I thought rain was an interesting theme, because it can mean so many different things to different people, and I was absolutely blown away by everyone’s poems. It was really difficult to choose a winner, and I wish I could give you all first place. I cannot, unfortunately, but I tried my best to give everyone individual comments and compliments. 

HONORABLE MENTIONS

Poinsettia ~ Haiku is one of my favorite forms of poetry, but I haven’t seen a lot of them on this thread, so I was really excited to see that you’d written one! Haiku can be a difficult form of poetry (I know from experience…) but I think you’ve done it quite well: it’s short and sweet, without seeming as though the syllable limit has constrained you at all. The imagery is especially vivid, and I love the last line “streaming tears of rain.” I think your poem is really beautiful, great job :D 

~Amarillis~ ~ Okay, first of all, your poem most definitely does not suck. The rhythm of the poem is really nice and even, and I love the comparison of living life as an outcast to being a raindrop. It can be a difficult concept to write about, but I think you did it really well. Your poem is sad and longing and is really, really relatable. I love the last stanza, especially how the shift between second-person to first-person pronouns drives the point home. Overall, you did an excellent job! I’d love to see more of your poetry, and the Poetry Contest thread is a great place to grow as a writer <3

Jaybells ~ All of your poetry is so beautiful and thought-provoking, and this is no exception. I really like how you included the dual meanings of rain, especially at the beginning of the poem – “One's treasure, another's torture, / Spelling comfort or disaster, / Depending who you ask.” The figurative language and imagery is masterful and incredibly vivid, and I especially like the lines “The moist monsoon air / Coming far too close to a great serpent / Bent on squeezing the breath from his lungs.” I also really like how you touch upon death and give your poem a sort of somber mood, before ending on a positive note of new beginnings with the last two lines. It’s dark and thought-provoking and so incredibly rich with figurative language. 

Ayles C. ~ Your poetry always has a really nice rhythm to it, which can be difficult but you always do it really well. I also really like how you describe the storm, especially the lines “Rain hits my window, / I see clouds rolling in. / Branches start waving, / Here comes the wind!” The questions the speaker asks in the middle of the poem (“Will I survive? / Is this the end?”) adds another dimension to the poem by showing how a storm can wreak havoc and be dangerous. It ends on a positive note, however, with the wind calming and the storm ending. Overall, I think you did a really nice job conveying both the destruction storms can cause, and the hopefulness that the sun will shine again. :)

BookGirl ~ I love the repetition of “Rain” in your poem! It’s short and sweet, and really conveys the speaker’s love for the rain. The first line “Rain, the sound of it pattering on the roof” is very effective in helping the reader visualize the rain you’re describing. I also really like the rhymes! Your poem has a fun, almost playful tone, and I think it does a really good job of capturing the speaker’s love for the rain. :D 

THIRD PLACE: Lyric ~ Your poem is fabulous! I love rhyming poetry, especially poems written around the turn of the 20th century, and I think you’ve really nailed that style. The personification and imagery were really well done, and I also really appreciate the rhythm, meter, and rhymes – none of which feel forced. I like how each stanza focuses on different forms rain can take – a dark, depressing force that keeps back the sunlight, a gentle rain necessary for flowers to grow, a cold and troublesome rain causing leaks. The last stanza really emphasizes the different ways rain can act – the contradiction of being both fierce and gentle, of being both a dictator and a playful child. 

SECOND PLACE: Hex ~ I love your poem so so much – I find the theme of burdens very relatable, and I think you’ve captured their crushing weight really well in your poem. The imagery in the third stanza is beautiful but dark – which is your intention – and I especially love the lines “and beautiful surging tides of relief will turn into dank heavy reminders of every fear and worry, / dripping down and down and down smudging lines across your face and saturating everything until it becomes too heavy to even try to lift”. I also like how you explored different meanings of/ways of perceiving rain with the contradiction “feeling so tiny, so insignificant / but so powerful” in the first stanza and then the shift in the second stanza, which is really cool. 

FIRST PLACE: Artemis ~ This poem is so beautiful <3 I love the subtle repetition between the first two stanzas which begins to convey the idea that we’re not all different. Your use of parentheses to express the internal struggles of the two characters is effective and makes your poem so, so relatable. And then the last stanza so perfectly emphasizes the message of your poem – that, though it often feels like it, we’re not alone in life even when things get hard. I also love the language you use throughout the poem – it’s beautiful, almost ethereal? I especially like the line “(he fancies he has turned into another atlas with the pressure of the day he has almost left behind, a mountain grown incrementally)”. Honestly, I’m in awe. 

@Artemis, you’re the next judge!

So this poem isn't my greatest; I didn't spend very long on it at all. But I do seem to compare things like this (like chocolate, or raindrops) to life/people/emotions.... Anways hope it's good? When I first saw the "paper" theme, my mind went to the song Burn in Hamilton, but I thought maybe I should take a break (sorry) from all this non-stop (sorry again) Hamilton, so I came up with this. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Paper

Paper is like a life

Thin, easily torn

Tattered or burned

People say, 

“What’s the difference

Of just one sheet?”

