Poetry competition CLOSED 17th August 2023 5:00am
WINNER
ajay
ajay
RUNNERS-UP:
Bluevelvete
and robert43041
Happiness?
Poetry Contest Description
For me, "happiness" is one of the most difficult, frustrating, misleading, culturally religiously- class--caste--socio-economically- laden, etc... Mindfucks of a concept and apparent aspirational goal I've been confronted with. So... Write about it, poets
I've got no rules in here,
One-by-one we're facing fears,
Throwing yokes, relieving hearts
And greasing gears...
Only rule:
A poem from 1-50 lines* in length about or around the notion of happiness as you situate and understand it. It can be:
--A definition
--a critique
--a rejection
--an ode
--a eulogy
-an experience
--hymn, lament
What the fuck ever. But a poem.
And while I probably have hinted a bit about my own ambivalence, when I put my judge's wig on I'm as objective as the true definition of our subject. Ha. Ha.
*LINE in the context of length rule is taken to mean the space DUP gives for a line in their submission field. Loophole seeking shenanigans such as using forward slashes or other shorthand will not pass the gate. So tighten up!
And as always, be as happy as you want to be
One-by-one we're facing fears,
Throwing yokes, relieving hearts
And greasing gears...
Only rule:
A poem from 1-50 lines* in length about or around the notion of happiness as you situate and understand it. It can be:
--A definition
--a critique
--a rejection
--an ode
--a eulogy
-an experience
--hymn, lament
What the fuck ever. But a poem.
And while I probably have hinted a bit about my own ambivalence, when I put my judge's wig on I'm as objective as the true definition of our subject. Ha. Ha.
*LINE in the context of length rule is taken to mean the space DUP gives for a line in their submission field. Loophole seeking shenanigans such as using forward slashes or other shorthand will not pass the gate. So tighten up!
And as always, be as happy as you want to be
Happiness
Why would you think about relishing?
The relish is the most high perception of all.
A relish is upper. a relish is elated,
a relish is eminent, however.
I saw the quick satisfaction destroyed,
How I mourned the final fulfilment.
A final fulfilment is immediate.
A final fulfilment is fast however.
The fool happiness that's really empty,
Above all others is the gentle gladness.
Grateful and genuine gentle gladness.
Never forget the hungry gentle gladness.
All that is little is not future felicity,
future felicity by all account is big.
Are you upset by how life-sized it is?
You see the future felicity so prominent?
Just like a walk is the jubilation.
Down into the darkness of the jubilation,
gently it goes - the sensationalistic,
the lily-livered, the dishonourable.
The lousy luck is not staccato!
The lousy luck is exceptionally silken.
Does the lousy sadness make you shiver?
Does it really make you quiver?
Written by PAR
(PAULO ACACIO RAMOS)
Go To Page
Nexus
you enter our
bed whisper-light
and mold yourself
to my back
in half sleep
i toy with
your arm hair
and nestle into
my haven
the nexus between
dreams and reality
with you is so blurred
that i no longer
ruminate over
such petty details
for you are
all of my dreams
bed whisper-light
and mold yourself
to my back
in half sleep
i toy with
your arm hair
and nestle into
my haven
the nexus between
dreams and reality
with you is so blurred
that i no longer
ruminate over
such petty details
for you are
all of my dreams
Written by Betty
Go To Page
On Finding My Feet --
Past Happiness in a Changed Direction
*
To find myself, I looked away above the chimney top,
behind the clouds, beyond the moon, and even past the sun,
till whirling to each fiery eye and twinkling starry stop,
I dropped here on this flat expanse to find myself undone --
my being somewhere this side of a technicolored dream,
the landscape black and white of wicked twisters loose and wild,
the little fledgling fallen from the nest the bird's-eye theme,
the cradle in the treetop tipped by lullabies beguiled --
and as I peered across my own backyard along the plain,
my value rounded me to meet the cyclone's coming pain.
*
*
To find myself, I looked away above the chimney top,
behind the clouds, beyond the moon, and even past the sun,
till whirling to each fiery eye and twinkling starry stop,
I dropped here on this flat expanse to find myself undone --
my being somewhere this side of a technicolored dream,
the landscape black and white of wicked twisters loose and wild,
the little fledgling fallen from the nest the bird's-eye theme,
the cradle in the treetop tipped by lullabies beguiled --
and as I peered across my own backyard along the plain,
my value rounded me to meet the cyclone's coming pain.
*
Written by Jordan
(D.O.C.)
