Poetry competition CLOSED 12th September 2013 8:17pm
WINNER
MaggieG
MaggieG
RUNNERS-UP:
violet
and AlisVolatPropriis8
Growing Pains
Poetry Contest Description
Growing Up, Outgrowing, and Innocence Lost
Time to grow up DUP. It's that time. Tell me about it. New or old. Two weeks.
Just remember before I get a whole slew of poems about molestation that the poems will be judged on the quality of the writing, not on the personal trauma that comes with the lost innocence. Not saying you can't write about it, just keep in mind what's being judged.
Just remember before I get a whole slew of poems about molestation that the poems will be judged on the quality of the writing, not on the personal trauma that comes with the lost innocence. Not saying you can't write about it, just keep in mind what's being judged.
This comp will be a special one. As I said last night I have two anonymous guest judges with me on this. (Sorry to any potential volunteers, I have already gotten two volunteers from PMs) The deal is this:
When the comp ends, I and my co-judges will (as johnrot had suggested) will give each poem a rating from one to ten. We will send these numbers to each other with comments by PM. We will tally the numbers. We will also have a discussion to make sure we all agree and that the best poem won. I will then announce the winner and reveal my co-conspirators at that time.
You don't know the identities or the tastes of two of the judges. One judge's opinion has no precedence over the others. It will be a fair fight.
When the comp ends, I and my co-judges will (as johnrot had suggested) will give each poem a rating from one to ten. We will send these numbers to each other with comments by PM. We will tally the numbers. We will also have a discussion to make sure we all agree and that the best poem won. I will then announce the winner and reveal my co-conspirators at that time.
You don't know the identities or the tastes of two of the judges. One judge's opinion has no precedence over the others. It will be a fair fight.
Anonymous
Too wise for Foolishness
If we had shown up with less wisdom on our backs
more youth in our pockets
this game of charades would be a dance
and that grass would surely look greener
from every direction
no doubt we'd have run to that line
just to land further across
been flippant about style, going for gold
me believing in fairy-tales and you studying Alchemy
no doubt we'd have made magic
and written about it ten years later
like it was the only era that mattered
and I often wish for that innocence we've lost
knowing what we've been charged is inflated
and we won't know the total cost until it's all over
but there's still a childish voice inside that whispers
maybe in the next life...
If we had shown up with less wisdom on our backs
more youth in our pockets
this game of charades would be a dance
and that grass would surely look greener
from every direction
no doubt we'd have run to that line
just to land further across
been flippant about style, going for gold
me believing in fairy-tales and you studying Alchemy
no doubt we'd have made magic
and written about it ten years later
like it was the only era that mattered
and I often wish for that innocence we've lost
knowing what we've been charged is inflated
and we won't know the total cost until it's all over
but there's still a childish voice inside that whispers
maybe in the next life...
Anonymous
“Passing Sex while Flunking Intimacy”
http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-sHUDJ4ibWw8/UBNhQSF9bBI/AAAAAAAADh4/hTG7KBwuY3M/s320/FFF+FuneralKing_650.jpg
(Thanks Martha, I’ve Learned, I Think)
A male-dominant culture typically reserves
coming of age stories for the sweeter sector,
but I do believe, it is truly non-gender specific,
this loss of innocence is rightly divided.
It’s no mystery what takes place
as we evolve into adulthood.
Our bodies mutate into
raging procreation-machines
gradually from the beginning,
then at light speed,
you feel the need for sex.
It’s really not a joke,
it’s a serious transformation,
and, as time went by for my mates and me,
more and more of our testosterone spoke.
Playacting like men, we discussed
circle jerks and penthouse forums,
Terri P.’s tits and Ellen L.’s hips,
quipped about what we’d do them
if we had the chance, all fantasy of course.
Stroking ourselves while the bathwater ran,
we beat chests in the gym while the coaches barked sports.
Stark naked, we saw the evolution of our body parts,
they got bigger, heard voices growing deeper, felt new sprouts.
Feeling contorted and awkward,
with our confidence only skin deep, still
none of us could wait to get laid,
sink the high hard one.
And it was that
last summer in high school,
with my blind-hormones raging,
that my sexual awakening took place.
Hyped-up on Colt 45’s,
I first spied her while cruising the strip.
She was stopped at the traffic light near main,
Neanderthal-like, I hung out of my rolled down window
and smartly said, “Well hello there good looking!”
