Poetry competition CLOSED 16th September 2016 11:02pm
WINNER
Hepcat61 (geoff cat)
Hepcat61 (geoff cat)
RUNNERS-UP:
MadameLavender
and PorousPen
=15=
http://i1036.photobucket.com/albums/a450/geoff_collins2/FLAG2_zpsqdk3q6w7.jpeg
COMING OF AGE
(a sonnet)
As time that knows no rest from day to day
For thousands have we shed in loss and gain
Come men from boys whose parts are cut away
As women born from girls in blood and pain
In beacons of the land, in city spires
We played as children play then come of age
Four birds our passage mark in temples’ pyres
Cast souls to fury winds in hate’s enrage
Five thousand days have blown unsettled gale
Rained hell fire from the skies, like vengeful hosts
Five thousand days these innocents assail
From shining war, we breathe the dust of ghosts
This rooftop boyish man remains, compelled
Who wept and lowered flags as towers fell
Author's note: image from Wikipedia - slightly edited
COMING OF AGE
(a sonnet)
As time that knows no rest from day to day
For thousands have we shed in loss and gain
Come men from boys whose parts are cut away
As women born from girls in blood and pain
In beacons of the land, in city spires
We played as children play then come of age
Four birds our passage mark in temples’ pyres
Cast souls to fury winds in hate’s enrage
Five thousand days have blown unsettled gale
Rained hell fire from the skies, like vengeful hosts
Five thousand days these innocents assail
From shining war, we breathe the dust of ghosts
This rooftop boyish man remains, compelled
Who wept and lowered flags as towers fell
Author's note: image from Wikipedia - slightly edited
Extreme September
A September to remember as I recall
the facts working from a factory
in downtown Los Angeles. The factors
that went into planning intolerance is
the reason this event made it extremely
hard to reason with the enemy’s reason.
The time has passed, and the passengers
will not be forgotten through the passage
of time. The times are tough,
“we will prevail” said everyone on this
side of the sideways perspective. Who
are we as a whole to want peace in our
lives? A civilized wholesome society
holding hands with sons and daughters.
On the handset a distress call not so
handsome, a second plane hit the tower,
the North and South no longer over the
city towering. The world changed overnight,
we now live our lives like livestock. Savagery
exists, the existence of evils as we pray to who
knows what asking for forward days to feel human
once again. Fifteen years to the day, still feels the
same as year six as will sixty six. What will androids
think of this day when daylight hits their hotspots?
How could this have happened? Those planes didn't
care who had and who had not, all they cared about
was destroying freedom from within. Mission not
accomplished, the will continues no matter
your intentions.
A September to remember as I recall
the facts working from a factory
in downtown Los Angeles. The factors
that went into planning intolerance is
the reason this event made it extremely
hard to reason with the enemy’s reason.
The time has passed, and the passengers
will not be forgotten through the passage
of time. The times are tough,
“we will prevail” said everyone on this
side of the sideways perspective. Who
are we as a whole to want peace in our
lives? A civilized wholesome society
holding hands with sons and daughters.
On the handset a distress call not so
handsome, a second plane hit the tower,
the North and South no longer over the
city towering. The world changed overnight,
we now live our lives like livestock. Savagery
exists, the existence of evils as we pray to who
knows what asking for forward days to feel human
once again. Fifteen years to the day, still feels the
same as year six as will sixty six. What will androids
think of this day when daylight hits their hotspots?
How could this have happened? Those planes didn't
care who had and who had not, all they cared about
was destroying freedom from within. Mission not
accomplished, the will continues no matter
your intentions.
9-1-1
To be young again.
To believe in something as simple as
9-1-1
Of being taught to memorize those numbers
Practicing them with my parents
Reviewing them in school
Being assured that once memorized
They were a guarantee of safety
Being able to press those numbers
I was told would send assistance
Bring safety to me
Allow me to save others
Sirens would blare
Capable people would come
Never did I doubt it
For it was told to me
By those who at the time
Seemed so much wiser
Control found in something so simple
That even a small child could obtain it
Buildings will always stand
A phone will always be there
With someone to answer
How disillusioning to discover
It was a false assurance
The day the buildings tumbled
Explosions and smoke filled the air
As a nation struggled to breathe
Helplessly watching
The skyline and lives changed forever
So many senseless deaths
No magic numbers
9 1 1 now a source of sadness
Rather than security
A reminder that there are no magic numbers
That everything to be held onto comes at a cost
There is not always someone else to come
To save the day for us
A loss of our Nation's innocence
Our eyes now opened
Wiping the tears away
I see more clearly.
To be young again.
To believe in something as simple as
9-1-1
Of being taught to memorize those numbers
Practicing them with my parents
Reviewing them in school
Being assured that once memorized
They were a guarantee of safety
Being able to press those numbers
I was told would send assistance
Bring safety to me
Allow me to save others
Sirens would blare
Capable people would come
Never did I doubt it
For it was told to me
By those who at the time
Seemed so much wiser
Control found in something so simple
That even a small child could obtain it
Buildings will always stand
A phone will always be there
With someone to answer
How disillusioning to discover
It was a false assurance
The day the buildings tumbled
Explosions and smoke filled the air
As a nation struggled to breathe
Helplessly watching
The skyline and lives changed forever
So many senseless deaths
No magic numbers
9 1 1 now a source of sadness
Rather than security
A reminder that there are no magic numbers
That everything to be held onto comes at a cost
There is not always someone else to come
To save the day for us
A loss of our Nation's innocence
Our eyes now opened
Wiping the tears away
I see more clearly.
Hepcat61 said:http://i1036.photobucket.com/albums/a450/geoff_collins2/FLAG2_zpsqdk3q6w7.jpeg
COMING OF AGE
(a sonnet)
My humble thanks, Hepcat61, for your contribution to the competition.
-Jade
COMING OF AGE
(a sonnet)
My humble thanks, Hepcat61, for your contribution to the competition.
-Jade
Jade, our dear hostess, thank you for providing such a well executed competition and providing an outcome that did not go to public vote.
I would much rather know who came closest to the hostess's concept than the poem that the population liked the best, but I digress...
I am humbled as I have read all the poems submitted here and I am in such great company. I am honored to be sharing the podium with you, Madame Lavender and PorousPen! Both are stunning works...
But to all who shared their words about this tragic turning point in our history... I am deeply grateful to you for your thoughts...
Thank you again, Jade. For a forum to work through my waves of thought on that Tuesday morning 15 years ago and all of the still reverberating ramifications...
Geoff the Cat
I would much rather know who came closest to the hostess's concept than the poem that the population liked the best, but I digress...
I am humbled as I have read all the poems submitted here and I am in such great company. I am honored to be sharing the podium with you, Madame Lavender and PorousPen! Both are stunning works...
But to all who shared their words about this tragic turning point in our history... I am deeply grateful to you for your thoughts...
Thank you again, Jade. For a forum to work through my waves of thought on that Tuesday morning 15 years ago and all of the still reverberating ramifications...
Geoff the Cat
