible to defend against your attacks.
I knew no church, no God.
YOU, my ultimate power.
No way to know real love.
I was now a rotted, dead flower.
Then one day it happened.
Most amazing hope one moment brings,
And I decided then and there
That I would grow my wings.
No longer will you take from me
Like you have stolen all these years.
You will never take my life.
No longer will I cry these tears.
I will deal with the pain.
I will swallow all my pride.
I will deal with my life of rubble.
I'm prepared for this difficult ride.
If it kills me to leave you,
Then I will gladly die,
Because with you I'm only surviving,
And I have been destined to fly.
I will soar, laugh, and smile,
Will breathe my life once more.
I will go back to a time
Before you came knocking at my door.
Entry #4
So Grow Me
I dreamed I was a human
But my toes dug hard the earth.
Imagined food through mouth
But leaves and roots filled me.
Ambitious to move and win
But toes dug hard the earth.
Wanted to travel experience
Not sun and snow on bark.
Squirrels put nuts inside me
A bank account with interest.
Birds also nested on me
Like children soon to leave.
Regarded eternal time line
Clouds and rain above me.
Faster, more direction full
Than leaves on forest floor.
That science complete and solved
Went to art seeking greater truth.
My third time colors were brighter
Than grim pine who had none.
That contest won, I turned
To things that quicken sap.
Some argue fire and chainsaw
Are better than old ones rot.
Considered such without resolution
While toes dug hard the earth.
Soon distracted by acorns who
In time became young saplings.
So cycle passes many times
A I put on more rings.
Should I try to run or diet?
Move what moves around me?
