Poetry competition CLOSED 26th June 2022 6:57pm
WINNER
RevolutionAL (Alistair Plint)
RevolutionAL (Alistair Plint)
RUNNERS-UP:
wallyroo92
and Razzerleaf
Nightmare
Poetry Contest Description
You suddenly woke up in sweats. Still with pictures of that atrocious nightmare in your head. How did you react, what did you do about it?
Poems up to 100 lines or so. Short stories to 2,000 words.
The heart of Darkness.
I seldom write about dreams
Or nightmares
But this one tops all
And rather scares me to death.
Imagine a sort of terror group
In nazi type uniforms
Containing a crowd in some sort of shopping center
Many levels, circular in shape and open in the middle
One lady, totally mad, walks around with a bloody bag
Saying (screaming?) ''I have two children, a girl five and a boy two''.
Then out of the bag she pulls out the head of the one, then the head of the other.
How sick and soooooo morbid
And why the fuck did I get these nightmarish images?
Some images you never forget
That stuff sticks to my mind like glue.
It's been weeks and months since that awful nightmare.
I still can't figure out if there was any kind of coded message in there.
Maybe I've seen too many WWII movies.
Or nightmares
But this one tops all
And rather scares me to death.
Imagine a sort of terror group
In nazi type uniforms
Containing a crowd in some sort of shopping center
Many levels, circular in shape and open in the middle
One lady, totally mad, walks around with a bloody bag
Saying (screaming?) ''I have two children, a girl five and a boy two''.
Then out of the bag she pulls out the head of the one, then the head of the other.
How sick and soooooo morbid
And why the fuck did I get these nightmarish images?
Some images you never forget
That stuff sticks to my mind like glue.
It's been weeks and months since that awful nightmare.
I still can't figure out if there was any kind of coded message in there.
Maybe I've seen too many WWII movies.
Written by robert43041
(Viking)
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Shadows
Watchful,
hyper-vigilant
and easily startled,
she wakes at the sound of a breath
or a rustle—
all senses on overdrive;
extra attuned to her surroundings.
Images emblazoned in her mind
(some real and some imagined)—
bicycle, field, friends and a phone;
trying to heat up a carton of soup
to feed herself and her child,
and finding even that small task impossible
in the midst of chaos.
Friends and strangers texting, ringing, knocking at the door
with their many questions and suggestions
but no answers or information.
Time and again, she falls asleep
and tumbles into the same dream:
she's standing still on a path as dusk begins to fall
and is killed by a sudden blow to the back of the head.
Eyes watering and ears reeling from the reverberating clang,
and the sound of her skull imploding,
she jolts awake. Alive!
This is an imprint on the brain
from events it is unable to process.
Her imagination transports her
to the unimaginable horrors
which her rational brain tries to bury
and her subconscious warps and twists.
Still, they cannot remain repressed,
and so her feelings leak out
through her dreams
and her eyes.
hyper-vigilant
and easily startled,
she wakes at the sound of a breath
or a rustle—
all senses on overdrive;
extra attuned to her surroundings.
Images emblazoned in her mind
(some real and some imagined)—
bicycle, field, friends and a phone;
trying to heat up a carton of soup
to feed herself and her child,
and finding even that small task impossible
in the midst of chaos.
Friends and strangers texting, ringing, knocking at the door
with their many questions and suggestions
but no answers or information.
Time and again, she falls asleep
and tumbles into the same dream:
she's standing still on a path as dusk begins to fall
and is killed by a sudden blow to the back of the head.
Eyes watering and ears reeling from the reverberating clang,
and the sound of her skull imploding,
she jolts awake. Alive!
This is an imprint on the brain
from events it is unable to process.
Her imagination transports her
to the unimaginable horrors
which her rational brain tries to bury
and her subconscious warps and twists.
Still, they cannot remain repressed,
and so her feelings leak out
through her dreams
and her eyes.
