Hello all!

Sorry for saving this for the last possible moment. Life got busy, thankfully that's all over now!

I'd just start off by thanking everyone who sent in their poems. I had such a fun time reading the entries and had such a hard time picking the winner. I would give you first if I could. But sadly that's not the way the world works so lets cut to the chase.

| T H I R D   P L A C E |

| Fairytale Complexity | 

By Reibun

(Inspired by Cinderella, Snow White, Sleeping beauty, the twelve months, and Rapunzel)

I know to you I look just fine,

and that I've up and left my past behind.

But you don't know the person I am inside.

You just don't know the brokenness I hide.

Like Cinderella I've been broken emotionally.

I've been beaten down, and the broken part of me isn't pretty.

I need someone to love me for real.

Not just the way I look or the way I make them feel.

I've eaten a poisoned apple, and now I'm dead emotionally.

All because I once was pure and sparked some jealousy.

I need someone to come and save the real me.

Not someone to fall in love with my dead body.

I made a few mistakes, and stabbed myself with a spinning wheel.

Because I followed my heart I'm led away to death, losing my right to think or feel.

I want to have hope, to find the love I want to keep.

So please come save me from this unfaltering sleep.

My feelings change like the twelve months, just more randomly.

I'm supposed to be wild but I'll tame myself for all who ask nicely.

I'm trying to be brave, but I'm lost within this bitter cold.

I've lost my way, and I'm losing hope, truth be told.

Yet through all of this, I'm locked away in wait for you.

In this tower with my heart that's ripped in two.

But I don't have hair for you to climb.

And in the end no one is coming, the tragic end will come with time

The different view points was such a creative idea! I loved it. That and way each part seemed to be a cry for help won me over.

| S E C O N D  P L A C E |

| Poison |

By Echothepoet

(Inspired by Snow White)

Avoid her,

She's nothing but a beast

If you accept her trust,

You're in for a real treat

The stinging pain of poison.

Just like spoiled meat.

Forever welled with regret,

As you just fall down.

I told you that her toxic ways

Would leave you with a frown

Don't you dare take a bite,

From the apple that she holds.

Don't trust her with the treat,

For its no longer sweet.

If you don't believe me,

Then go ahead, take a bite!

For I don't really care

My little Snow White

The rhymes and rhythm for this poem was perfect. Not to mention the lines that sent shivers up my spine. It was truly beautiful!

| F I R S T   P L A C E |

| A Moment Earlier |

By orangeemerald12

( Inspired by the folk tale Snegurka ("The Snow Maiden"), by Alexander Afanasyev, 1869 )

It's a girl

Their smiles say

As they cradle her close

(But more far away)

She's a bundle of purity

Like a handful of cloud

Her hair watery tendrils of water

Curling as a gift's fragile ribbons

To frame her cool breaths.

❄

What a doll

Everyone says

And they beam proudly

(But not too bright)

At their little girl

Slender as the trees of the forest

Which she loves so much

And light as the birds above

With their lilting voices like hers.

❄

Her eyes shine like the drops

From the icicles lacing the rooftops

And her cheeks are warm

Soft with the rush of excitement

And joy to be found in her smile

Hesitant but free as a drifting feather

Or a dandelion seed,

And just as naïve.

Her feet grace the smothered paths

Below worried trees too weighed

Down to reach out in warning

All beneath a sun slowly waning

And the others chirp gaily

Hardly believing she is coming

With them to the place at last.

Fire

They explain over layered shoulders

Their mittens fraying like her fear

Her mouth opens but before

A word can escape a brilliant

Flurry of color so rich so near

That she's never seen before

Springs up out of the floor

So close she feels her blood warm

And her pale eyes widen in the

Face of the mesmerizing life

It bounces off in her eyes

Pulling her forward and it's

With much surprise when she

Follows and complies.

She stands in line leaving all

Doubt behind like an unraveled

Scarf she falls prey to the

Snaking flames and their

Bewitching games glowing

Brighter as the sun sinks lower

The trees unable to hold tighter

To the slivery filtered light for her.

Your turn

And so it is

And so she goes

Skipping daintily as always

(Not a footprint left behind)

The snow helpless to hold her back

The trees groaning in their loss to be

Her hair flies behind her

In her breeze she leaps

As the girls before her

And her face lights up

Brighter than the dawn

She breathes orange air

Delighted as she hangs suspended

There and it slides down her

Throat like a burning firefly

Igniting through her veins like

A mosquito's sting and she

Chokes on the wings and the

Flickering sparks fan the last

Thoughts that she could see

For she had known not to come

Known fire had been kept from her

For a reason but it's too late now

Too late if only if only she had

Stopped just a moment earlier--

It's funny how I came to melt

But now all I can do is freeze.

❄

It's our girl

Their smiles say

As they hear her close

(But always more far away)

She's that bundle of firewood

That fresh scent or soft sound

She's this wavering wind

Ever searching to be found.

Where to start with this one . . . Well it won my heart quite honestly.  The beautifully structured lines created such a beautiful image in my head and made my heart warm the entire time. Wonderfuly done. Your first place is well deserved.

| HONERABLE MENTIONS |

multidealogist ThePoeticRose and JamesTheDuffy

And there you have it folks! Congrats the winners! If you have been promised a cover/etc. as a prize please contact me so that I can make you one (if you even want one that is).

The next contest will be posted tomorrow morning.