January 14, 2026

Winners

Hangovers are for ChildrenI wake / with shadows / and cat hair

#1

24

Promise MePromise you'll always love me / as we sit with pastries and a cup of coffee before us; / say it after the bar holding up the awning of the cafe has fallen,

@ShayCaroline39

#2

22

Idle EnginesShe keeps asking what he does, / though his answers are recycled: / French bulldogs, paintball,

@William-A-Gibson30

#3

21

Frost-script and SilenceThe cold settles in, quiet as a held breath. / Out back, the lake begins its slow work, / a skin forming where the wind once kept its path clear.

#3

21

Other poems

Farewells of Weary DaysI do not write of sunsets, / Those farewells of weary days. / I will not speak again of forests

18

After the Storm, I RemainI did not come here to be saved by love. / I came here to find healing in words, / I came here carrying what love broke,

16

City of CrowsIn the city of crows / in the time of autumn, / over the rainy streets the trees

@ShayCaroline30

14

REALITY OF LIFEIn life, you need to give people their distances, / Because not everyone appreciates your time. / You might talk and relate with everyone but only few appreciates your company.

14

Chasing DreamsI chase stars / not to hold them / but to feel the burn

13

Evening BrewsCoffee steams from the mug. / Fingers embrace, trembling— / logins lost again.

@thomas-w-case18

12

The Smiling BuddhaWatching the leaves / Falling on a worn-out trail / Gulping the white blooms

@Yashkrit_Ray16

11

BeethovenListen, / his music shattered stars, / ripped apart constellations,

8

My Cat ChildMy cat child / brings order where there was none. / Let's not talk about the walnut shell of my womb,

@ShayCaroline37

7

Hello Poetry, Hello ChaosIn the new bright halls of Hello Poetry, / I wander like a guest who misplaced the map. / I tap a heart -- oh look, I’ve loved myself,

@Geof_Spavins32

7

I’m gonna need those keys backPerhaps this is / of my own doing / But I own it

@NomadicMovement43

7

JanuaryI said to January, / just born and tilting like an upset vase / between heartbeat and nothingness,

@ShayCaroline18

6

My poemsI find it scary to write a poem, / because what if people don’t like it? / Or worse — what if they do,

6

INK OF LOVEEtched in my heart / with the ink of love. / Erase it, if you can—

@Blue-Sapphire5

6

DyslexiaI caught an echo of my father / in the way you wear your coat / In the way you're not entirely there

@ShayCaroline16

6

Wonders of this WorldWonders are sculpted in stone / In monuments of concrete and clay / But then I thought of marvels I see

@nishu-mathur16

5

GalianoMist threads through cedar, / the tide speaks in slow vowels. / A single lamp burns on the dock-

5

The Road of UnderstandingThoughtful — among the many voices around me, / Thoughtful — through the long passing of hours, / Thoughtful, I move along the road of unknowing.

5

why do serial killers leave remains in the forest?decomposing, fertilizer / an altruistic killer / new plants grow from flesh

@saint-sabeer-amin24

5

UntitledYour love is stuck in my heart, / And still it burns. / Your love is stuck in my veins,

@Saida_Bouzazy14

4

Stymphalian BirdsZeus, / reduced to a fairy story, / his powers a parlor trick,

@ShayCaroline38

4

SparkleSparkle sparkle little star / Wonder where my favorites are? / Cannot find, cannot "like"

4

Roads of IronTo the men who built the iron roads / For the trains with precious and heavy loads / Tracks of iron that span the lands

4

Links in the Relapse ChainI wake to the unfamiliar familiar: / The sound of snowfall / Books by Thoreau

@Carlo-C-Gomez16

4

Cherry TreeThe branches of a cherry tree bent down, / their leaves moving above my head. / Back then, I didn’t speak.

@Agnes-de-Lodz35

3

CrownedThe crown of my head is now ordained in snow white, / The markings of the stress and strife based in this world and life. / You said you would crown me in glory,

3

Trying On Selvesthere were auditions in our locality— / rare. / night.

3

Possum MorningThe lake was still, / a pewter sheet of light. / Steam rose from the grass,

3

Red LiturgyTo become whole is to gnaw at your own ribs, / to sip the iron bloom that midnigth gives. / Hunger coils in me, serpent of heat,

3

Afterlife?See my Skin / See my Religion / Look into my my Soul

3

MondaysI’ve begun recycling emotions / so they’ll last longer / and we can save the rat-bag planet.

3

GloomIn the gloomy dark / I chased the light everywhere / The dark drenches me

3

YellowThey were the only two yellows / In a world full of blue / They were called the odds

3

sleepsleep was the only sanctuary, was a / flower on the water, was the moonlit / ripples as night gathered her stars and her

@beth-fwoah-dream12

2

ended

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