Written by Wafflenose
(Ellie)
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Until We Meet Again
Something isn't right
A knowledge from the bones
The mind knows what it fears,
Oh creator of worlds;
Preparing for a final sleep
Inducing my paralysis
Gripping me in its chains,
'Till Death I meet again
Awaiting the day I'll wake
And be none the wiser
A knowledge from the bones
The mind knows what it fears,
Oh creator of worlds;
Preparing for a final sleep
Inducing my paralysis
Gripping me in its chains,
'Till Death I meet again
Awaiting the day I'll wake
And be none the wiser
Written by Josiah
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Anonymous
<< post removed >>
Of war and tears
O, what a sight was that to see
That blighted grave beside the sea
Where once I tread among those dead
For once, and all eternity!
Have you once heard that sneer'd command?
That sent my brothers to this land
Whose soil drinks our very blood
And tears abound as Noah's flood
Have you once heard my sniveling cries?
As Europe sank to her demise
We dared not ask, nor question still
What dreams we must fulfill or kill
For country! Glory! All the rest..
And pound my soul from heart to breast
I never knew, nor thought I'd fear
The day I'd die alone out here
At Normandy where we were laid
The Ferryman was often paid
And took away that dreaded sound
To places where no tear be found
That blighted grave beside the sea
Where once I tread among those dead
For once, and all eternity!
Have you once heard that sneer'd command?
That sent my brothers to this land
Whose soil drinks our very blood
And tears abound as Noah's flood
Have you once heard my sniveling cries?
As Europe sank to her demise
We dared not ask, nor question still
What dreams we must fulfill or kill
For country! Glory! All the rest..
And pound my soul from heart to breast
I never knew, nor thought I'd fear
The day I'd die alone out here
At Normandy where we were laid
The Ferryman was often paid
And took away that dreaded sound
To places where no tear be found
Written by EleazarSwan
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A Ripped Blanket Screamed...
"I'm Baack!"
Putin called on a burner, there's a little issue
in a storm water drain,
just south of Munich.
My Russian isn't fluent, it was difficult to decipher.
I heard "balloon" and "ice cream"
militant code words for
"internet"
and "a cold, sweet, creamy dessert" .
I ran to the local drug store, bought a home pregnancy test
just incase.
My neighbor is a sex therapist,
she said this dream means
I need to re-connect with nature.
I've skinned three fish and a carrot
- the result was still pregnant positive
So I've sent a personal letter
to President Ramaphoza,
congratulating him on becoming
the queen
in July.
The local butcher says
the nightmare means I should eat more bacon.
The alarm clock is ringing insistently
I need to get up.
.
Written by RevolutionAL
(Alistair Plint)
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Dreamland
The sandman pays a visit
In the dark of the night
To take me off to dream land
As my eyes shut tight
I begin to drift away
Thoughts clear from my head
I'm whisked off to a new world
As my body lies safe in bed
In this place I feel free
My mind starts to mend
No misery, stress or pain here
It's a shame it'll soon end
I wish I could stay
But the alarm clock rings
My eyes slowly peel open
Now the nightmare begins
In the dark of the night
To take me off to dream land
As my eyes shut tight
I begin to drift away
Thoughts clear from my head
I'm whisked off to a new world
As my body lies safe in bed
In this place I feel free
My mind starts to mend
No misery, stress or pain here
It's a shame it'll soon end
I wish I could stay
But the alarm clock rings
My eyes slowly peel open
Now the nightmare begins
Written by Adzy
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A night time disturbance
The sirens made me look
another boy, a runner
from the borstal fences
lit up like thirty foot tennis courts,
knee deep in mud by now.
They'll catch him
they all ways do,
he'll be back in church
on Sunday with a smirk
and a smokey eyed pose
for the confirmation girls,
their innocence
lap dancing over his
dangerous, laid back torso.
The colliery lights distract me
from the chase,
they frame the concrete
office blocks
like a dystopian novel.
A tale of tunnels beneath the house.
A mile down,
mutant workers bred underground
with diamond tipped fingers
designed for cutting coal.
The helicopter has switched
to infra red,
a Martian tripod, wars with
his world as the spot light
tracks him down.
It won't be long now before
he's back playing tennis
on his own.
With that thought I get back in bed
and dream him into our kitchen,
follow his muddy boot prints
across the tiled floor and up to
our bedroom.
another boy, a runner
from the borstal fences
lit up like thirty foot tennis courts,
knee deep in mud by now.
