Poetry competition CLOSED 15th July 2015 1:05pm
WINNER
MadameLavender
MadameLavender
RUNNERS-UP:
kourtnissixxx
and JohnFeddeler
Reflections
Anonymous
Thank you for your entries Simon & Echo 
4 Weeks Ago
I awoke but could not quite awake
a fear gripped me, shiver and shake
I felt different, somehow strange
despite the morphine I tried to re-arrange
my thoughts into some sort of order
I realised pain south of the border
with a strange anticipation I pulled back the sheets
I tried to cry out like the lamb that bleats
from below the knee I could only count one
attached to the left knee cap I could see none
wrapped in clean bandage no foot, just a stump
a useless, rounded, fleshy big lump
I asked the surgeon would it just grow back
but before he could answer I gave him a smack
the point I had made was not one that's moot
well, he was the bastard that cut of my foot
I awoke but could not quite awake
a fear gripped me, shiver and shake
I felt different, somehow strange
despite the morphine I tried to re-arrange
my thoughts into some sort of order
I realised pain south of the border
with a strange anticipation I pulled back the sheets
I tried to cry out like the lamb that bleats
from below the knee I could only count one
attached to the left knee cap I could see none
wrapped in clean bandage no foot, just a stump
a useless, rounded, fleshy big lump
I asked the surgeon would it just grow back
but before he could answer I gave him a smack
the point I had made was not one that's moot
well, he was the bastard that cut of my foot
Me and my body
We've always been together
Even though we don't always get alon
Fighting wars together
Against each other
Leaving scars
Too many to count
And sometimes
It feels like in have the wrong one
Spotted doing, splotchy,
Rolls and marks
And oh sobmany scars
Because there are days
When I hate my body
And days where its my only friend
Even though it forms the wrong lumps
And bumps and bruises easily
So sensitive
Unhealthy.
Weak bones and strong muscles.
Weak brain and strong mind.
Us. We. I. Me.
Fighting. Loving.
Hitting. Hugging.
Always together.
And I wish it would change,
But I wouldn't be the same.
Because we've suffered together,
Mind and body.
In a less than peaceful war.
We've always been together
Even though we don't always get alon
Fighting wars together
Against each other
Leaving scars
Too many to count
And sometimes
It feels like in have the wrong one
Spotted doing, splotchy,
Rolls and marks
And oh sobmany scars
Because there are days
When I hate my body
And days where its my only friend
Even though it forms the wrong lumps
And bumps and bruises easily
So sensitive
Unhealthy.
Weak bones and strong muscles.
Weak brain and strong mind.
Us. We. I. Me.
Fighting. Loving.
Hitting. Hugging.
Always together.
And I wish it would change,
But I wouldn't be the same.
Because we've suffered together,
Mind and body.
In a less than peaceful war.
Anonymous
Thank you for your entries guys
Hatred
I hate this shell.
It is a punishment and a prison.
I despise it and I despise myself.
I am monstrous, not like a woman
but an ogre.
It can’t be me, I say. It can’t.
I run my hands over my body
and the tears fall
and I don’t know where it came from,
it’s certainly not mine.
I once was young and slim,
and my mind still sees me that way,
for in my dreams I am so;
but somehow this body has crept up
over the years and swallowed my soul.
You see, if you’re a woman without beauty
you’re worthless, there is no place for you.
I remember being pretty meant being loved.
And I know their looks.
Either they meet my eyes accidentally
and look through me as if I wasn’t there,
or an expression of barely veiled contempt
passes over their faces.
Every outing is traumatic
and sometimes I don’t want to leave the house anymore.
I’m not a person, just some Lovecraft character
who doesn’t want to scare children.
So I stay inside in my own world,
my tower of longing and pain,
only emerging when I have to,
and I choose to remember a time
when a boy told me I was so beautiful
that it hurt to look at me.
I hate this shell.
It is a punishment and a prison.
I despise it and I despise myself.
I am monstrous, not like a woman
but an ogre.
It can’t be me, I say. It can’t.
I run my hands over my body
and the tears fall
and I don’t know where it came from,
it’s certainly not mine.
I once was young and slim,
and my mind still sees me that way,
for in my dreams I am so;
but somehow this body has crept up
over the years and swallowed my soul.
You see, if you’re a woman without beauty
you’re worthless, there is no place for you.
I remember being pretty meant being loved.
And I know their looks.
Either they meet my eyes accidentally
and look through me as if I wasn’t there,
or an expression of barely veiled contempt
passes over their faces.
Every outing is traumatic
and sometimes I don’t want to leave the house anymore.
I’m not a person, just some Lovecraft character
who doesn’t want to scare children.
So I stay inside in my own world,
my tower of longing and pain,
only emerging when I have to,
and I choose to remember a time
when a boy told me I was so beautiful
that it hurt to look at me.
Reflections of my Mind
there is a warrior in the mirror
looking back at me, smiling
her arms akimbo, always ready
her sword sheathed on her waist
there is a woman there standing
tall and fearless against the world
with the scars of many battles
on her lined but regal face
there is a veteran of war
with a crown of greying hair
on her head, a face of experience
scales of justice as her shield
It is I
with Grace
to fight and survive
another day.
there is a warrior in the mirror
looking back at me, smiling
her arms akimbo, always ready
her sword sheathed on her waist
there is a woman there standing
tall and fearless against the world
with the scars of many battles
on her lined but regal face
there is a veteran of war
with a crown of greying hair
on her head, a face of experience
scales of justice as her shield
It is I
with Grace
to fight and survive
another day.
Anonymous
So yes, I've awarded first place to the lavender lady who's wonderful entry damn near made me cry the first time I read it. Kourtnisixx and Johnfeddeler's entries also noteable worthy runners up. There were some great entries in here, thank you so much for participating! I wish I could let you all win!
