This is the submission thread for the September 2024 contest! Submissions are open from August 30th- September 21st
Things to remember:
-spoiler any poems with mature content/cursing
-title each poem
-up to five submissions per person/put each submission in a different post.
-links to published poems on YWS/ other sources are allowed, as long as the poem is written by YOU.
-collab poems are allowed
-the theme is a guiding point, but not a requirement
-reach out to me with any questions
-NO using AI to write poems. All poems are put through an AI detector prior to judging.
-have fun!!
September '24 Contest: Where Do Rainbows End?
12 posts in this topic.
-
-
Submission One!(This is a piece based on the alchemy of souls and the prompt, it has nothing to do with the story of the drama really)^^
Naksu
I ran. Ran faster than I’ve ever run before, chasing something I don’t remember
The old bridge swayed beneath me, threatening to break loose. I didn’t care
A few planks flew right down with a splash, the water hovering in the air for a while due to the heavy energy of the place.
My breath, ragged and tense, hung in the air, mixing with the fog-adding to my worries
When was the last time I saw a rainbow?
As a naive child?
Hm maybe
The water started to turn and twist, it’s tornado swirling around, mocking me as I sprinted towards whatever was at the end
My hands shook, my current body was too weak for this
I gritted my teeth, concentrating on what little energy I was able to feel and ran
Park Jin. Jang Uk. Seo Yul…
I had to help, I didn’t know how or why I was bothering myself with these people who would abandon me
When did I last see a rainbow? -
Sorry about the confusion if you don’t understand, since I don’t think many have watched this drama, my full intent with this piece won’t be conveyed but I hope it’s good!
-
at the end of each great thing
there is, inevitably, something that
counterbalances it. each gale has it's
consecuential wave, and vice versa.
every ex comes with another pair of
star-crossed lovers. every death comes
with life. rainbows are a true mystery.
nothing is there to counterbalance them so
we all find them more beautiful and rare
than they actually are. -
submission one: that friend
i guess i'm that friend,
the one in the group who's not close enough to have someone to talk to.
my friends all just pretend
i'm somebody they like.
i'm the ultraviolet to their rainbow
nobody ever sees me anyways.
i'm that friend,
the one nobody seems to see is listening.
i'm left out of every invite and birthday party,
invitations lost in the mail.
i'm the last pick, a regular side chick
the background character to their protagonistism.
they are the rainbow glittering in the sky
and i'm just black and white.
the only one on my plane of existence
three steps off to the right.
i guess i'm just that friend;
the one everybody forgets. -
submission one: rainbow in the middle of redneck county
rainbow socks up to your knees
hidden beneath heavy jeans
and clunky work boots,
all shades of blue gray brown black
callused hands, rough and warm
dirt under your nails that i never minded
when painting them yellow
even when you came back the next day in faded flannel
and nothing on your nails besides grease and oil.
(i painted them again and again
in shades of rose and
purples like lavender and [color=]mulberry[/color]
which one day you admitted were the colors you liked best.)
rainbow in the middle of redneck county,
searching for a pot of gold somewhere else,
anywhere else other than here. -
I can't delete that but here's the actual one, that's not messed up :sob:
submission two: rainbow in the middle of redneck county
rainbow socks up to your knees
hidden beneath heavy jeans
and clunky work boots,
all shades of blue gray brown black
callused hands, rough and warm
dirt under your nails that i never minded
when painting them yellow
even when you came back the next day in faded flannel
and nothing on your nails besides grease and oil.
(i painted them again and again
in shades of rose and
purples like lavender and [color=#C54B8C
]mulberry[/color]
which one day you admitted were the colors you liked best.)
rainbow in the middle of redneck county,
searching for a pot of gold somewhere else,
anywhere else other than here. -
[align=center]Trigger warning: suicide
Submission 1: At the end of the rainbow
Your hair color changed every week,
pinkbluegreenpurplered,
Like a chameleon in a rainbow.
Baggy jeans adorned with chains,
Flannel that you wore even in summer,
I hold on to the memories of you.
I miss the smell of your ciggies,
The way your hugs felt like home,
Your bubbly laugh,
And the way your eyes lit up,
When you talked about the stars.
The universe keeps expanding,
Life goes on,
Yet your seat at the lunch table remains empty.
They cleaned out your locker last week,
Found all the doodles we drew in it,
Our inside jokes.
They found the mixtape you never gave me,
The one with the song about feeling lost,
Yet finding your way back.
I sit in our spot by the river,
Where we threw pebbles and talked for hours,
Your voice echoes in the rushing water.
The world keeps spinning,
But for me, it stopped the moment you left.
I wish you could see the butterfly,
That landed on my hand today,
Would you still say it’s a sign of change?
Or would you tell me it’s just a butterfly?
I wish you could tell me anything,
other than your goodbye text,
Still etched in my mind.
I still text you every day,
I know you can’t answer,
But it feels like you might.