But they add up

Soon whole forests

Get cut down

It can cut

Causing pain so big

Hard to imagine from something so small

But one paper

Can change

Lives

It can be happy

Like an invitation to a party

Or a letter from a friend

So use your paper wisely

Try not to waste it

Use it to help others

It might seem tiny

Almost insignificant 

But just one can change the world

paper diamonds

i’m a better liar than my friends all give me credit for

i’ve lied to her because i don’t know what’d happen if she knew -

if she knew it’s more than just i like a girl

if she knew it was i can’t stand you when you’re up there 

under the lights of the stage, i can’t stand you because you’re just

amazing 

if she knew that girl was her

and of course, it’s more complicated than that as well

there’s also you -

which is stupid and sad and kinda makes me feel bad for myself

(especially the day you found out, my soul left my body)

but because you already know i may as well declare that i like you too

i know you don’t care about that

and so far it hasn’t changed much, which i like

but you don’t know about her, because you like her

and she likes you 

and that makes sense (or at least more sense than me, a maybe-bi mess) -

her upbeat, supportive attitude 

with your stupid jokes and overconfidence

everyone thinks you’re adorable together and everyone’s so happy for you

and nobody knows that the only reason i never laughed at your jokes

was because i didn’t want you to know i thought you were funny

and nobody knows how lovely i think she is

still, i can see why you chose each other

where i hide my face she stands tall and proud

where my sentences fade into the air, unnoticed, yours are heard

by everyone in the room

where i get bruised she bounces back and where

i’d break down, give up, run away, you’d keep pushing forward

you’re both made of diamond, beautiful and strong and true

but baby, i’m just made out of paper

it’s all i ever was 

it’s all i’ll ever be

my life is like paper

my life is like paper,

ripped, stained, discolored

i tried to tell her, but

she didn't listen. 

i dream about stolen

kisses, on the wind 

with her.

but what if

what if she doesn't like me

what if she rejects me

what if she laughs at me

and then i will cry.

the tears i have been holding in 

will all come tumbling out 

and the question is

will she take pity?

or will she view me as nothing

but a smear of paper

we are friends

but my heart has been broken too many times

and she picks up the pieces

of me, says

'don't worry' because

she loves me too 

i used to be echo hallowswift, by the way.

it's a hellen keller situation in the poem, if you were wondering. :)

darkness

------------------ -------------- -------------- -------------- -------------- -------------- -------------- 

i don't know what it's like

to know the sounds of pages turning

nor do i know what it's like to read what letters say

i want to--

i certainly do--

but i can't, now that i've sunk into darkness.

it envelopes me.

i can't see,

i can't hear.

pitch black, both in sight and sound.

then, suddenly, someone slides paper beneath my fingers.

paper with bumps and pockets

they guide my fingers to the bumps and--

i can see.

perhaps not the way they see,

but i can feel.

i can feel the pages beneath my fingers

i can read the things they say

and this--

this means the world to me.

more than my savior will ever know. 

sorry, but change my poem's name to pages.

paper lament

hey, you

do you see me lying there?

two dimensional and blank

a simple sheet of paper.

pick me up and tear me into strips

douse me in glue

paste me together again

let me dry into a new form:

papier mâchè effigy.

or twist and fold me

(careful not to cut your fingers)

into fractured geometric shapes

all angles and sharp points:

serene origami crane.

I don't know what, exactly, or how,

but please

can you make me into something new

someone interesting?

I don't care how,

take a pair of scissors and chop me up

or take a marker and cover me with ink.

I don't care how

as long as I look striking and unique and pretty

and completely, utterly unrecognizable

from the blank sheet of paper

that I am now. 

I seem perfect,

on paper

but you won't see

my purple undercover

with eyes as dark as midnight 

and lips as thin as

the paper you fold,

so methodically

like your running out of time

like your running out of lines

im running out of ink in my pens

and all my papers go to waste but

they used to hold important things

they used to hold the designs for

my new eyes that could really see

my new smile that would keep them free

From worry about me 

my new heart that would never beat out of time

my new body that would never decay like

the old one did

new skin that would never turn to be as thin

as the paper I drew it on

i suppose it was a fantasy 

I am not a fantasy 

this poem is not a fantasy but

I crumple it, all the same  

this poem won't work

this poem is ugly

this poem is true. 

Paper towns

Crafted from nothing,

Dust upon the road. 

Constructs in the minds of us humans,

But what isn't, when it comes down to it.

Crumpled are those sheets of paper now, 

Towns awash in emptiness,

Whispers of Ghosts the only presence.

Something flutters in the wind, 

I wonder

Is it the next

Adventure, mystery, or grand story? 

My mind goes blank,

My paper is empty,

I think and think,

Can someone please help me?

No?

I get an idea,

A spark, 

An ember,

My pen hits the paper,

My poem is done!