Legs, taut as rope, muscles bulging

Eyes, darting anxiously every which way

Hands, reaching out, shaking just slightly

Breaths, in and out, trying to calm

Body, still as a statue, waiting nervously

--

I realize this is kind of short, and I did just write it on the spot, so I'm not sure how it is, but I thought something was better than nothing! 

All right, here's my entry! It's an acrostic.

All I know is waiting.

Night and day, it's building up

To something huge and wreathed in shadow. 

In the days leading up to it, my mind

Circles endlessly.

In the moments before it, my heart

Pounds fearfully.

After is nothing, a void.

Time cannot prepare me, but

I must be ready, for it's all

Over, time for something

New.

Anticipation

~~~~~ 

Excitement: bubbling, bursting;
Throwing herself into
the centre of attention;

Laughing, joking,
Tugging on personal
Desires and hopes for the future;

Launching herself into the spotlight,
Across the stadium, into the music,
Manifesting as anticipation;

A burning anxiety for what is to come;
A pleasant surprise long awaited;
A dread-filling sense of impending doom;

A simple observer watching a tense moment
Sees it all eventually comes to an end,
The win, the outcome, the reaction;
The end.

Wrote this on the spot, so...

Her Blood pounding

His Heart Stopping

Her Lungs gasping

His Breath catching

Her Muscles twitching

His Motion freezing

Her Forehead sweating

His Face glacial  

Her Head turning

His Eyes staring 

Anticipation can be kinda different. 

Names: The Wait, Anticipation, Sent To The Office

Tic. Toc. Tic. Toc.

You watch the minutes tick by.

Tic. Toc. Tic. Toc.

You feel as though you might cry.

Tic. Toc. Tic. Toc.

Butterflies gather inside.

Tic. Toc. Tic. Toc.

You know that you could have lied.

Tic. Toc. Tic. Toc.

No, you know that truth is best.

Tic. Toc. Tic. Toc.

Your heart pounds hard in your chest.

Tic. Toc. Tic. Toc.

When you can no longer wait,

Tic. Toc. Tic. Toc.

The door opens. You meet your

Fate. 

P.S.: Lightpaw is excited for Christmas, too: He says -chrxt-.

*slinks in from the back door*

Hey! So... um, I'm here now. I'm *checks watch* ...at least a few weeks late now, but better late than never, I guess! Anyway, I'm here now, I'm very late, to make up for it, I will also judge all of the entries posted after the deadline.  I'm really very sorry to have kept you waiting, but I hope you enjoy my judging! We have ten entries, which is certainly the most I've never judged, so here goes!

Honorable Mention: Jaybells

I loved the image of the excited girl present throughout the first three stanzas of your poem. I could picture her, always continuing, going the extra mile, anticipation pulling her forward. People like that are always so great to meet in person, and you captured that really well in your poem. It was also a uniquely positive take on the prompt, especially compared to the other entries. It stood out as the one that depicted anticipation puching someone to excellence instead of insanity. However, I think that you should've stuck with that approach, instead of trying to capture all of anticipation by bringing up some darker aspects later in the poem, which led to the whole thing feeling a little jumbled and confusing. However, you finished strong, and the end lines felt to me distinctly like you would feel after finishing a very excited dance: dizzy and a bit tired, but laughing all the same.

Third Place: Alizarine

Your poem to me felt specifically like the moment before the climax of a good book. The very tip of the rising action, where all of the cards are on the table and everyone is preparing for the final battle. All of the stories are converging, and we're on the precipice of everything. I usually feel best at this part of a book: I can't put it down, I have to make predictions and talk about it to my friends, I can't wait to get back in. Anticipation at its finest, and although I almost wish I could've heard more of all of the different stories, what you gave me was just enough to keep me on the edge of my seat, and you brought it all home with that final line. The acrostic was also a nice touch. I always read the first letters of the lines of a poem on instinct, to see if I can find anything, and I was pleasantly surprised when I did.

Second Place: Luna-Starr

Your poem was very fun to read, and I could picture exactly what you were feeling at the time. Just waiting and trying to distract yourself but always coing back to waiting because what could be more important than what you'll find on the other side. I loved the way you used repetition and the nursery rhyme to maniuplate the tone, it was very cool when I sat back and looked at it as a whole. The slow arc was good as well, and the was you showed character development though the change in how you described the clock. I just really love those kinds of poems that some people on here do, the prose-y ones punctuated by a chorus. The closest comparison I can make is to a good song, but even that's not quite right. It feels fresh and good to read. Sorry to ramble, I just loved how you used the nursery rhyme.

Drum roll please!

First Place: Estelle!!

I loved your poem, and I loved it more and more the more I read it. I kept rereading it over and over again during my judging, and I kept moving it higher and higher on my tentative chart, until I knew I had to put you at number one. The images of the trial and the tightrope, tied together by the scale, were so vivid in my head. The enroaching darkness, and the focus on the fact that every moment is stretched just radiated anticipation to me. Yours was also unique in promising an anticlimactic ending instead of a worldbraking one. Your whole poem was focused on the anticipation itself, instead of ending on the fufullment of the anticipation like many others. I found your ending a bit anticlimactic, but that only added to the mood. The end is the point, but it's not really the point. Waiting for the end is the point. We never find out whether you win the case or fall off the tightrope or die at all. But we learn to care deeply about it. Reading it was stressful, in the best way possible. I loved reading it over and over again, and I loved that every time I did, I loved it even more.

Congratulations to everyone, listed here or not. It was so cool to me to see so many new CBers participating in the contest for the first time. Keep writing guys, this was really a hard round to judge. 

is there going to be another poetry contest? that sounds like a lot of fun! :D

~ Lilac 

Luna-Starr, why don't you judge. I really don't want this thread to die!!