Please read the poems below and vote for your favorite to go head-to-head in this year’s Neopoem of the year contest ending in January 2025. Voting for the first six months winner ends on July 15th 2024.

In Another Life I Live Bravely

Submitted by MermaidMaster

I want to live in the tallest apartment in New
York City, and peer my gaping eyes through
my window to see only dancing beetles below.

I will wear expensive feathers and furs, I’ll
dance with strangers, and I’ll party for a while
with headliners after sold-out shows.

I’ll walk the streets wearing only perfume and
watch men stand agape as I strut past, too awed
at my nakedness proud and aglow.

I’ll rebel and I’ll wail and I’ll cry out,
“Change will come! Justice will prevail!”
And I won’t shut up until Change comes and goes.

I’ll play poker with CEO’s, and kiss strange men in taxis,
and spin through the nights like a globe on its axis;
to live with honeyed hi’s! And never with lows.

I’ll do pilates and yoga, drink only red wine,
and I won’t dwell on the men who used to be mine.
I’ll live fast and so furiously young,
and I’ll die gentle, soft and divine.

Ghostly Graveyard Warning

Submitted by paleoray

When the pumpkins turn orange and maples turn red –
When the full moon is yellow and huge overhead;
When October night winds bring a chill to the air –
Never walk in a graveyard at midnight - Beware!

When the crickets stop chirping and bats screech and fly –
When a black cat appears in the wink of an eye;
When the trees look like figures that both point and stare –
Then avoid every churchyard at midnight - Beware!

For if you see these signs and you still pass that gate,
Then you’ve dug your own grave and you’ve sealed your own fate;
It’s because in sepulchers there are ghosts with the power
To arise from the dead in that bewitching hour.

They are ruthless and restless sending chills as they moan,
And will scare you to pieces as they walk through each stone;
They will float over graves, they will fade, then appear –
Then the next thing you know they will wail in your ear.

You will scream and be frightened as long as you stay
In that special ground haunting and don’t run away;
For the one hope you have that will set yourself free
Is to get both feet out of that cemetery!

So the next time you hear a bat screech in the night,
With an October moon that is yellow and bright;
And you pass by near midnight a grave while trees stare –
Then I say it once more to remind you - Beware!

To My Monarch and Her Milkweed

Submitted by Lavender

You begin so tiny, My Little One,
just a whisper of an egg on a Milkweed leaf.
But there you are, mellow, yellow, and striped,
delicate, yet somehow stoic
as you tenderly dream.

Soon pillar, pillar Caterpillar, off you go!
to eat, and eat the Milkweed leaf, its welcoming
home, almost yours alone, guarding and
protecting you with
its milky cream.

You shed your skin as you grow and grow,
bright orange, white, and black spiral around you,
stripes over stripes as your lovely
Milkweed offers its kindness
and sweetest esteem.

What happens next? It's so amazing, You Clever Gem!
You spin a base and hang below, spinning, spinning, spinning
from your loyal Milkweed as you both wait and wait,
anticipate, the miracle of life ever changing
in your small space.

Soon you sleep, My Dear, now beheld as a chrysalis,
a secure home as you dream about the fresh air, the sun,
the breeze flowing through your tender Milkweed flower,
its gentleness still holding you there,
keeping you in its grace.

I am overjoyed as your dreams unfold, unfold, unfold...

Oh, I have no words for what blooms and becomes --
it is YOU, glorious you, Lovely Butterfly! Now free
to flutter and fly, and fly and flutter amid your Milkweed friend
in the fresh air, the sun, and the wind --
it's all yours to embrace.

Your Milkweed keeps you in its care,
your every need lingering there.
And when you leave, as you shall do,
its love and devotion will go with you.

I admire you as you flutter by,
My Dearest, Darling Butterfly.
Your colors, bold! Your wings remark
of your joy and zeal as a new Monarch.

Spring Fling

Submitted by Carrie

You came into the world,
In September, it was Spring!
Unplanned, yet full of life,
A tiny little thing.

Your smile was like the sun,
You lit up a darkened room
Your eyes reflected who you were
You grew up, far too soon.

The love you have, inside of you,
Your heart could be, the flower.
Standing brightly in your garden
Your stems, they give you power.

So here you are in this Spring fling,
For all of us to see.
In full bloom, that small wee thing,
Was really just old me.

Romance

Submitted by Hon

Under the moonlight
shadow dance
you and I embrace
in a delightful stage
Share in the language
of romantic sparkle
with the happiness
filled our heart
celebrating the new
beginning of life
This marks the promise
of commitment
from god's grace gift
display of precious exude
with a sense of gratitude
granted from a wish
relish with a joy of blessing
for a final reunion

A Way Out

Submitted by Rula

As night pulls down its wild dark curtains
And heavy eyelids drop lazily,
I ponder with spider-like loomed shadows,
Thoughts torture my broken, weary soul.

Everything around my room plays tricks;
Shadows with shattered hearts wander,
Carrying bloody, slaughtered dreams,
All howl, moan in pain, "that's insane, that's insane."

I seek a way out, is there no escape?
The door's locked with heavy chains.
Windows, it seems, are all covered with tar,
Behind the sill, bars add weight.

Then more spirits seep in, multiplying,
From nowhere, to heighten the scene.
I try to cry, but my own voice chokes me,
Then a louder voice declares, "There is no way out."

Vote Here

Thank you for reading and your vote.

See you in January for the final face off.