z

Young Writers Society


a collage of mismatched contemplations



User avatar
1227 Reviews



Gender: Female
Points: 147270
Reviews: 1227
Mon Mar 20, 2017 2:33 am
View Likes
alliyah says...



Here I will take part in the noble attempt to write 30 poems in 30 days. This will be my first time participating in NaPo, we'll see how this goes... :)

> Index <


1. I'll be in Space
2. An Account of Creation
3. To the boys I don't write poetry for
4. A Whisper Lost
5. False Impressions
6. Praise of Discovery
7. Delayed Reaction (dead spring animals pt 1)
8. A different spring
9. Ongoing Battles
10. Cops And Robbers
11. Home
12. Lullabies to the Moon
13. Whispers to My Shadow
14. Summer Days - temporarily removed
15. I knew he was a liar
16. Snow in Spring
17. 8 Reasons for My Anxiety
18. Half Thoughts
19. Flood
20. Rebellion
21. Goodbyes
22. From Where I do not Know
23. When North Meets South
24. To Love the Sun
25. I don't cry for poetry
26. dream thoughts
27. eyes for the sun
28. sometimes
29. Carefree
30. When Spring Has Passed (dead spring animals pt. 2)
31. flashing lights
32. Rainy Nights
33. listening to the sky
34. Have I Forgotten You?
you should know i am a time traveler &
there is no season as achingly temporary as now
but i have promised to return
  





User avatar
488 Reviews



Gender: Female
Points: 3866
Reviews: 488
Mon Mar 20, 2017 3:35 am
View Likes
Meshugenah says...



Woo! It's fun and horrifying and hilarious and just remember: there is no required number of lines.
***Under the Responsibility of S.P.E.W.***
(Sadistic Perplexion of Everyone's Wits)

Medieval Lit! Come here to find out who Chaucer plagiarized and translated - and why and how it worked in the late 1300s.

I <3 Rydia
  





User avatar
1227 Reviews



Gender: Female
Points: 147270
Reviews: 1227
Sat Apr 01, 2017 6:25 pm
View Likes
alliyah says...



Poem 1 4/1/2017

"I'll be in space"
Spoiler! :

I’m sorry to say you’re too late to stop me
_____to be clear, I’m not sorry you’re too late,
_____I'm only sorry you came at all

I sold my soul for a train ticket
to the moon; and I won’t take a refund.
I will not fall for your old tricks
or your sweet lies coated in promises

I’ve already packed my bags and they feel light
_____unweighted by anyone holding me down
_____clinging at my skin until I couldn’t breathe

this time I’m gone for good, gone for myself,
or what’s left of me anyways.
I’ve put down the pride long ago
these shoulders only have room for necessities.

You can say it’s not your fault
or that I’m making a mistake
_____I’ll believe you when pigs fly,
_____and the sun falls, and maybe
_____not even then.
But don’t pretend I’ll turn back
the trip to the moon while dangerous
is a solo journey and I’m afraid
I’ve bought a one way ticket.
you should know i am a time traveler &
there is no season as achingly temporary as now
but i have promised to return
  





User avatar
696 Reviews

Supporter


Gender: Female
Points: 5533
Reviews: 696
Sat Apr 01, 2017 7:48 pm
View Likes
Audy says...



I would hate to be on the receiving end of this poem :3 The anger and pain is so prevalent, it takes a poet to have a reader relish in those emotions <3 Lovely!
  





User avatar
1227 Reviews



Gender: Female
Points: 147270
Reviews: 1227
Sun Apr 02, 2017 7:48 pm
View Likes
alliyah says...



Poem 2 4/2/2017

Author's Note: For this one I tried using one of the prompts (I forgot which website it was on) you flip to page 29 in whatever book you're reading, then pick 10 words that look nice, and then try to fit at least 7 of them into the piece. Consequently, I was reading an assigned book about the Scopes Trial at the time - so I decided to write on that subject matter. Hope you enjoy!

"An Account of Creation"

Spoiler! :

The Intellectual barked the orders for our
inevitable indoctrination of dog eat dog, narrating
the teleology of man as mere survival though
in the end even survival is not enough to live

Scholars of history, we readily reveled in the sameness
that had crept into humankind and became
a heathen’s replication of religion
the aspects of hate and death becoming
our inheritance and all we might aspire to.

Illustrations of our ancestors more terrifying
than Dante’s imagination and it wasn’t hard
to see we had become the caricatures
of this evolution, the manifestation of survival
at all costs, and the ultimate cost our humanity
a white flag propped up by those who reject

the narrative. But I’m cautious to reject
what we surely are, a rendition of evil since
Adam’s lie and Eve’s temptation. Isn’t it fair
to say Cain and Abel were the first in the line
of survival of those declaring they are most fit?

