Great Poets | Young Writers Project

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[Art by Alden Bond, YWP]

This challenge flows from a series called THE GREAT POETS CHALLENGE created by YWP's Nightheart to help you discover new poets, explore their styles and become inspired by their works! Find out more here, and respond anytime to any of the great poets. Just include the poet who inspired you at the top of your piece.

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Responses to this Challenge

Sep 25

poem challenge: Great Poets

Amelia_v

Her

They told her,

You will never be great.

Your brain just is not that way.

You can never understand

You will never understand.

Your a girl.

But they did not know her.

They never tried.

And she did not care.

Her dreams where bigger.

Then they could ever imagine.

Her mind was a jungle.

That they could never get through.

She climbed the mountains.

That stood in her way.

The mountains that they had built.

The mountains.

They though she could not travel.

Her hopes where as strong.

As a thousand swords.

And they where pointed at the world.

Her power.

Was stronger then theirs ever could be.

Posted: 09.25.22

Sep 22

poem challenge: Great Poets

ShaunnaOnyx

That One Sheep

Grass growing tall

Flowers trampled down

Fluffy white fog follows the direction of the tallest grass.

But trailing behind,

Almost hidden in darkness of nature

Runs a black sheep

Trying to become one with the majority.

Every attempt to catch up,

He lacks and is left behind.

Kicked, pushed, abandoned, and ignored

He bounces like a cloud of walking worry,

The definition of segregation.

“That one sheep stands out like a sore thumb” a woman says,

An ignorant tourist spills to another man beside her,

A woman looking through the eyes of the white sheep.

“So do you.” I say

Posted: 09.22.22

Sep 22

poem challenge: Great Poets

gunner

Americia

Make America
Be Americain again
Purge the wrongs from us

Posted: 09.22.22

Sep 21

poem challenge: Great Poets

eliseayer_23

Hinderance

The sun shades the world
everything hidden behind a cloak
only at dusk does it begin to come alive
The dark emerges
chasing me into the unknown
further and further away from the light,
their light.
That's why they hide,
they know,
why can't I?
They know
otherwise they'd still be here
instead of up there,
left to do nothing but glimmer
hoping there isn't another by tomorrow.
What lies in the depths,
where their light dies,
where they died,
only they know...

Posted: 09.21.22

Sep 20

poem challenge: Great Poets

Mira Novak

My Backpack

You were there the night before the first day of school when I checked you thirteen times to make sure I had everything.

You were there waiting at home, almost mockingly, when I tried out a tote bag for a day and was reminded why free people bags are free with purchase, after the mesh gave out.

You were there with your left side pocket filled with a snack instead of a script at a hectic musical rehearsal.

You were there holding an essay, I was so proud of that I just needed to keep between me and you before I got partner feedback on it.

You were there carrying extra pencils I decided to pack just in case anyone had forgotten one.

You were there with tissues when I couldn’t get to the classroom box by the window fast enough during spring allergies.

You were there when I needed something to lean on after a long French class, and an even longer homework assignment ahead.

Posted: 09.20.22

Sep 20

poem challenge: Great Poets

New Leaf

Evergreen

Evergreen sprigs line
The path I took
Down the river
And past the old saw mill

Here birds sing in shrill cacophony
And my heart beats in tune
To each whistle

Faster, faster
My thick skinned feet sing
And urge me forward
Faster, faster

I’ve come to the water
To silence all that you have left
Lying desolate inside my head

Your voice haunts my dreams, lover
And your face follows me through my days
I’ve come to the water
To silence all that you have left

O lover, there is an empty space
One no amount of filling
Can ever fix

It lies gaping inside of me
Swallowing up all it can
O lover mine, you left it here
And hungry it gnaws deeper

These evergreen trees
So green amidst winter's unforgiving sleet
Watch me flounder through the snowfall

I do not keep growing
And I eye them with greenest envy

Posted: 09.20.22

Sep 20

poem challenge: Great Poets

gunner

Football

Brown Leather

Green Field
Rounded Point

On a lightened land
No more players

To throw or to catch

This season is long over
As not the clock

But could rewind
Football dropped

From a player's hand

For the seniors last time
Waiting

For the next generation

Posted: 09.20.22

Sep 19

poem challenge: Great Poets

clarkclark

The Universe Through the Eyes of a Child

There is a time when the dark becomes comforting
Early morning wrapped in a blanket of the cosmos

Each thought a dream
Each dream a lifetime

reality a world away

a faucet not fully turned off

your sister got home late
brushed her teeth to the fluorescent light above the sink

her eyes deep enough
to dive in

discover a world untouched

A place where only she exists

Purples and blues
bruises felt deep on the inside

from a day where you finally felt free

only to be tucked into a bed
the light clicked off

and the universe to be reflected on your ceiling

reminding you of worlds you will never get to see
how small are your thoughts?

small enough to be known only by you
alone in a bed

whispered into a pillow
to toys that will one day be forgotten

In the end,

Posted: 09.19.22

Sep 15

poem challenge: Great Poets

graceferguson

If I was a man

If I was a man
and my mind
was not worried
about being alone

And being stalked
while walking home
alone at night
with someone behind

If I was a man
I would not worry
about being labeled
a number out of ten

Or being called a
slur stereotyping
me by the length
of my hair

If I was a man
I would never
treat a woman like
I have been treated

If I was a woman

Posted: 09.15.22

Apr 05

poem challenge: Great Poets

penny_webster

A Rainy Day

A Rainy Day

Soft shadows reflect on the shady ground.

Mud sloshes towards the swimming pool of puddles

the inky soup stirs in the wind.

But still, the rain continues.

Thick water droplets hit the roof loudly

as a cloud of gray towers over.

Leafy green trees sag with stress.

Flowers f

               a

                  l

                    l

  to the ground unable to hold themselves up.

But still, the rain continues.

The howling wind blows around

making a tornado of leaves.

Small birds d o d g e past the incoming water

hiding in the small crevice in the dying willow tree.

But still, the rain continues.

The mother bird hugs her young.

Holding them like a nail.

Bounding

Posted: 04.05.22

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