Dressed as a nurse, she coyly glanced over,
batting her sapphires under thick brown curls,
as I cursed to myself under my breath,
“Hot damn, she’s fucking sweet!”
I’m sure she heard me, her eyes,
her smile melted me right there,
smack dab into my leather car seat.
We carried our conversation
through two more lights,
when she finally said,
“Follow me to work young man,
you’ll get my number there!”
And I did and did she deliver.
She knew what I desired, and
with a husband who couldn’t,
she was ready to give anything I wanted.
I could feel her fire smoldering under her whites
and so, I leaned over to gently kiss her face,
the Earth shuddered under our feet.
Jesus, I couldn’t wait to meet,
and we would eventually, non-stop.
The rest of the summer became a swan song,
I knew it was all wrong, but boy did it feel all right.
We spent every available moment together
in bed or any other place under the Heavens
humans could have raw adulterated sex.
She taught me the trade,
every trick in the Kama Sutra book,
from A to Z, strip tease, she begged me
to give it to her good like a good boy should.
I was shown how to please
a woman from every different angle
in micro-detail,
she shuddered and played and I loved it.
But somehow she failed me being intimate,
I mean really intimate, like when
you actually share things,
hear each others heart.
Seems, it was all about the sex,
the natural act of just getting off.
So that’s how it happened,
I grew up quick, thinking
that’s all any women
ever really wanted from me.
And when they got close,
I mean really close,
I would fly,
say a heartfelt bye-bye.
Never was it meant to hurtful,
it was only because I was scared to death.
To hear a women say
she actually loved me
put me into panic mode,
it seemed a heavy load,
much harder than intercourse.
Of course, I was wrong.
Still, on many lonely nights,
I cried deep inside
while lying
right next to a lovely-lady,
bathed in our mutual bliss.
And when I kissed her,
I would wish
with all my heart that
I could learn
the finer art of intimacy,
something
I had missed,
flunked for years
with flying colors,
which were mainly
the deepest blue.
I never really knew!
Oh, I’m better now, I think.
I’ve overcome my fears,I think
accepted the fact that real women, I think
want more than just that primal act, I think.
http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-sHUDJ4ibWw8/UBNhQSF9bBI/AAAAAAAADh4/hTG7KBwuY3M/s320/FFF+FuneralKing_650.jpg
(Thanks Martha, I’ve Learned, I Think)
A male-dominant culture typically reserves
coming of age stories for the sweeter sector,
but I do believe, it is truly non-gender specific,
this loss of innocence is rightly divided.
It’s no mystery what takes place
as we evolve into adulthood.
Our bodies mutate into
raging procreation-machines
gradually from the beginning,
then at light speed,
you feel the need for sex.
It’s really not a joke,
it’s a serious transformation,
and, as time went by for my mates and me,
more and more of our testosterone spoke.
Playacting like men, we discussed
circle jerks and penthouse forums,
Terri P.’s tits and Ellen L.’s hips,
quipped about what we’d do them
if we had the chance, all fantasy of course.
Stroking ourselves while the bathwater ran,
we beat chests in the gym while the coaches barked sports.
Stark naked, we saw the evolution of our body parts,
they got bigger, heard voices growing deeper, felt new sprouts.
Feeling contorted and awkward,
with our confidence only skin deep, still
none of us could wait to get laid,
sink the high hard one.
And it was that
last summer in high school,
with my blind-hormones raging,
that my sexual awakening took place.
Hyped-up on Colt 45’s,
I first spied her while cruising the strip.
She was stopped at the traffic light near main,
Neanderthal-like, I hung out of my rolled down window
and smartly said, “Well hello there good looking!”
Dressed as a nurse, she coyly glanced over,
batting her sapphires under thick brown curls,
as I cursed to myself under my breath,
“Hot damn, she’s fucking sweet!”
I’m sure she heard me, her eyes,
her smile melted me right there,
smack dab into my leather car seat.
We carried our conversation
through two more lights,
when she finally said,
“Follow me to work young man,
you’ll get my number there!”
And I did and did she deliver.
She knew what I desired, and
with a husband who couldn’t,
she was ready to give anything I wanted.
I could feel her fire smoldering under her whites
and so, I leaned over to gently kiss her face,
the Earth shuddered under our feet.
Jesus, I couldn’t wait to meet,
and we would eventually, non-stop.
The rest of the summer became a swan song,
I knew it was all wrong, but boy did it feel all right.
We spent every available moment together
in bed or any other place under the Heavens
humans could have raw adulterated sex.