For some the story of war might be the courage
they need to move on to see who they are in the span
of the universe giving glory to a great continuity.
I cringe at those tales and the evolutionary depiction

of my soul, but I cannot castoff the reality that we
are in war as somehow just specks in the scheme
of the world. Still I hold hope, there is a grand turn
that the war was won long ago, and there is something
eternal.
you should know i am a time traveler &
there is no season as achingly temporary as now
but i have promised to return
  





User avatar
1227 Reviews



Gender: Female
Points: 147270
Reviews: 1227
Mon Apr 03, 2017 3:25 pm
View Likes
alliyah says...



Poem 3 4/3/2017

"To the boys I don't write poetry for"

I always imagine you’d find the scribbling
I engraved long ago into the margins
of a hurried diary entry humorous,
false, or in some way a flawed
_____you always had a way
_____to pick at my words
_____until I couldn’t speak

And I wonder if I’d try to defend
my meager verses that stand so strong
like cardboard soldiers cut out to scare
the enemy, but paper-weights just the same
_____metaphors of heartache
_____juxtaposed to victory
_____seem almost too optimistic in hindsight
you should know i am a time traveler &
there is no season as achingly temporary as now
but i have promised to return
  





User avatar
1227 Reviews



Gender: Female
Points: 147270
Reviews: 1227
Mon Apr 03, 2017 3:43 pm
View Likes
alliyah says...



Poem 4 4/3/2017

"A Whisper Lost"

I’ve always been intrigued by the origin of whispering
who was the first, what did they say?
_____your hushed “I love you”
_____rings more true than even
_____when I shout it from the mountain tops.

I have read that even God sometimes
speaks in a still-small-voice
_____something manifesting stronger in
_____what was once perceived as weak
_____is one of the eternal ironies

People talk about catching stars and kisses
but how provoking to try to catch a whisper
_____words said softly, like flower petal
_____rain drops, never die. They fade
_____but continue – around the moon and back.

I think the concept of soft speech is so remarkable
because it’s so easy to miss, so fragile, yet so intent
_____if I could have caught the sweet whispers of your love
_____and saved them in my hands, I would have
_____held them to my heart then given them back to you.
you should know i am a time traveler &
there is no season as achingly temporary as now
but i have promised to return
  





User avatar
1227 Reviews



Gender: Female
Points: 147270
Reviews: 1227
Tue Apr 04, 2017 4:33 am
View Likes
alliyah says...



Poem 5 - 4/4/17

"False Impressions"

ink dries far too quickly
_____untouched pages become maps
__________& scrawled thoughts
_______________or cartography
while legible,
_____become inaccurate;
a false impression of rivers where mountains ought to be
so qualifiers become map keys
_____I think
_____I hope
_____I used to know
scattered between chunks of memoirs soaked in dreams
_____the landscapes all the more vibrant
_____painted in palletes of versimilitude
_____in the dangerous space
between
the weight of reality & the temptation of fiction
yet the ink refuses to smudge
_____for the time at least
__________these thoughts appear permanent
_______________harsh letters carved over stone
so take them at your own risk
_____only don’t ask for the compass rose
you should know i am a time traveler &
there is no season as achingly temporary as now
but i have promised to return
  





User avatar
1274 Reviews

Supporter


Gender: Female
Points: 35724
Reviews: 1274
Tue Apr 04, 2017 5:28 am
View Likes
niteowl says...



These are really good. 3 is perfection, but 4 and 5 are strong as well.

For 4, I'm not sure if I liked the last stanza. I think I liked how it seemed to be about whispering in general, but then that last bit brings in a "me" and "you" and it's like *record scratch* wait what? It's not bad, but maybe just doesn't fit with the rest of the piece.

I look forward to reading your other poems! :)
"You do ill if you praise, but worse if you censure, what you do not understand." Leonardo Da Vinci

<YWS><R1>
  





User avatar
1227 Reviews



Gender: Female
Points: 147270
Reviews: 1227
Tue Apr 04, 2017 3:42 pm
View Likes
alliyah says...



<3 Thanks @niteowl & @Audy for your comments, I appreciate it! :)

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Poem 6 - 4/4/17

"Praise of Discovery"

You were a galaxy when I could hardly grasp the stars
the infinite span of the universe refusing to dull
_____a forever in spite of my hesitation
with a voice softer than silence and
more persistent than the sun
_____you said my name
and what I thought were only words
took on music
_____heartbeats became songs,
__________and to dance a way of praising

I declare to the moon and You
and the sun and anyone else who will listen
we are more than even souls, surely more
than star-dust; some kind of combination of fire
that doesn’t burn but is all consuming
and water that drowns without casualty.

I cannot now imagine the night
without knowing the heavens
hold the embrace of a thousand lights
_____You are present in all the echoes
I had only to open my eyes
_____and remember
to listen; in the breath of the trees
and the promises
of what always was
_____and what is to come
You are surely there.
you should know i am a time traveler &
there is no season as achingly temporary as now
but i have promised to return
  





User avatar
1227 Reviews



Gender: Female
Points: 147270
Reviews: 1227
Wed Apr 05, 2017 9:27 pm
View Likes
alliyah says...



