A windswept street  

dark and cold like the back side of a planet

its empty, with no one to fill it.

it’s memories, frozen 

never to be unlocked, again.

do not be mistaken! 

figures do live on the street

however they are only

haunting echos that reach no one’s ears.

their souls smell withered and almost rosey,

if not for the layers of crusted dust that engulf them.

a grandfather clock 

turns its rusty hands and

chimes,

with scrutinizing jocularity

for it knows how long

the windswept street

will live. 

I'm going to say it again - I'm really, REALLY sorry that I didn't judge on time. I realize that I set a date, and then delayed it, and then didn't meet that date so said I'd do it yesterday, and then didn't do that either... so I'm really sorry! I had a lot going on that I don't need to go into right now, but the point is that I have judging now!

An honorable mention goes to Nyx! I really liked the way you alternated the lines between two different voices: it was a really cool dynamic. I also liked the part about 'my lovely, broken pawn.' However, I didn't quite feel as moved by this poem, for some reason.

In third place, we have Luna-Starr! I have always admired your writing style- the way you manage to convey emotion so eloquently and use line breaks so effectively. However, I found that I didn't really understand this poem the first couple of times that I read it, which is probably my fault, not yours, but still made me like it less than I perhaps should have.

In second place, we have Summer!  If I could have tied you for first, I seriously would have. I really loved your poem! You have a lot more structure and rhythm than I see in a lot of the other poems, which is something that I really notice and appreciate. I also liked the way you built up a metaphor with a lot of imagery before having a very specific conclusion: it really made me feel for 'you' to understand how very bleak 'your eyes/pale and cold as a winter storm' are. 

And in first place, we have Stardust! Your poem was sooo powerful! I especially liked the lines 'spikes driven in to soft wooden flesh' and 'they say hope is the thing with feathers/but what happens when it flies too close to the sun?' Your poem made me feel so sad and I feel like I could read it over and over and get something new out of it every time.

So I don't want to choose between Leafy and Jaybells and leave someone in "last," but I did write feedback for both of you, and I thought I might as well share it.

Leafy: I appreciated the repetition of the line 'just a girl' - I feel like it adds to the feeling of insignificance and insignificance. However, I didn't really get as much of a sense of 'bleakness' as I did from some of the other poems.

Jaybells: Your poem really made me feel the sense of dread and confusion. However, I felt that the start and the end were different poems, almost. I'm not sure why- it just didn't feel as cohesive to me as I would have liked. Maybe I'm just tired right now... 

Sorry I'm late, everyone! I honestly can't believe I won. I haven't been on here in forever, but I was talking to a friend and I just decided to open this up and write something down, whether or not it was good. And it won! I guess there's some symbolism in there. The next theme is anticipation, be it for something good or bad, lived up to or not.

The deadline is the 26th, I'll judge on the 27th. 

Hi I am here to rescue this contest! I literally just sat down and I'm gonna start typing, so this might be trash.

Waiting-wanting

You sit,

you wait,

you anticipate,

you wonder

until you're disappointed

you can't look up

hot tears threaten

anticipation is always there,

sitting,

waiting,

ready to reach and grab 

at any moment

it's ready to strike

and clutch tight

until you can't breathe

but you look up

anticipation is the enemy

and you think you

just defeated it

but you can't help it

you anticipate

and you feel the same dissapointment

but you can't stop yourself

so you give in

and let it grasp 

with it's claws

the anticipation is no longer waiting

it's watching

watching it all crash down

and you can't lift your head up

for anticipation has pushed it down

and your thrown your life away

wow i'm dark! also, this is decent, I guess. anyways, I don't expect to win, but meh, I'm glad I participeted. good luck everyone! 

This is comment number 999. Therefore, the next person to enter will have the honor of being comment number 1000 on the Poetry Contest thread. Yet another reason to enter! Also, top.

Woop, claiming 1000! *happy dance* here's an oddball little entry for you:

(Untitled) 

hickory/dickory/dock

i am still young and know not of the world and i'm not content because i want to play but instead i'm here in a chair swinging my legs and i don't understand why i got left all alone with the horribly loud ticking of a clock my only company

the mouse/ran up/the clock

the world is a bizzare enigma and why do i have to live with it anyways and i'm sitting with my phone in my hand pretending like this wait isn't killing me but really it is and that goshdarned ticking clock isn't helping

the clock/struck one

the world is narrowed down to this one moment and it doesn't matter weather or not i understand it because it could all crumble if this goes wrong but i don't know yet so i'm just sitting here being driven mad by that awful clock 

the mouse/ran down

life is so big and wonderful and it's splayed out behind me and all around and i wish i could just go back and look at it one more time but here i am ready and just waiting to move on my actions dictated by the ever-ticking of that miraculous clock

hickory/dickory/dock 

Oh my gosh, one thousand posts now on both the Poetry Contest thread and the regular poetry thread! *Confetti appears out of the sky*

A poem for "anticipation"~

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

Someone is coming.
Someone is running.
Someone is bidding their comrades goodbye.

Someone is dying.
Someone is hiding-
Hoping that someone else will run them by.

Someone is crouching just
over there, they can
mangle the
empire
or

never be there and
everyone hides as the sun meets the rooftops