Poet Laureate Contest Winner 2/23

[Wille-Harlia]

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After a week of voting, with 5 out of a total of 9 votes, we have ourselves a winner for the February 2023 Poet Laureate Contest.

Join me in congratulating Aersoldorf on their victory with The Sands of Time as well as commiserating Margaux (Tick) and Manuelian Empire (Untitled)!

The Sands of Time
In masses they travel along
And following the crowd they then fall
Drawn by an invisible force
Their safety means nothing at all
Unseeing, unknowing they come
Their paths etched in stone by the fates
Throughout time itself they will plunge
They have no desire to escape
For thousands of years they’ve been used
By man as a means to an end
Stolen away from their homes
And caged in transparent pens
Put on display for the whole world to see
They fall in the pit marking time
Like lambs to the slaughter they come in great numbers
And wait for their turn in the line
Such thoughts as these have crossed my mind
From time to time in the past
And now unwilling to break with tradition
I reach out and turn the hourglass

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The Poet Laureate Contest will be back in June, so keep up the creativity, Islanders!

[Aersoldorf]

Well done, both of you. Honestly didn’t have high expectations for this contest and I’m pleasantly surprised. Thank you to everyone who entered a poem and to everyone who took the time to vote.

[Liberdon]

Congrats Aersoldorf and commiserations to the other contestants! All three poems were outstanding, and choosing one to vote for was a very tough decision. I loved seeing the different, creative ways in which all of you interpreted the contest’s theme of time!

[Aersoldorf]

I’d like to tell the story about my entry. I was pretty much extremely sick during the week that we were supposed to write. I didn’t feel good enough, nor did I find anything inspiring to write about. However, back in 1991, while stationed in VA during my time in the navy, I happened to see a short video on Nickelodeon that essentially depicted the grains of sand in an hourglass falling to the bottom in sheer terror. I felt compelled to write a poem about it. I was 21 at the time and that poem was actually the first poem that I wrote as an adult. It wasn’t perfect in rhyme scheme nor syllable count. I had posted it on some poetry discussion groups around 15 years ago and everyone criticized me for going with tradition instead of fighting it. Hence my absolute surprise at being chosen as the winner this time around.

[Jabberwocky]

A poetry discussion group, especially a young one, might feel compelled to be avant-garde,  cutting edge, pushing the boundaries of art. I don't suffer from the compulsion. 

[Paffnia]

Congrats Aersoldorf!

[Markanite]

Feb 22, 2023 22:01:48 GMT -5 Aersoldorf said:

I’d like to tell the story about my entry. I was pretty much extremely sick during the week that we were supposed to write. I didn’t feel good enough, nor did I find anything inspiring to write about. However, back in 1991, while stationed in VA during my time in the navy, I happened to see a short video on Nickelodeon that essentially depicted the grains of sand in an hourglass falling to the bottom in sheer terror. I felt compelled to write a poem about it. I was 21 at the time and that poem was actually the first poem that I wrote as an adult. It wasn’t perfect in rhyme scheme nor syllable count. I had posted it on some poetry discussion groups around 15 years ago and everyone criticized me for going with tradition instead of fighting it. Hence my absolute surprise at being chosen as the winner this time around.

Lovely story to go with the poem.

Congratulations!