Forest Poetry Fantasia Results

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Forest Poetry Fantasia

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All poems are individually marked out of 30 based on the categories of Effectiveness, Thought and Resonance by our 5 judges. These scores were then collated and averaged to get the overall total. For more in detail statistics on the scoring, see the end of the dispatch : )

Haiku

All comes to an end:
Lives, dictatorships, dinners,
Pax Americana.

Written by Athenids

Score = 24

The rowans turn first
like torches in the greenwood,
scarlet, bronze and gold.

Written by Uan aa Boa

Score = 23

The cuckoo screams out
his murderous intentions
from the old pine tree.

Written by Uan aa Boa

Score = 21

Athenids is the winner of the Haiku section!

Freeverse

Depression

But when it's over for this time,
the hateful thudding piston and the savage darkness,
when I can hear again
my own voice
and I'm beached on the shores of morning
beneath the clearest blue
my tears are for the beauty of it all.

Pain and love are the same thing
and we each have the whole sky inside us.
Let's climb out over the rim.

Written by Uan aa Boa

Score = 24⅓

Orange
On the counter
Tender and cold
To the touch
Alone

Peeled
Stripped of cover
Even colder now
Tender tendrils tear
Exposed

Split
Each slice torn
Making zipping sounds
Longing to return
Gone

Remains
The orange peel
Three slices still
And the memory
Orange

Written by Haymarket Riot

Score = 21

There is a food that is quite delicious.
The food I want is known to all as cheese.
The eating of it can be nutritious.
If it’s given to me it would appease.

Cheese is great, with many variations.
Bleu cheese, mozzarella, swiss and galore.
It is eaten and loved in all nations.
It is a nice food that all can adore. 

It is popular in ol’ Wisconsin.
And the bright city of Paris in France.
Loved by President Lyndon B. Johnson.
Cheese has such quality, it makes me dance.

Cheese is the thing I truly want, okay?
So give me some beautiful cheese today.

"That one cheesy sonnet" - written by The kaverian

Score = 18

"Ode to a peach" - Written by Nardin

Score = 23⅔

In another life, I could be popular
Loved by everyone, so unstoppable
I could be successful, without even trying
But where would my friends be, when I started crying?

In another life, I could be athletic
Strong and fast, and everything like that
I would be loved, by the people around me
But when I failed, I would be disappointing

In another life, I could have money
Pull off all my wants, without problems
I could be known, by just using my money
But would I be happy, with the money I spend?

In another life, I would want another life
I could never ever really be satisfied
Maybe the life I really want is not the life I really want
And the life I really lead is the life I really need

In another life, I could be famous
Known by everyone, I would be listened to
By everyone, all around the world
But even when I broke down, would they still see me?

In another life, I could be a super-genius
I could help the world, and cure deadly diseases
Or I could write, in the way I really wanna write
But would my smarts, be my own downfall

In another life, I could be a king
I would be powerful, lord over all the things
Rule by divine right, or whatever dumb excuse I come up with
But if they know I’m lying, would they still be loyal then?

In another life, I would want another life
I could never ever really be satisfied
Maybe the life I really want is not the life I really want
And the life I really lead is the life I really need

In another life, I could rule the world
I would be untouchable, by pains and disaster
With my authority, I could help the world
But would I be overcome, by power and evil?

In another life, I could be a god
I would be omnipotent, and worshipped by you all
With my godly powers, I could shape the world
But at that point, am I still even me?

In another life, I could know who I am
I would understand myself, and not be so confused
I could be myself, in the way I never can
But if I could see myself, would I like what I found?

In another life, I would want another life
I could never ever really be satisfied
Maybe the life I really want is not the life I really want
And the life I really lead is the life I really need

In another life, could I be better?
Better something else, better than I am?
I could be great, but I’m limiting myself
To the imperfect person, I am

In another life, could I be better?
Better something else, better than me?
Maybe in another life, I am the best of me
Instead of the imperfect person, I am

In another life, could I be better?
Better something else, better in the dark?
Bad brain not all hope is lost, even if I still fall short
Because of the imperfect person, I am

In another life, I would want another life
I could never ever really be satisfied
Maybe the life I really want is not the life I really want
And the life I really lead is the life I really need

Maybe the life I really want is not the life I really want
And the life I really lead is the life I really need
In another life, I am truly lost
I am here and now, I just have to find myself

"In Another Life..." - written by The kaverian

Score = 23

Ten Years

Argument
Ten Years of warfare in Ukraine. Ten Years lost in the smoke and fires of war. The world will never be the same.

Soviansk, Donetsk Oblast, 2014

April in Sloviansk,
Not even 3 months away,
But today,
I’ll tell you a story,
not even ten years away

Tick.
Tock.
Tick.
Tock.

Spoken Plainly

“It is now four minutes to midnight.”

After five years fighting,
The fighting’s finally calming,
The sound of gunfire and artillery’s quieting,
As the world seemed to quietly tick away.

Gently, increasing in pace

Tick.
Tock.
Tick.
Tock.
Tick…
Tock.

Spoken Plainly

It is now two minutes to midnight.