They'll catch him
they all ways do,
he'll be back in church
on Sunday with a smirk
and a smokey eyed pose
for the confirmation girls,
their innocence
lap dancing over his
dangerous, laid back torso.
The colliery lights distract me
from the chase,
they frame the concrete
office blocks
like a dystopian novel.
A tale of tunnels beneath the house.
A mile down,
mutant workers bred underground
with diamond tipped fingers
designed for cutting coal.
The helicopter has switched
to infra red,
a Martian tripod, wars with
his world as the spot light
tracks him down.
It won't be long now before
he's back playing tennis
on his own.
With that thought I get back in bed
and dream him into our kitchen,
follow his muddy boot prints
across the tiled floor and up to
our bedroom.
Written by Razzerleaf
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Floods
It’d been raining for days,
Nonstop,
A deluge of epic proportions,
It was night when we heard
That the dam broke,
But in the darkness, there was no escaping it.
Suddenly waves and walls of muddy water
Covered the landscapes and fields,
Like monsters attacking in a dream.
The only thing I could do was run for the hills,
Hoping I could outrun the water’s rage,
But everywhere I ran it surrounded me
Death veiled in a liquid dark form.
Oh father of mine, I feel forsaken,
I’m being chased by nature’s fury
Without fault or prejudice,
Tell my mother that I tried…
I reached higher ground
But the soil would give way to the currents,
Following the fastest and easiest route,
And so I kept heading up into the hills,
With all the strength I could muster,
But the water was faster
Until at times it carried me,
Weakening me.
Oh mother of mine,
If you could hear me now,
Relay this message, this prayer to the lord,
Save my family and my sisters
So that they may survive this horrible ordeal.
I was able to reach the foothills,
Beaten and battered by the water’s edge,
Crawling up the rocks and up the hills
That overlooked the city.
And then I saw the lights all over town,
Shutting down as the waters took a path,
People running for their lives
In the dark and great distance,
Hopeless against nature’s wrath.
Oh sisters of mine will you wake up,
And take your children and head for the hills,
The waters are relentless and will not stop,
Not for man, woman or child,
Not for a prayer if you keep still.
I stood at the top of that mountain,
Watching the destruction take its toll,
And with tears at the thought of being left alone,
Then I knew my children were in the course.
Oh wife of mine, soulmate, lover,
Won’t you heed my call through this prayer,
Hear the sirens resonating in the distance,
Damn this horrible dream I can’t wake up,
The dam has broken and the river overflowed,
Run for the hills and save our children,
The floods are upon us all.
Nonstop,
A deluge of epic proportions,
It was night when we heard
That the dam broke,
But in the darkness, there was no escaping it.
Suddenly waves and walls of muddy water
Covered the landscapes and fields,
Like monsters attacking in a dream.
The only thing I could do was run for the hills,
Hoping I could outrun the water’s rage,
But everywhere I ran it surrounded me
Death veiled in a liquid dark form.
Oh father of mine, I feel forsaken,
I’m being chased by nature’s fury
Without fault or prejudice,
Tell my mother that I tried…
I reached higher ground
But the soil would give way to the currents,
Following the fastest and easiest route,
And so I kept heading up into the hills,
With all the strength I could muster,
But the water was faster
Until at times it carried me,
Weakening me.
Oh mother of mine,
If you could hear me now,
Relay this message, this prayer to the lord,
Save my family and my sisters
So that they may survive this horrible ordeal.
I was able to reach the foothills,
Beaten and battered by the water’s edge,
Crawling up the rocks and up the hills
That overlooked the city.
And then I saw the lights all over town,
Shutting down as the waters took a path,
People running for their lives
In the dark and great distance,
Hopeless against nature’s wrath.
Oh sisters of mine will you wake up,
And take your children and head for the hills,
The waters are relentless and will not stop,
Not for man, woman or child,
Not for a prayer if you keep still.
I stood at the top of that mountain,
Watching the destruction take its toll,
And with tears at the thought of being left alone,
Then I knew my children were in the course.
Oh wife of mine, soulmate, lover,
Won’t you heed my call through this prayer,
Hear the sirens resonating in the distance,
Damn this horrible dream I can’t wake up,
The dam has broken and the river overflowed,
Run for the hills and save our children,
The floods are upon us all.
Written by wallyroo92
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