She taught me the trade,
every trick in the Kama Sutra book,
from A to Z, strip tease, she begged me
to give it to her good like a good boy should.
I was shown how to please
a woman from every different angle
in micro-detail,
she shuddered and played and I loved it.
But somehow she failed me being intimate,
I mean really intimate, like when
you actually share things,
hear each others heart.
Seems, it was all about the sex,
the natural act of just getting off.
So that’s how it happened,
I grew up quick, thinking
that’s all any women
ever really wanted from me.
And when they got close,
I mean really close,
I would fly,
say a heartfelt bye-bye.
Never was it meant to hurtful,
it was only because I was scared to death.
To hear a women say
she actually loved me
put me into panic mode,
it seemed a heavy load,
much harder than intercourse.
Of course, I was wrong.
Still, on many lonely nights,
I cried deep inside
while lying
right next to a lovely-lady,
bathed in our mutual bliss.
And when I kissed her,
I would wish
with all my heart that
I could learn
the finer art of intimacy,
something
I had missed,
flunked for years
with flying colors,
which were mainly
the deepest blue.
I never really knew!
Oh, I’m better now, I think.
I’ve overcome my fears,I think
accepted the fact that real women, I think
want more than just that primal act, I think.
You'd throw yourself under a bus for this thing..
"Ready?" He asks
I can hardly keep still
Nodding and screeching
"YESSS!"
He peels his hands
away from my eyes
Lifts my chin, points
to the mantlepiece
"Look there, Girl"
I see the thing up there
all shiny
wrapped in gold
big (too big) bow on its front
and some animal-thing in me
wants to tear it apart;
shove it down my throat
before my mouth even
knows what's happened
"You want it, Girl?" he asks
I give him my best pleading look
"Well, it's yours ... If.... "
Didn't understand much of
what he was going on about
but taking off my dress sounded
easy enough and I never saw an
egg as big or as pretty before
"Good girl.. See what you did?"
he points toward himself-
"Now come here.
All you have to do now, is.."
"put my... where?"
"Bend like this?"
.. ".. pl..p ...
.... ???!!"
Aye. It hurt like hell
The snot
The stinging cheeks
The smell
The reminder running
down my leg was all worth it;
I had the best Easter egg in the Shire
"Ready?" He asks
I can hardly keep still
Nodding and screeching
"YESSS!"
He peels his hands
away from my eyes
Lifts my chin, points
to the mantlepiece
"Look there, Girl"
I see the thing up there
all shiny
wrapped in gold
big (too big) bow on its front
and some animal-thing in me
wants to tear it apart;
shove it down my throat
before my mouth even
knows what's happened
"You want it, Girl?" he asks
I give him my best pleading look
"Well, it's yours ... If.... "
Didn't understand much of
what he was going on about
but taking off my dress sounded
easy enough and I never saw an
egg as big or as pretty before
"Good girl.. See what you did?"
he points toward himself-
"Now come here.
All you have to do now, is.."
"put my... where?"
"Bend like this?"
.. ".. pl..p ...
.... ???!!"
Aye. It hurt like hell
The snot
The stinging cheeks
The smell
The reminder running
down my leg was all worth it;
I had the best Easter egg in the Shire
Little Sister Spelunking Words
She knew the prospects in that aphotic hole
plunking chunky speech
chalky talk, drawing up walls
that caved in on one word.
Who was the canary
maybe both of them ? Noxious sentences
bored lungs with a punch, and pit
that black lunged neither anymore.
Oxygenated assurances that they would breathe
a fresher syntax someday did not take away
deep density, as she evaded stalactite
semantics, lacking definition.
And she still doesn't get it
what they were digging at
insisting Sister and her mine dirty coal-adjectives
while she clutched, and hoarded
their diamond-nouns in all that dark.
She knew the prospects in that aphotic hole
plunking chunky speech
chalky talk, drawing up walls
that caved in on one word.
Who was the canary
maybe both of them ? Noxious sentences
bored lungs with a punch, and pit
that black lunged neither anymore.
Oxygenated assurances that they would breathe
a fresher syntax someday did not take away
deep density, as she evaded stalactite
semantics, lacking definition.
And she still doesn't get it
what they were digging at
insisting Sister and her mine dirty coal-adjectives
while she clutched, and hoarded
their diamond-nouns in all that dark.