February Twenty Fourth, 2022,

“I have decided to conduct a special military operation…”
(In a Mock Putin Voice)
The world watches as hell lets loose again,
The world watches as their protocols, (Minsk I & II)
Their Normandy Formats,
Break.

“The situation requires us to take decisive and immediate action...”
(In a Mock Putin Voice)
Fighting begins immediately,
From Belarus, from the north,
Across Crimea, a seizure from fourteen,
They march for Mariupol,
Engines whirring and boots clicking,
A Siege Begins

The Fighting is Fierce,
Artillery sings,
A destructive song,
That Pulverizes, glosses, and gleams the terrain
Dust and smoke envelope the city like a blanket.
Despite it all,
The Orders remain,
Hold for as long as possible.

45 Degrees, 10 Minutes and 43 Seconds North, 30 Degrees, 55 Minutes and 31 Seconds East, The Resting Location of the Moskova, 14th of April 2022

Russian Warship, go f*ck yourself,
You think yourself untouchable,
Yet Neptune’s aim was true,
The pride of the Russian Navy,
Sank with cross ‘bove his head,
Was a name change really worth it in the end?

To continue my work,

How the hell do you lose a naval war
To a country without a f*cking navy?
More fuel to the fire,
You claimed you lost him to a storm
Yet photos from Bulgaria show for the worst
Calm Seas all round, not a cloud in sight
You claimed he sunk in a storm, but clearly, that’s not right.

Azovstal Iron and Steel Works, Mariupol, Donetsk Oblast, May Twenty Twenty Two.

The Corridor is closed,
The city's in ruins,
The ammo’s run dry,
The order comes from on high,
May 20th, Twenty Two
Mariupol and her defenders surrender.
Two Months to a timetable of 3 Days.

Tick.
Tock.
Tick.
Tock.
Tick…
Tock.

Spoken Plainly

It is now one hundred seconds to midnight.

The West, Today

Yet all is not quiet on the Western Front,
Europe and America,
Send food, medicine, and weapons,
Challenger, Abrams, and Leopard II
PATRIOT, IRIST, HAWK just to name a few
MIGs, Suhokis, RPGs, leftovers from the east
Fighting Falcons, NLAWs, few and far between

We’ve all pulled our weight,
So we hope the war is won,
So please if you would,

Remember ten years lost,
Remember ten years torn away,
Remember the fallen.
Slava Ukraini, Glory to Heroes.

The Doomsday clock moves back and forth,
From 17 minutes in ‘91 to a minute in ‘62,
Time will continue to pass through..
It is still ninety seconds to midnight.

--End--

"Ten Years" written by Waywards edge

Score = 24

Uan aa Boa is the winner of the Freeverse section!

Environment

Time

We rose at dawn, though night had never truly fallen,
the sound of gulls rising distant from the shore at Camusunary.
Otherwise wind, water, quiet like a blanket.
On the nameless lochan one bird's wake a perfect V.
The sun dappling the sea beyond the Small Isles.
We breakfasted, packed up the tent and trod the heathered slopes
on the trail to Sgurr na Stri.

Back then a Chieftan tried to sell this land
for £10 million to fix his castle's leaking roof. No one bid,
because what could you do with it?
No malls or multiplex here, and the proud old man,
who lived, they said, in Mayfair,
could not Hold Fast as his coat of arms enjoined,
but signed his legacy to the National Trust,
leaky roof and all.

Perhaps the point is that all this cannot be acquired.
It requires no permissions, installs no cookies, has no
key performance indicators,
can be coveted only in the act of giving it back.

We passed the outlines of a shieling house,
built by people who cut peat and knew nothing of carbon sequestration
because when you're cold and hungry what else do you do?

Perhaps one day my grandchildren will walk this ridge,
a hot wind blowing from a sterile sea, and judge the generation
who knew but made things worse because seven billion people
felt individually powerless.

On these shores, now and then,
they dig up dinosaurs,
trapped here since, through the mysteries of tectonics, this was the floor of a shallow sea
in the sun-baked tropics.
The time since then is less than still remains.
We cannot kill the planet, though it can shrug us off,
and across incomprehensible time
things beyond our comprehension will rise.

Written by Uan aa Boa

Score = 25

Down beneath the freezing blue ocean waves

Below the line that defines sky from sea

Lie the creatures which to us are amaze

Extending as far as our eyes can see

It starts with a light, that grows to an eye

The comes the head the mouth the tentacles

Shadows so huge it makes you want to die

All of the oceans mighty spectacles

Humongous ones the microscopic ones

In frenzies, blooms, or traveling alone

The tiny ones grams, the big one ten tons!

