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CLOSED

Good luck, be creative and have fun and remember this contest's theme is ‘Loss’. If you have any trouble, contact one of the bosses. - [Rice]

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1. Another Loss

"I love you,"
whispered tentatively
over gunpowder tea,
eyes downtrodden with a hatful of tears
too stubborn to drop.

A jazzy vinyl skipping "never, never, never"
Your deafened ears;
tea allergy
Clogging up narrow passages,
Itching open barely scabbed,
ignored and forgotten
blemishes no one else can see.

Into the fabled looking glass,
the mirror in your hallway
of memories with people
(none of them me),
Familiar stranger
allow me to entice you from your cavern
of self-doubt and piteous virtue,
let me touch you.

"Never, never,"
choked over
a mug of aged Scotch
"I love you"
Drowning out.

- Written by [Roma]

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2. Soul-Searching

I can't seem to find the time
to relocate this space of mine
the humming and buzzing of words in my head
tied together like leaves on a thread
recitation and deprivation
my anima explain.

Round and round with will and rime
my soul with words refused to mime
ribs and bones become a bed
for the thoughts once carved in stone and lead
deprivation and recitation
go hand in hand again.

- Written by [Akayume]

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3.Gone

I cried for months when you had left
Night and day my thoughts would lay
Remembering you, I felt bitter and bereft
Wondering why you had to leave

And I felt sad, and I would greive
Still I would not believe
Certain my mind had decieved
The daughter, you left behind

Such a shock
For I was not prepared
But after a while
I could start to smile

Remembering my dad
For who he was
And I am glad
That I had known him

That he had created me
A bloodline to carry on
I still feel sad, but I've learnt to feel better

I still don't believe it.

-Written by [9jlriexqk,ktpk]

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4. A Tragic Little Tale

You have vanished.
Is this bitterness, beating
poison into grief-frozen veins, mine?
There is nothing graceful about this
and I ache to think
a year should be all I am given of you.

She exists no more, you say—
yet you still glimmer somewhere underneath
where I am no longer permitted.
Perhaps it is a crime I've committed,
this issue with loving you too much.
It cannot be helped.

Foolish as I am,
I sit in the lap of uncertainty
and wait for the ground to thaw.

- Written by [Linderel]

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5. This is where I put a title.

It said "Poem must follow the format below:"

Number, Title

(This is where your poem goes)

Author

...

At first glance, it was harmless.

But I read it with the kind of fear you get standing in line for your first rollercoaster ride. I read it like an eight year old listening to the cold shreaks of metal flying down the tracks, the death screams of passenger after passenger. I read it like a young boy reads the warning signs posted all along that line from hell.

Keep hands and feet inside vehicle at all times...

"Or lose them." I gulp and begin running through the legs of the brave hipsters and crazy teens in line behind me. I have to get out. I can't do this. I'm just a kid...

...

It said "Everyone who participates gets a prize." and "The most important thing is that everyone has fun!"

But the pressure of fitting in- of doing well...
I ran the other way.

The first poetry contest I lost was the one I never entered. I just sat at the exit door watching all the excited people coming off the ride... The little boy in me has never been more disappointed.

- Written by [RemovedAcct]

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6. Loving Love Lost

An old man stands by the grave of his long gone, beautiful wife
Says, “I’ve been living since you’ve been gone, now
I’m ready to give up my life.
I raised our kids and remind them all about you,
But there are answers left to questions that I still don’t know…

        ‘Why’d you leave me, don’t you love me, is there something I did wrong?
              Could I have helped you, Lord I love you.
                Is there something that I missed?
           I wish so bad there’d been a way for me to make you stay.”

                      A little girl cries in the night, but only her father cares.
                         He asks what’s wrong and he holds her tight,
                           But he knows she wants her mother there.
                        She says, “I miss her, she’s been gone too long.
                        Daddy I love you, but I need her to sing her song.
                                My heart has an empty space,
                           And questions without answer lay there…

       ‘Why’d you leave, don’t you love me, is there something I did wrong?
              Wish I could hold you, I still love you.
               Is there something that I missed?
          I wish so bad there’s been a way for me to make you stay.”

A father stands at his daughter’s grave,
Cursing the clouds, filled with pain and rage.
A stranger had gone and stolen her life-
Now she’s dancing in the Promised Land.
He says, “She’s just too young to be carried away!
Why’d you have to steal my pride?
I’ll live to see the day his damned soul dies,
With my Angel by my side.
Just let me ask you this…

       ‘Since you have her, don’t you love her, is there anything up there wrong?
              Wish I could hold her, Lord I love her-
                Dearest thing I’ll ever miss.
          I wish so bad there’d been a way for you to let her stay.”