Anonymous
“Badly, Sadly, Madly Lost In Sensuous Deeds”
http://www.saudek.com/photos/87-26.jpg
(The Afterglow of Innocence Lost)
An intoxicated nymph seduced
the sinister kid who struggled
to find his innocent devil.
He ached with a crooked smile,
oozing the moon pies
with the sentimentalism
he needed so badly.
And he cried, quivering
with sweet greedy memories,
the ones he savored alone
in his empty heart beating.
He could not overcome the opiate
sensations that dripped electricity,
shooting stars saturated his dark soul,
never was he ever whole again
sadly, after the seeding.
With love crammed into his greedy groin,
he rocks subconscious to starlight,
has joined the rest of the race,
radiating provocative odors.
The vaporous afterglow
stays with him,
smoldering,
so madly lost
in sensuous deeds.
http://www.saudek.com/photos/87-26.jpg
(The Afterglow of Innocence Lost)
An intoxicated nymph seduced
the sinister kid who struggled
to find his innocent devil.
He ached with a crooked smile,
oozing the moon pies
with the sentimentalism
he needed so badly.
And he cried, quivering
with sweet greedy memories,
the ones he savored alone
in his empty heart beating.
He could not overcome the opiate
sensations that dripped electricity,
shooting stars saturated his dark soul,
never was he ever whole again
sadly, after the seeding.
With love crammed into his greedy groin,
he rocks subconscious to starlight,
has joined the rest of the race,
radiating provocative odors.
The vaporous afterglow
stays with him,
smoldering,
so madly lost
in sensuous deeds.
Drawing Away
You’ve sailed away on a boat somewhere,
Sailed away where I don’t care.
I tried to be all that you need
But all I did was lose sight of me.
I cannot help but wonder why
The white elephant here, will just not die.
What is it that’s being kept alive?
I’ve become, myself, a holy shrine
For which the Lord has sought to fill
With all the things that I soon will
Need to make it on my own,
And though we’ve checked out, I’m never alone.
You’ve sailed away on a boat somewhere,
Sailed away where I don’t care.
I tried to be all that you need
But all I did was lose sight of me.
I cannot help but wonder why
The white elephant here, will just not die.
What is it that’s being kept alive?
I’ve become, myself, a holy shrine
For which the Lord has sought to fill
With all the things that I soon will
Need to make it on my own,
And though we’ve checked out, I’m never alone.
How Quickly Those Days Have Passed
Oh,how I long for those days when life was a breeze
When everyone thought that I was adorable
When everyone thought I was sweet
I long for those days when kisses were for grown ups
When a boyfriend was just a boy who was your friend
When cooties were feared
I long for the days when one didn't have to comform to society in order to fit in
When uttering the word "sex" was a big enough sin
When being fat wasn't such an issue
I long for the days when magic existed
When unicorns were real
When flying was possible for anyone who believed it was
I long for those days when Lady Gaga would've been described as a scary creature of the night
When there was no need for cell phones as hide-and-go-seek kept us all entertained
When one would get a hiding for even daring to swear
I long most for the days when best-friends were in abandonce
When secrets could still be kept
And when relationships were still sacred
(It's not good enough,I know. I just thought it was worth a shot)
Oh,how I long for those days when life was a breeze
When everyone thought that I was adorable
When everyone thought I was sweet
I long for those days when kisses were for grown ups
When a boyfriend was just a boy who was your friend
When cooties were feared
I long for the days when one didn't have to comform to society in order to fit in
When uttering the word "sex" was a big enough sin
When being fat wasn't such an issue
I long for the days when magic existed
When unicorns were real
When flying was possible for anyone who believed it was
I long for those days when Lady Gaga would've been described as a scary creature of the night
When there was no need for cell phones as hide-and-go-seek kept us all entertained
When one would get a hiding for even daring to swear
I long most for the days when best-friends were in abandonce
When secrets could still be kept
And when relationships were still sacred
(It's not good enough,I know. I just thought it was worth a shot)
Anonymous
BORN UNDER A BAD SIGN
Blocking out the past
Is my daily task
Your history is not your future
My past is still an anchor
That weighs me down
Even if I think positive
When I think I finally got over it
It is a shape - shifter
Turns into clinging Velcro vines
"Don't be too happy"
My mother admonished
For her past was horrific
Now realize I have three pasts
Each of my parents and one of my own
They refuse to leave me alone
Born under a bad sign
Your pasts run free
They will not let you go
They will not let you be.
The Road
A looseleaf of loose ends, tethering poems
A few reasons you left together alone
And whether I've grown depends on the evidence shown
Or the reverence of better friends who'd set it in stone..