All them a chance in which beauty is shone

Creatures of deep you are so beautiful

If only you weren't such a big handful

"Sea Creatures" - Written by Gathadia

Score = 21

Forests and lakes,
Deserts and snow flakes,
They are all the same.
Nature is beautiful,
Nature is bountiful,
We shall not hurt it,
Only itself.
Rivers and oceans,
Killers and dolphins,
They are all the same.
Maybe you realized,
Just maybe,
How beautiful nature is.
Now off you go,
As a fellow human,
Learn what is right,
Learn what is wrong.
Cheetahs and fleas,
Dogs and cats,
They are all the same.
You are wondering,
What is the same?
Nature is the same,
And so are humans.
The cause for racism,
Is selfishness,
Because we are all the same.
I’m not forcing,
Vegan and kindness,
Because life is still tough,
Even if you try.
The only thing I ask is,
Think before you act,
Try your best,
Because nature is the same,
All of it,
All of it is the same,
Even you,
You are the same as everyone else,
You are part of nature, death, and life,
Maybe you learned a lesson from this,
Just maybe,
But life still is part of suffer and death,
But try your best,
Because you are part of nature.
Nature is the same.

"Nature is all the same" - Written by Solamtandia

Score = 21

Life
observes creations void of bias
from all walks of strife
various archaea to an archaic virus
a trifling team teeming and rife

Benefiting from these afflictions
fungi gain a grungy friend
ambushing rows of corn and rose hawthorns
effecting an infection ‘til the bitter end

Unlike decayed rusts and greyed smuts
mycorrhiza and spruce shade huts
help to produce overlaid pine nuts

as well to bestow lodging for mumbling owls
before slowly tumbling down
igniting grumbling growls and humbling howls

Being the root cause of these collapsed trees
we shred and smother to bed a brother
since nurture is in our nature
yet resort to torture for our Mother?

If an age-old tour over her entourage
can’t animate a movement
then we’re dead in the water of a mirage
as latent and translucent
as Earth’s camouflage

Written by Kawastyselir

Score = 26

You drew your maps so wide and shallow
Etched your spirit firm and fallow
Following your paper roads
Lugging heavy paper loads
And spared no thought to take it in
Just wallow for your empty din
Draw empty houses on your homes
And out beyond these twisted roams?

Nothing
You left no space for life

Your smooth roads grew so rough under my feet
I left them, set foot where you would not
And every glowing glade you missed
Could bring such light to you

Just as He wove His palette
The orange of the evening
About his children’s trunks
And fed their supple leaves upon
The overflowing cup of setting sun

Just as the creatures danced beside
The cool respite of water
Flowing soft between its banks
Churning over rock and branch

So too you could be given
The gift of painted skies
Clouds unfurling elegance
Upon their dusky radiance

Lifting your dreams high
That every path you trudge
Every gilded reach in life
Would give you yet more reason why
The angels sang for joy that day
When these great bounds were drawn together

Life set in its place
And your place set in life

Or you could keep your map
Your ways adorned with dust
Admire all the gap
And wipe it if you must
But leave it for an instant
And you will quickly learn
From the dust it was drawn
And to the dust it will return

"Maps of Life" - Written by Blaenavon

Score = 22

1.

It's the week before winter. The air is brittle, the sky crystalline
like summer might be long gone, but we remember
what it would look like. There's a song in my head
that means something. The weight of the gardens
is behind us, and it’s telling us about the next part,
but you aren’t listening. To be fair, neither am I,
I’m already between the pages, and the orchestra is tuning,
and the tuba blots out the weakly beating wings.

2.

Walk back over the buried rivers
- they used to be free you know,
until we chained them -
the gently burbling tunnel is
a nice touch but I don’t think
the waters care. You’re so unkind,
sometimes.

3.

By you I mean the city, of course. You’re very nice,
I’m sure. But you live in the city, don’t you?
Hermit crab, symbiote. A covert conventicle.
The insomnia of crowds. Profoundness seeps
up from the cracks and thoughtlessness pours in.
Pigeons among the people or possibly
people among the pigeons
who is to say.

4.

Speaking of pigeons,
do you hear the Kereru?
Emphasis, musica universalis,
it’s nature’s knell. And surely,
surely we will listen.
No, no, deaf as a songbird. Dark as a bell.
I would call it blue-sky thinking
but we’re not sun-kissed
we’re sun-cursed. All
you left me is the birds.

"My Country Is A Green Country" - Written by Catiania

Score = 27

Catiania is the winner of the Environment section!

Vision

Blessed is the one who is gifted with sense of detection of lightwaves,
"Vision" we call it if those waves are sufficiently short.

Written by Athenids

Score = 19

Athenids is the winner of the Vision section!

Thank you to all who took part! These were all really great to read and tough to judge. Some great literary talent has been showcased and I hope you all enjoyed reading them as much as we did! I also hope that all participants enjoyed writing their poems as, although we move into a world surrounded by technology, it's important to let our creativity flow from time to time and poetry is a great way to do that... Finally,, thank you to all the judges (Zerphen, Garbelia, New United Common-lands, New Eestiball) who took their time to mark the poems which was no easy task to say the least!

Anyways, that concludes it all... It's been a pleasure to run this and congratulations to all the winners in the respective categories! Perhaps we will see another Poetry competition grace Forest in the future but who knows?! The future is yet to be decided so all opportunities are open; you can do whatever you want, the only limit is your imagination...

Have a great day...

For those who are interested, here is a more detailed breakdown of the scoring. I'll Spoiler it since it's quite large, lol...