These people

These words

Telling-

Commanding-

You to have courage.

But this world's not kind.

This world's terrifying.

"Have courage,"

They say,

"Keep your chin up,"

They say,

Neglecting the tears on your face.

Neglecting the knife at your heart.

One wrong move,

It's a done deal.

You try to have courage.

You speak up for yourself;

Defend your beliefs;

Tread your own path;

"How dare you!"

They say,

"You can't do that!"

They say,

Pulling you down with them.

Pulling you into despair...

Again.

But you nurture that which is left,

You keep it in the dark,

The dark that hides you,

The dark that saves you

From the light that blinds;

From the light that burns.

You keep your courage.

It keeps you.

Keep it strong,

I say this to you both,

Keep it alive,

Burning,

Hopeful,

Courageous.

~

Whelp let's see how this goes down. 

(A lone wolf)

(A deer with no herd)

(A flower in the middle of winter)

A girl joining a new school in the middle of the year 

(A fish on land)

(A cat in water)

The girl in her school cafeteria

(A dragon guarding its treasure)

A table full of popular students

(A mouse challenging a lion)

Approaching the table

(Error. Error. Incomparable.) 

And saying, "Hello."

(I'm assuming the prompt is still courage?)

This poem's about a real experience! Hope you enjoy >.< 

Talking To A Stranger

Walk up to the girl 

Tap

Tap her shoulder

"Um -"

"Hi."

Smile is returned.

"I was wondering - "

Deep holes of dizziness

Dark caves of endless laughing

Mocking

Looking like a fool

"I was wondering if -"

So stupid

Can't do it

Look like a weirdo

Cheeks flush red.

Laughter vile and cruel

Endless days of judgement

So strange, can't talk

Must seem

So stupid.

"I was wondering if you knew-"

Deep breath.

Deep breath in

Deep breath out

In

And out.

In

And out.

Simple.

"I was wondering if you knew about the Debate team?"

Nods.

Being New

I bike down the roads

The first day of school

I recently moved here

I’m nervous, being new

Everyone already has friends

Everyone except for me

I see them all play together

It makes me so lonely

School at last begins

I keep my head down

Pay attention to my work

My face in a frown

Soon, recess begins

I don’t know anyone

I look around the playground

Seeing if there is someone

Someone who is new like me

Needs a friend so they can play

I notice a girl sitting alone

Yet I just stay in place

It took some bravery to go up to her

But at last I was encouraged

I walked up to her, saying “Hello”

It only took some courage

Judging! Third place was ecspacially hard, here were so many of you that I wanted to put there. It was interesting to see all of the different styles used in your entries, and it was great to see how many poets are still here.

In third place, we have A Poet! 

I love how you used the promt in your poem! I love the lines memories drift to the surface,/ Jumping and withdrawing like flames,/ Playing with the ashes in the fireplace as well as the lines I bury my nose in my pillow,/ to extinguish the last traces of the scent from my nostrils. I do recommend maybe not using the commas after every line next time, or paying more attention to your use of capitalization in the first word of every line.

In second place, we have Abi!!

As always, you had the most beautiful descriptions. I'm in awe of the way you use words in places that they usually aren't used and somehow do it in the most beautiful way. The way you used the promt was a little strange, yet it made so much sense and was pretty relatable- through your amazing poetry, you give us Gen Z kids a reminder to love ourselves.

And in first place... Kitten!!!

Ah, that last stanza is just perfect, the way you show how the girl has been put in boxes or judged, then she does something that nobody would expect that also is totally perfect for the theme? Ah! I love everything about this poem- the little metaphors, the way the metaphors decline as the situation becomes more irregular and less stereotyped, the perposeful lack of punctuation, the parenthesis, all of it. It's been so cool to watch your poetry change and improve lately!

Good job everyone!

Oh, wow, thanks!! The new theme will be ???? and I'll be judging on Friday, July 5. I hope that day's okay with everyone because I'll be unavailable for a while after that. :)

Thank you again for this honor! I'm really looking forward to seeing your poems.

(Oh, and a slight warning: I'm very picky about conventions, so be sure your apostrophes are in the right places and such!)

Kitten, please choose another theme. We'd rather not have that theme on Chatterbox. Thank you.

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