Old flames and venomous thoughts
Cold veins and treacherous loss
Envious of the emptiness, growth-pained reckoner scoffs..
No shame, no blame, so strange the texture is off..
I don't feel the same anymore..
Claim denial, threatening violence
Hollow and vile, heckling tyrant
Feign a smile for deafening silence
Followed for miles by beckoning sirens
And I don't think it's an ambulance..
Meander through the noise in my head
These answers, few, and choices have fled..
Powerless and out of control
Countless, insurmountable souls
Cowered to a mountain of tolls
And gave up on the voices ahead...
Even though it's taken it's toll, keep focused, stay on the road
Keep going, stay in control, try to keep from swerving out of it
The noises in my head are getting louder, turn it down a bit..
Screw it, turn the music up; medicate and loosen up
Meditate and use it, plus, in truth, I love the sound of it..
Veins full of venom, my injustice grew from the paper
Once what was destructive, now productive use of my anger..
Trust was corrupted, and such is proof of the danger
Once love is a substance, what comforts you is a razor..
Cut back on the poisons that keep threatening your sanity
Run ragged by choices in this menacing calamity..
Brace for the reckoning, every second is damaging
Embrace all that's vacant, that's all you take from it, vanity
Some hollow existence.. Follow the resistance
And break the chains you wallow in to swallow up the distance
Evolution of a coup.. Groups that grew apart
Proof is a best-kept illusion, revolution's in the art
And that's not a revolution, it's true.. But it's a start..
Copyright © 2012 Travis J Gibbs, The Ant1-Her0 Project
A looseleaf of loose ends, tethering poems
A few reasons you left together alone
And whether I've grown depends on the evidence shown
Or the reverence of better friends who'd set it in stone..
Old flames and venomous thoughts
Cold veins and treacherous loss
Envious of the emptiness, growth-pained reckoner scoffs..
No shame, no blame, so strange the texture is off..
I don't feel the same anymore..
Claim denial, threatening violence
Hollow and vile, heckling tyrant
Feign a smile for deafening silence
Followed for miles by beckoning sirens
And I don't think it's an ambulance..
Meander through the noise in my head
These answers, few, and choices have fled..
Powerless and out of control
Countless, insurmountable souls
Cowered to a mountain of tolls
And gave up on the voices ahead...
Even though it's taken it's toll, keep focused, stay on the road
Keep going, stay in control, try to keep from swerving out of it
The noises in my head are getting louder, turn it down a bit..
Screw it, turn the music up; medicate and loosen up
Meditate and use it, plus, in truth, I love the sound of it..
Veins full of venom, my injustice grew from the paper
Once what was destructive, now productive use of my anger..
Trust was corrupted, and such is proof of the danger
Once love is a substance, what comforts you is a razor..
Cut back on the poisons that keep threatening your sanity
Run ragged by choices in this menacing calamity..
Brace for the reckoning, every second is damaging
Embrace all that's vacant, that's all you take from it, vanity
Some hollow existence.. Follow the resistance
And break the chains you wallow in to swallow up the distance
Evolution of a coup.. Groups that grew apart
Proof is a best-kept illusion, revolution's in the art
And that's not a revolution, it's true.. But it's a start..
Copyright © 2012 Travis J Gibbs, The Ant1-Her0 Project
I wish I could trust you but I can't keep you from the ones whom you think need you, just because they say they do.
And its hard to be strong when I'm the only one who has your back. Even you. Including you. There's no way to win when we get by on just enough.
I can't move mountains and I can't build a ship big enough to sail to where you are. No one seems to know, but me, how far away that is.
Sleeping alone was never your thing. I want to keep you safe here underneath this wing. How can you survive with no safe place to sleep and no one to tuck you in?
Please don't fight it. This is all we have. Big scars that are left from picking at the scabs. We can't go down that road again, not even if you say yes. It hurts too much to just be friends.
And its hard to be strong when I'm the only one who has your back. Even you. Including you. There's no way to win when we get by on just enough.
I can't move mountains and I can't build a ship big enough to sail to where you are. No one seems to know, but me, how far away that is.
Sleeping alone was never your thing. I want to keep you safe here underneath this wing. How can you survive with no safe place to sleep and no one to tuck you in?
Please don't fight it. This is all we have. Big scars that are left from picking at the scabs. We can't go down that road again, not even if you say yes. It hurts too much to just be friends.
