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Need opinions about this poetry comp I want to enter

User Profile: leanderthal
leanderthal March 11th, 2025

I have the opportunity to submit a poem for a competition this year and the prize is huge ($500 for the winner and $500 for the school's library, as well as several years long subscriptions and a free trip to attend a writing workshop on the other side of the country).

I love reading poetry but I don't know if I'm any good. I have two options as of now to submit but I wanted to ask around and see if they were worth submitting. And also which one to submit (one submission per student). They're simple, and the language might be a little pretentious, but I thought there was no harm in asking for some basic critiques and opinions :)

Here is poem #1:

Alas! If only we’d had time


Spritely, lively, my love once danced:

   laugh like music, smile like the sun,

a siren’s voice— I am entranced.     

   O’er green fields we gaily did run;

A growing love, a steady climb—

   Alas! If only we’d had time! 


Early mornings, sat by the stream,

   heedless of the treacherous air—  

Oh! How gentle the breeze did seem! 

   Now, each gust a derisive sneer,  

my anger climbs— bitter relapse;        

   But so much time has passed! Alas—


As skin runs cold, your blood runs hot

   and tears like salty torrents rain.

The cures all fail, my vision spots;

   Take me! End this eternal pain!

This aching, dire, relentless strife;

   Trade with me, love, your fading life! 


Alas, there's nothing I can do

   to sway the minds of death and fate. 

Crimson shifts to hyacinth blue;    

   My love, for you, I dedicate

the songs I'll sing till I collapse,

   of ceaseless grief, alas— alas—  


And poem #2:


the last time we met..


the last time we met, i stood to the side,

i held back my tears, averted my eyes.

the last time we met wasn’t meant to be last,

your future was shattered, now lost in the past.


so many thoughts that we hadn’t displayed–

what about all of the promises you’d made?

our journey up north, to see ancestors' homes;

i never once thought you would join them below!


together we grew, together we learned,

but last time we met, the old you had burned.

i hate that you’re gone, that there was no goodbye.

no longer together, my brother and i.


 I don't know why the formatting's gone all weird, but thanks in advance to anyone who can give me some advice/critiques! (The deadline's not for another month, so I'm not in a huge hurry)

3
User Profile: unassumingEyes
unassumingEyes March 12th, 2025

@leanderthal its a tough choice- theyre both really good! The second one has more flow to it while reading, the first one has a more advanced reading level- personally, while i like the second one more, i also think the first one is more likely to win. Goodluck! 

User Profile: FernsAndFirelight
FernsAndFirelight March 13th, 2025

@leanderthal hey friend! i absolutely loved reading both of your poems. given it's gotta be one submission, i'd say the first one, i totally loved the line "crimson shifts to hyacinth blue", the second's good too but the impact delivered by the first poem is unmatchable. all the best for your competition buddy, i wish for you the best<3

User Profile: BastionKnight
BastionKnight March 13th, 2025

@leanderthal

I concur with the @UnassumingEyes and @suu1309 that the first poem seems the stronger of the two. 

I would suggest that perhaps you might consider looking to sharpen the first stanza of the first poem to make it stand out more; The second line is nicely crafted, but the similes used are quite common. Perhaps trying to rework it with more unusual similes/metaphors whilst maintaining the rhyme scheme?

Also, the line 'O’er green fields we gaily did run' could be made to scan slightly smoother by changing it to 'O’er green fields we did gaily run'.

Good luck with your submission, I shall keep my fingers crossed for you.