Poem 7 - 4/5/17

Dead Spring Animals (part I)

"Delayed Reaction"

I’ve been told to always drive forward
upon sighting a squirrel on the road.
It’s allegedly safer for both parties
because squirrels are unpredictable
and humans have slow reaction times.

And I can't imagine not turning the wheel
in attempt to miss the unexpected creature.
My first instinct is to avoid destruction
even if it’s illogical. Even the squirrel's body
mangled and stamped hard to the open road
is enough for me to change my path of motion,
with equal parts disgust and horror, to see so much
innocence and vulnerability splayed on pavement.

But how many times have I seen people
darting between cars in an intent path
to their demise? I avert my guilty gaze
before the impact strikes. Thinking it's better
for both parties, to pretend not to see.
Though you aren't being hit by a car,
sometimes feigned ignorance is just as fatal.
If only we moved more quickly.

Note: I had a version that was much longer earlier, but trying to work on brevity, so this is the pared-down version.
you should know i am a time traveler &
there is no season as achingly temporary as now
but i have promised to return
  





User avatar
10 Reviews



Gender: None specified
Points: 25
Reviews: 10
Thu Apr 06, 2017 12:40 pm
View Likes
hexglass says...



you have a beautiful poetic voice -- the way you fit words together gets me every time. it's almost conversational but doubtlessly elegant, and you weave them together with such a gentle touch.

my meager verses that stand so strong
like cardboard soldiers cut out to scare
the enemy, but paper-weights just the same
  





User avatar
1227 Reviews



Gender: Female
Points: 147270
Reviews: 1227
Thu Apr 06, 2017 8:36 pm
View Likes
alliyah says...



Poem 8 - 4/6/7

“A Different Spring”

Spring should be hopeful.
The season is a fountain of life gushing
with the potential of newborn days.
The eager sun glows and beats warmth,
rejuvenating recently smothered grass.

Birds, rabbits, and squirrels reclaim
their dominion returning with a vigor
for living that is absolutely intoxicating
but with a note desperate of urgency.

I can feel and hear the cries
for optimism echoing in my chest,
but they hit the wrong chords
creating a cool dissonance
for Winter has still settled in me.

And my soul has yet to thaw.
you should know i am a time traveler &
there is no season as achingly temporary as now
but i have promised to return
  





User avatar
1227 Reviews



Gender: Female
Points: 147270
Reviews: 1227
Sat Apr 08, 2017 3:37 am
View Likes
alliyah says...



Put this together in the lovely Poetry Jam.

Poem 9 - 4/7/7

"Ongoing Battles"

They told me you had to be strong
to go to war
___the body is weak
___but the soul can be
___made rugged
My father always respected sweat
while tears were worse than worthless
men fought and boys cried.
In war those distinctions were lost to me.
___Once you've seen blood
___pooling like sweat down
___another man's forehead
___you need something
___stronger than tears for solace
I won't describe killing a man
as an act of strength or weakness
___war is war and hindsight
___is just too clear and yet
___I can not see the answers.

They told me it was okay to cry
when I came home
___my body weaker
___the soul hardened
___but cracked
I still remember running with rocks
and sticks as a child, pretending
I was charging into battle; victory in sight
my enemies dragons and ghouls
not men and guns, and tears or blood.
___Now my memories haunt me
___the new and the old and
___what is to come and what it is
___to exist, to live and to kill.
I've seen bodies twisted and mangled
so I will not say I'm broken
___but I don't think it's true
___to say I'm whole
war is war and sometimes
the damage done, escapes
the body but hits the soul.
you should know i am a time traveler &
there is no season as achingly temporary as now
but i have promised to return
  





User avatar
1227 Reviews



Gender: Female
Points: 147270
Reviews: 1227
Sun Apr 09, 2017 4:09 am
View Likes
alliyah says...



Poem 10 - 4/8/7

"Cops and Robbers"

Today at a quarter past noon, I saw a cop
chasing some unknown individual:
___male, 5’10, blue jeans,
___non-descript features
___appears to be running,

It seems like a guilty pleasure
to be excited by potential disaster
but I’d hate to miss the action.
I noted the scene:
___uncharacteristically quiet
___no sight of officer’s vehicle
___maybe he was presently off duty.
___The sun shining brightly
___upon the summer’s day,
___consistent with her former habits.

My car came to a full stop as I watched
the happenings unfold. And if needed would
offer what assistance I could to the
increasingly exciting exchange.
___Officer gains on target
___but the suspect turns
___around, swiftly lifts right
___hand and opens
___the door for the officer
___to step inside the Café

“Coast is clear” I muttered under my breath,
moving through the now green light
my mother glances behind and asks if I need anything
I shake my head and resume my patrol
from the back-seat turned squad-car.
___Crime may lull
___but justice,
___never sleeps.
you should know i am a time traveler &
there is no season as achingly temporary as now
but i have promised to return
  








I AM NOT GOING "FULL COW" ON SOMEBODYYYYYY
— whatchamacallit