I'm sorry this is so late! Ot was so hard to judge. All of your entries were amazing!

Honorable Mentions:

Milly Sunstar - I loved the rhythm! It flowed very well!

Spellbound - Short, but to the point -- really well-written

Periwinkle - I loved this metaphor! I love the idea of arranging your life in shapes.

3rd place:

Peppermint - I think the rhyming worked really well! The repition, too. I loved imagining it!

2nd Place: 

Luminescence - your descriptions were amazing, and your interpretation of the theme was really cool!

1st Pace:

Jaybells - I loved all the different peices you included, and the general idea! It was very vivid, too.

Nice job everyone! The next theme is "greatest fear" and will be due in two weeks as usual (July 11th).

Good luck, and I look forward to seeing all of your entries!

the safe terror of a closet

"what are you doing?" is the question i always hear, and i answer,

"nothing much," pushing my thoughts into the corner of my room where my other struggles live

and i curse this world where "nothing much" means hearing "i love you no matter what" echo through my head

and dreading the day i'll know if it's really true.

because i can put a label on the kinds of days i have 

(a fake wanting to be part of something, or

someone too scared to embrace the truth)

and i can label myself; but i can never say for sure

if your love is real if you don't think i am.

so i worry and question and fear on my own

then crumple it up and put it away for another time, and plaster on a smile

for someone i wish i didn't have to fear. 

To be scared is

to be

locked alone in a

dark place

to be scared is

to be

stuck in a place

too small

to move.

to be scared is

to be

alone in life with

no one there

to help

you.

to be scared is

to be

lost in you're own

mind, stuck there,

unable to

leave.

the greatest fear is 

change from what used

to be alive

to what in

one moment becomes 

gone. 

AHHH I have an idea which I have been *trying* to write down with no success . . . let's see if I come up with something by the deadline!

Here's mine:

Infamous

All my life,

I have taken great measures

To make sure I am never alone,

To make sure I get the love I never really got,

To make sure I have everything,

And now I have lost it all

It didn't work.

I thought maybe if I changed every little flaw

About myself 

And was perfect and pretty and cool

That the world would finally see me

And adore me

I was wrong.

They all abandoned me

Even if I never let the tears

Come out

I was sure I’d be loved

I needed to be loved

I wasn't.

Oh, world,

Please, don’t let me fade away

I don’t want to go unseen

I need someone to care 

For just one time

I need someone to remember me

But now I am forgotten.

I used to fear the past,

I still do, 

But I thought I could hide 

It all 

By making the future perfect

But now?

Now, I see my greatest fears come true again.

Um, yikes, sorry about the deadline....

Do you still want more time, Feline Fantasy? I'll move the deadline it to the end of the week (the 18th) if you do want an extension.

Does this make sense to you?

~ ~ ~

I can't tell you.

My greatest fear is

too strong, too

frightening.

It strangles me,

just thinking it.

It wraps around

my mind with

it's sinuous coils.

I can't tell you my greatest fear because –

it's come true.

My greatest fear

was loosing you. 

A poem about fear and other random stuff 

What is my greatest fear, and

how is it any different from my other fears

that buzz around the shadows in my mind,

unseen,

ready to attack 

when night falls.

How can a person name a fear?

Are they not all the same in the end?

Just a sense of helplessness,

a deafening feeling of no.

Is my worst fear of losing myself,

or losing others,

is it of never loving properly,

or maybe of disease,

of being responsible

for people.

Maybe my worst fear is of fear,

because after all

fear never leads to anything good.

If I learned my worst fear, would I write about it,

our keep it locked up like all my other fears, 

in the deepest chambers of my mind?

Fear is not worth the pain, but

I haven't yet learned to control it. 

Hi Jaybells, I think the judging date passed. Feline Fantasy said that you can do the judging without her. Are you extending the date again and I just missed it? Sorry and thanks!

Sorry, I'm really, really bad with deadlines, here we go again-

Honourable Mentions:

> Luna-Starr: Although just a tad incoherent, it's honestly a bit creepy how the speaker feels like something of a weak impostor, and is more fearful of those they should have a close relationship with, at least by my interpretation. I really like I because of that, and the sadness that naturally comes with the scenario. Great job!

> Peregrine: Oof, yours has the feel of ill-fated lovers and I'm probably reading to deep into this and making unnecessary headcanons, but I think it rings of "tragedy," even though the circumstances are not explained, and the poem is more focused on the after-effects. It's cool! And sad... But also cool!

Third Place:

> Cranberry: I think it's interesting how your speaker declares that claustrophobia, loneliness and dying/fading are the greastest/'most true' fears. It's definitely a new perspective for me, and I can't help but become more curious and simultaneously sorta nervous when thinking about it. Great imagery, and props for staying very organized! 

Second Place:  

> WordSong: I like your interpretation of the theme a lot, since it most closely mirrors my own beliefs, that fear is just a discomfort and dislike of the unknown and/or loss. I also find it intriguing that your speaker would rather leave it unsaid until they can control it better; like they want to deny that there is a problem at all until they can conquer it, and then there is no problem, since they've already dealt with it. It's an interesting sort of bid for power, and also a look into denial, in my mind. I really like this one!

First Place:

> Periwinkle: Your poem is honestly absolutely tragic. The way that the fear of being imperfect or unaccepted led them into that exact situation, like a self-fulfilling prophecy; gold! I love it! (despite that key angst-factor) It strikes really hard with my compelling-angst-writer-brain and makes me want to pick up a pen and write yet another story.

~~~~~~~~~~

Congrats everyone, you all did a great job! Hope to see you in the next round!

Ciao~