1045 words
Submissions for the Annual Poetry Winners Competition are officially closed and the winners have been selected! We're very excited. Winners have been notified and selected by notification! Thank you to all who participated in this year’s contest. The panel of judges was truly impressed by the quality of submissions and the selection process was difficult. Winners were judged on the quality of writing and command of their craft. Poetry is difficult. Every word counts. We therefore chose those submissions that demonstrated particular aptitude for econony of style and refined technique. Winners will receive a free Entertainment Box and 1-year subscription to content.
Here are the winners in order from this to that.
——
Turning The Screw of The World’s Screw
by Vert M. Vertmer
O how the wind blows
Into the ravine of that place
Where she promised me she always goes
into the space of that space
I walked alone through the valley
And wondered
Why
Why
Why
How many more were there to be
Upon thy forethought thy
brow doth be furrowed
Within the music it is to be burrowed
The turn of the world is reflected in your face
When I looked not once, not twice, not once
Not twice, not once, not twice, not once
twice but not once
Once but twice
Only once and only twice onccce
Twice and yet once, once but
Twice, not twice, not twice or once
but twice when it was once
twice, only once
ttttttwwiceeeee TWWWICE
onceeee TWIIIICE WITH IT.
——
Moon in the Sky
by Aki D. Devriki
The only circle in the sky
I was looking there once a day
The ageless father, the elegant mother
Proof positive that a single drop of the chemical can cause lethal burns when applied to the skin
I see the moon in the sky
Just a dusty coin
An orb
Nay, a perfect yellow reminder
of the failures of this city
to provide for its citizens' basic needs
I get lost in the moon
The moon of the world
The moon that sits up there
Looking like a moon, seeking
a moon
a light
like a moon
being a moon
t h e l u n a r m o o n
It’s a moon
Yep the moon has no moon
For the moon, verily, remains, to this day
a moon
The fishing boat
Under the moon
Has the moon
It’s a moon
Just a moon to look at
Look at it
Just look at the moon
Are you looking at the moon right now
Look at the moon and enjoy it
For it is a moon
And none other
The trombone plays a note at the moon.
———
Consider Her Smile
by Brep Palbermem
Consider the wind
Consider the windmill
Consider the hill
Consider the hindmill
Consider the mountain
Consider the fountain
Yeah yeah yeah
Yeah yeah yeah
Yeah yeah yeah
Yeah yeah yeah
Okay
Consider it
Now take it over here
Just to the left of that painting
that hangs in the hallway
Dark and unlit without light to light it so it’s dark
Do you feel it?
Do you taste it?
Do you sense it?
Do you feeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee
DDDDDDDDDDDDDDDO
Consider the long-form letter
composed by hand
after long nights by candlelight
flickering in your dim study
orange and yellow
Incense lit
Smoking
S M O K I N G
Smoking
Smooooking
smmmmmmmmmmoking
uhhhhhh
Ok
S-m-o-k-i-n-g
Torn apart
Rip that letter up
It sucks
For it doth suck
You cannot write
You cannot get out.
The words of this letter contain hidden secrets that you can’t confess
Burn the letter
Burn it!
BURN IT!!!
Into the flames it goes
Shrivels
Crumples
Smokes up and away
Look how the paper curls like
t e n d r i l s in the night.
The paper is on fire
Yeah yeah yeah
Yeah Yeah
Yeah
Okay
——
Storms On It
by Folojlllmmmmmmmmmmmmers
I strolled past the headstone. It read “I wish I had gotten there in time to be there when it was time to be there as needed instead of when I got there which was not soon enough and not in time to be needed.” It struck me as a funny thing. I gazed at it, the crumbling stone weathered by countless seasons, worn down by an age of regret and sorrow. And yet perhaps not. Perhaps the storms were celebrating the headstone and the message. I continued walking.
——
Workin’ on the Workdays
by Ol’ Dusty Damplesee
Well well well
Look at the traffic!
Zooming up zooming down
Up the hill and down the trail
Love it love it love it!
We work on the workdays
YES WE DO
We work on the workdays
YOU DO TOO
Pick a job
(any job)
It’s your job
(if you have it)
I’m a worker in the day and a man at night
Providin’ for those who need it
Givin’ to those who like it
(Work work work)
In the morning the alarm
G O E S O F F
Like a bell in the night
I shuffle out of bed with a sigh and a cry:
“TODAY! I WORK THE DAY AWAY!”
In the afternoon the bell rings once
(Time for lunch)
I go to the fridge
Grab my food
(Eat eat eat)
(Still eating)
(Eating still)
(eating lunch at lunchtime)
(heating up my food at lunch)
(l u n c h)
(food eating)
(nothing wrong with that, you gotta eat)
(((((((((( EAAAATINNNNNNGGGGGGGGG))))))
In the evening the whistle blows
G O E S O F F
Like a scream in the night
“Time’s up!” I cry in delight
For the day is ended
The work is done
My evening is mine
The night has begun