- Written by [kamisch]

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7 Where There Were Mountains

We drive down a winding road,
So often the peaks are lost to view.
But everyone once and a while we see,
Something that we never knew.

But the new is not a pretty thing,
It's ugly, brown, unnaturally made.
The mountain peak was cut away,
The beauty that was begins to fade.

We are losing the fight agains the giant,
Destroying a thing I once did love.
They are winning, these earth destroyers,
Because money to earth is far above.

I loose my home, my neighbors too,
The barons of the king took them from us.
Children still too young to speak,
Know too much of what is loss.

Yet still we battle a foe untouched,
Except by the tragedies he has caused.
Taking the mountains, forests, and streams,
And all the lives that have been lost.

It is not yet over, this war of ours,
And it effects more than can be shown.
The king thinks he is winning the fight,
But war is something only a soldier has known.

- Written by [Flisky]

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8. A Year

My chest heaves
and heaviness settles
in the cracks of my skin.
We are dry.
Summer drought stole
the life from our roots
and spread
canker to our leaves
We are dry,
desaturated buds.

My chest heaves
and my limbs coil
into the damp hands of this house.
We are faded.
Autumn stripped the walls
of paper and frames
and brought webs,
spider-silken grey.
We are faded,
crinkled print.

My chest heaves
and my breath clouds,
paints the air in monochrome.
We are cold.
Winter crusts us,
moulds us
and hardens our skin
with marble and ice
We are cold,
frozen, stilled.

My chest heaves
and we move,
the dew licks at our feet.
We are searching.
Spring sun-lights our gardened
halls and we listen
to birds and you
remain. We are searching,
and find you,
here. 

- Written by [Chimes]

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9. The Child Angel

A child lay, stricken in bed
A cool towel lay upon her head
To lower the fever
That is taking away her strength

Sitting beside her sick bed
Is the father who's life revolved around her
Sitting with her in hands
Wondering when the end will be here

His mind full of thoughts
Memories of the past
Memories of first steps
And of her first "I love you Daddy."

Then the thoughts drifted
To memories that will never happen
Memories of her first dance
Of her wedding and the birth of his Grandchildren

Then a sweet voice broke through his woe
Filling hist heart with warmth
His daughter looks at him
A weak smile on her lips

"Don't cry Daddy
You shouldn't be sad
I'm going to a better place
Where I won't be sick anymore."

Then she closed her eyes forever
And he knew she was right
But he couldn't help but to cry
As he held her tight as the say she was born

- Written by [Lord Josmar]

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10. The Youth From the Glen

I lost my heart
to a youth from the glen,
who wore the bright colors
of the brave fighting men.

My hand, he took
as we waltzed through the air;
while the pale sun shone down,
golden and fair.

My love, he did call me;
oh, heart of my life!
When the fighting is over
won't you be my wife?

I bid him goodbye
as the cold rain sighed down,
the day he marched out
to bear arms for the crown.

I lost my heart
to a youth, fair and brave.
Now he keeps it with him
in a far-away grave.

The horrors of war,
unknown by great men,
destroyed all the hopes
of my love from the glen.

He's gone, not forgotten;
and I shed lonely tears,
recalling the sweet dream
of those far away years.

The horrors of war
and all that it costs,
is a bitter reminder
of my deep, aching loss.

I lost my heart
to a youth from the glen;
now forever I'm wishing
he could come home again.

- Written by [ziddystardust]

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11. Agony

Petals lay on the water,
Carrying sadness away.
Tragic, sorrowful, heartbreaking,
Some pain never dies.
Bleak, miserable, rainy day,
Some people never cry.

-Written by [BookNerd]

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12. Self-destruct

The Green Ghoul found me.
My home is left in pieces.
Now, I must rebuild.

-Written by [RemovedAcct]

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13. Bitter-sweet Memories

Here I am
all alone
surrounded by pictures
of a time once known.....

Here I am, in your chair
where you bounced me on your knee
where you tickled me and pulled my hair
until I cried mercy

in this big chair,
that could hold you and me
where football was watched
where we drank Christmas tea

I am all alone now
but not by your choice
and I pray one more time
to hear your gruff voice

grandpa I love you
you know that I do
but my heart breaks with memories
of a man strong and true

I wish I could stay
forever with you
but I am alone
so I must take my leave too...

- Written by [Keru]

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