winning contest entries for our
❝The Ode and the Oxymoron❞ contest
~
first place winner
"Ode to the Children of Mammon"
We see that the mighty have fallen,
that the great have withered upon the tree,
cowardly heroes of their own epic tale,
who worship the Almighty "me".
They think that they are the chosen,
that their money proves their true worth,
that they are the ones who should lead us
and it has been so since their glorious birth.
They cannot see life's vital glory,
nor humanity's struggles and hopes,
they do not believe in man's goodness,
but believe we are simply poor dopes.
They care not that we are all dying,
that the world slowly rots in their care,
and I say to these children of Mammon,
that they need to be truly beware.
One day we will no longer forgive you,
as our children must pay for your greed,
One day you will suffer for hubris,
as we plant our Nemesis seed.
You'll be caught in the darkness that follows,
you will crumble and fall to your knees,
you will beg all your victims for mercy,
but like you, we will ignore your pleas.
So I say to you children of Mammon,
it is now time to alter your ways,
to rejoin the world of your brethren
and help it the rest of your days.
We are dependent upon one another,
we must give so we all can survive.
There is more to this world than mere money,
but not more than being alive.
~
second place winner
"The Illusionist Pages"
Oh, this illusion,
Reading the same
book with the same mind.
Flipping the pages
as they stay still.
Oh, this illusion,
Same book same read
knocking my mind.
Flipping still pages as
The book stayed closed.
Oh, this illusion,
This minor crisis,
That divided us.
This pretty ugly world
that left God's hands so cold.
Oh, this illusion,
This bright light in the dim room,
It makes me cower in pain from the brightness.
Despite having yet to open the first page of this
book I call life, I feel like I have already sealed my fate.
~
third place winner
"Sarah, the epitome of a fiend angelical,
Was a cheerful pessimist and seriously funny.
My love for her was an open secret,
My confession, however, was met by deafening silence.
Her sad smile nevertheless caused me joyful sadness as
She replied with a "definite maybe."
Her cruel kindness kept me by her side,
And so alone together we stayed,
My only choice to experience sweet sorrow.
Other friends thought it was humane slaughter,
But I was clearly misunderstood.
Comfortable misery is what I preferred,
Rather than the intense apathy of saying farewell,
That she allowed me to accompany her for years was my minor miracle."