Go To Page
... it's about strength in choices, hard labour and really good coffee (+Reading)
Bluevelvete
Go To Page
an innocent crush
she saw me
and I saw her
I smiled and
saw the giggle in her
I was sitting across her
watching how the thin air
mess her hair
our blushed eyes met
each other in turns
as she put the hair
behind her ears
the smell of the fresh green
as we pass the fields
and I fly into her eyes
lost in my dreams with her
then again,
I search for her eyes
her sparkling eyes
painted a blush
on our faces
my teenage heart
proposed to her
in the next station
I married her
on a beach
then I searched
for her eyes
and I saw her,
walking slowly
on the platform
as I slowly
passed her
I never
saw her again.
but still,
those eyes...
paint a blush
on my face
Written by dejure
(vick)
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Happiness (22)
Certainly insecure
But with a nudge from her friend
Martha submitted a few of her sketches
To a fashion contest
And won first prize for that superb design
Of a dress.
But with a nudge from her friend
Martha submitted a few of her sketches
To a fashion contest
And won first prize for that superb design
Of a dress.
Written by robert43041
(Viking)
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The Sun Has Returned
The sun has returned
I welcome its light and warmth
My heart melts at the life that came from me, and invigorates me
My house is now a home again
A part of my soul has been extended into other beings of light
Is… is this a dream?
I never thought I’d feel so… complete
Blissful, content, alive…
The sun has returned, and I’m eager to bask in its light.
I welcome its light and warmth
My heart melts at the life that came from me, and invigorates me
My house is now a home again
A part of my soul has been extended into other beings of light
Is… is this a dream?
I never thought I’d feel so… complete
Blissful, content, alive…
The sun has returned, and I’m eager to bask in its light.
Written by LunasChild8
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Anonymous
Related submission no longer exists.
Nothing
Ice cream in the morning, and
ocean waves, cycling--
every fifth one, is the biggest
today.
Pasts have burned away, like
an ugly flesh
peeled
and tossed into fiery bushes of God--
see?
It is done, finished
"Abba, Father!"
And nothing harms me anymore
the way it did.
There are just lawns to mow, gardens
to tend--
how many flowers can I possibly fit
in the beds?
But then, there's the heart--
it is content
whether I open it or not.
There is nothing left
to worry about, at
this moment.
Happiness is nothing
and it is everything
all in one, cycling
like the waves--
another bite of ice cream
and I think big thoughts
of all my grand tomorrows.
ocean waves, cycling--
every fifth one, is the biggest
today.
Pasts have burned away, like
an ugly flesh
peeled
and tossed into fiery bushes of God--
see?
It is done, finished
"Abba, Father!"
And nothing harms me anymore
the way it did.
There are just lawns to mow, gardens
to tend--
how many flowers can I possibly fit
in the beds?
But then, there's the heart--
it is content
whether I open it or not.
There is nothing left
to worry about, at
this moment.
Happiness is nothing
and it is everything
all in one, cycling
like the waves--
another bite of ice cream
and I think big thoughts
of all my grand tomorrows.
Written by MadameLavender
Go To Page
Nothing
Ice cream in the morning, and
ocean waves, cycling--
every fifth one, is the biggest
today.
Pasts have burned away, like
an ugly flesh
peeled
and tossed into fiery bushes of God--
see?
It is done, finished
"Abba, Father!"
And nothing harms me anymore
the way it did.
There are just lawns to mow, gardens
to tend--
how many flowers can I possibly fit
in the beds?
But then, there's the heart--
it is content
whether I open it or not.
There is nothing left
to worry about, at
this moment.
Happiness is nothing
and it is everything
all in one, cycling
like the waves--
another bite of ice cream
and I think big thoughts
of all my grand tomorrows.
ocean waves, cycling--
every fifth one, is the biggest
today.
Pasts have burned away, like
an ugly flesh
peeled
and tossed into fiery bushes of God--
see?
It is done, finished
"Abba, Father!"
And nothing harms me anymore
the way it did.
There are just lawns to mow, gardens
to tend--
how many flowers can I possibly fit
in the beds?
But then, there's the heart--
it is content
whether I open it or not.
There is nothing left
to worry about, at
this moment.
Happiness is nothing
and it is everything
all in one, cycling
like the waves--
another bite of ice cream
and I think big thoughts
of all my grand tomorrows.
Written by MadameLavender
Go To Page
MadameLavender said:
Thank you. I love this as a perspective and as a just a great poem, the tone, pace, arrangement perfect for its message.
Tending your own backyard garden..
Thank you. I love this as a perspective and as a just a great poem, the tone, pace, arrangement perfect for its message.
Tending your own backyard garden..