I ask myself if I could’ve done something,
Could I have caught you when you jumped?
Could I have stopped you?
Suicide isn’t a choice you made,
It was the monster that whispered in your ear,
The monster that grew from your pain,
And ate away at your soul,
Till it felt like the only way out.
I hope one day,
I find you,
At the end of the rainbow.[/align] -
[align=center]Trigger warning: suicide
Submission 1: At the end of the rainbow
Your hair color changed every week,
pinkbluegreenpurplered,
Like a chameleon in a rainbow.
Baggy jeans adorned with chains,
Flannel that you wore even in summer,
I hold on to the memories of you.
I miss the smell of your ciggies,
The way your hugs felt like home,
Your bubbly laugh,
And the way your eyes lit up,
When you talked about the stars.
The universe keeps expanding,
Life goes on,
Yet your seat at the lunch table remains empty.
They cleaned out your locker last week,
Found all the doodles we drew in it,
Our inside jokes.
They found the mixtape you never gave me,
The one with the song about feeling lost,
Yet finding your way back.
I sit in our spot by the river,
Where we threw pebbles and talked for hours,
Your voice echoes in the rushing water.
The world keeps spinning,
But for me, it stopped the moment you left.
I wish you could see the butterfly,
That landed on my hand today,
Would you still say it’s a sign of change?
Or would you tell me it’s just a butterfly?
I wish you could tell me anything,
other than your goodbye text,
Still etched in my mind.
I still text you every day,
I know you can’t answer,
But it feels like you might.
I ask myself if I could’ve done something,
Could I have caught you when you jumped?
Could I have stopped you?
Suicide isn’t a choice you made,
It was the monster that whispered in your ear,
The monster that grew from your pain,
And ate away at your soul,
Till it felt like the only way out.
I hope one day,
I find you,
At the end of the rainbow.[/align] -
Second submission
I am non-binary,
That means in simple terms
I identify as neither male or female
I am a rainbow of human,
My pronouns are
theythemtheirs
My gender is not
a box to be checked off
so don't put me in a box.
It's okay to be confused by it,
but please don't tell me
"You're confused, its just a phase."
I've always felt this way
I don't fit in your binary
but that's okay -
Second submission!! I did this in a collab with @APoltergeist!!
Blue skies, bluer eyes
I stare into your soul intently
Weeping the crimson tears of clouds
The fields around me howling and screaming murder
A dandelion mocks me in its stand-fast
Does it think I am that pathetic?
"Yes," a rose says, "It does."
I stand stubbornly, blood dripping down my arm
Rivulets of carmine; stem cutting into my palm
Does it expect me to stay calm?
When thorns dig under my skin and weasel into my veins?
Rather vehement are they not, the words lost to the my many pains,
the agonies of watching clouded skies clear, no longer fuzzy gazes
The numbness sets in, the indignation resolves to nothing but a mere musing of ignorance
Only a bee brushing past my ear, buzzing before whisking away.
Why should I worry when it doesn’t matter? Why does it bother me? Yet, I feel strangely confident..
the fields of flowers mock me still with their vibrant colours, but I no longer care
When they are causing me to despair why should I waver? This isn’t about flowers.
This is about the rainbows in your eyes fading away because of something they said
This is about how the story of you and me was left incomplete, the ink on the pages still fresh
We pressed flowers into the pages but all they did was leave smears of ink on coloured petals, until nothing remained anymore but blurred words splashed on white paper.
Our story left unread, illegible and utterly pointless.
R
I
G
H
T? -
Submission one: Rainbows are only a reflection
After the rain, the sun would emerge again,
shooing away all the pesky gray clouds
as birds chirped their sweet melodies once more,
and puddles dotted the ground
Collective gasps would ring out, for lo and behold!
Peeking out from the horizon
was the sparkling kaleidoscope of colours
that was a rainbow, leading to the edges of the world
And we always thought if we found its end,
it would lead to a shining pot of gold.
Obviously, such a magical and faraway place
must have had the best of treasures!
But time passed, and the rain came again.
After the rain, the sun, after the sun, the moon.
More cycles passed,
until we stopped keeping track.
Bit by bit, we unlocked the secrets of the universe
As even atoms fell into our comprehension,
suddenly simple rainbows were no longer as important.
There were more pressing responsibilities to attend to.
A heartbreak can happen
in the scorching sun or the pouring rain.
Under the relentless sun, the rainbows we once chased
became deadlines and demands to follow.
Climbing the corporate ladder replaced
swinging across the monkey bars.
Phone calls on a digital screen replaced
the engaging conversations after school.
We forgot
about the rainbow.
Once you’ve travelled around the world
your curiosity fades and your original question with it
When did we stop wondering? It was when
we realised that rainbows are only a reflection
of the child we once were, and that a rainbow ends
at adulthood.
Sign in to reply to this topic.
Delete this post?
Are you sure you want to delete this post? This cannot be undone.