Welcome to another season of our Poetry Contests. It's a part of the I Am Root mission to stay engaged with writers of all walks, and our contests have been a great way to celebrate and connect with more writers.
Here are the contestants for this season's Let Us Vent Poetry contest, aka LUV Poetry Contest. Thanks to our contest sponsors both Rooted Minds Blog team and Poetry Hype
You can find information about the contestants below along with a video of their poems and a transcript. You are able to submit your vote, once daily, by visiting www.iamrootco.com/luvpoetry between 2/9-2/16
Anger by Leaux | Entry #1
“Anger” by Leaux
If anger was my best friend
I'd hold it's hand through the madness, the sadness
and on one could tell me otherwise
I wouldn't let Him die .
the sad death
.
Id celebrate his transition to better life
while putting down lie after lie
after lie after lie
the ones we told each other
yet we never liked
never alike in more ways than one
he showed me my pain
he was the mirror
and I was barely awake
if anger was my best friend
I’d hold my heart tighter
freeing the madness ,the sadness
and no one could tell me otherwise
Written by: Lauren “Leaux” Marcelee
Follow Leaux: https://www.instagram.com/leauxofficial/
Unhinged by Kristi Sprowl | Entry #2
UNHINGED
My first time reading Sista Soulja"s the coldest winter ever
It was actually summer that day
I felt my body heat up ready to purge any thought of the naughty
What would it be like to be touched like that?
Have I even felt what a real man's touch was like?
Outside of the hurtful things my ex told me or the times when my own father didn't affirm me
Maybe I needed to heal
So when I picked up the book I allowed myself to feel
Completely unhinged
The thought of being bent over at a 90 degree angle with the deepest strokes of I love yous and damn you fine
The sound of his voice shaking as he tells me his fantasies
I've always wondered if my fantasies were suppressed by my reality
As though reality doesn't allow for dark, deep, worthy sexual desires
As the pages turned I realized that I saw myself in her
I wanted to be a character in my own book
My winters wouldn't be so cold anymore
My body would only shiver at the sound of his voice
Yet and still, I remained still
Because my wet dreams of being unhinged were only pipe dreams
To be piped down the way she did
To be handled gently, to be freaked nasty
Jodeci made me think about freaking you
My dominatrix thoughts make me want to make tricks in you
To make love to you
Soulja taught me that sex wasn't as complicated
Letting my body release was your favorite past time
I handled mine
You came everytime
The coldest winters led to my darkest fears
But I shared light with you
Life is fun with you
Treating my body as a spectacle
Untieing my nouns with your verbs
Driving fast on all these curves
And when you crash, fall amongst the stars
Making love isn't just sex, it's art
Follow Kristi: https://www.instagram.com/causesheisthetruth/
Mi Imaginary Amor by Louie Fish | Entry #3
Follow Louie: https://www.instagram.com/louiefish_/
What's a Love Song? by Jermon Hamilton | Entry #4
What’s a love song?
First off how you do love wrong?
How come one day it’s here
And the next day it’s gone
So please tell me
How you do love wrong?
We talking love
Not possession
The shield against every weapon
I ain’t talking bout tekken
Excuse me let bring that back
The shield against every weapon
I ain’t talking mortal kombat
I’m just stating the truth
Don’t get it confused with a fact
But Shid
While we bringing stuff back
Let’s talk about love
And some facts
Saying you love a person
When they just a source
for the things that you lack
Now you at war with love
There’s no peace
you under attack
Ain’t no pause
Ain’t no wait
Ain’t no need to bring it back
So what’s a love song?
Treat love like energy
Never a desire to do love wrong
I ask again what’s a love song?
It’s way more than just getting along
Screaming from the top of my lungs
what’s a love song?
Then I close my eyes and Let go of
all things I was hanging on
In that moment
I heard my first love song
Follow Jermon: https://www.instagram.com/jmon.ynot/
Who Taught You to Love? by Brittany Frizzelle | Entry #5
Who taught you to love?
The lady on TV who was beat on and cheated on?
The parent who had to hold their wounds closed so they couldn’t hold you close?
Or the parent who was so ashamed that they barely spoke your name?
Or the friend with more toys than presence so they always bragged about their presents?
Was it the sister with six dudes but no bills so she opened her legs and closed her heart to feels?
Or the brother who hid his love to be accepted in a world where he has to hide himself and is still rejected?
Who taught you to love?
Why'd you listen?
Did it feel good to be pushed away?
Did it feel good to cry yourself to sleep at night?
You like covering up the pain and shame with fake smiles and fake fame?
You like feeling empty inside with so much shit in your space you can't even sit inside?
Or is it the loneliness taking over your insides while you let just anybody inside?
Or maybe the joy of never having to really love b/c honestly you don’t know real love?
Who taught you to love?
Really?
Or did you just overlook all that and still learn to love yourself?
Follow Brittany: https://www.instagram.com/unlearn2relearn.us/
Rainbow by Arianna Muro | Entry #6
Rainbow
We've agreed that the pride rainbow is doesn’t represent the lovers of our hue
But I still love you in colors like I love you in Blue...Like the raging waters of pleasure colliding with pain
Constantly clashing from sadness to hope and but always back to love again
And I love you in yellow…full of joy and optimism every day that I wake and YOU are my shining rays
But then when clouds full of fear conflicting with faith hovers over…I love you in gray
And then In your arms rested I find the comfort of lavender…Lavender that deepens until your purple rain I drink
Intoxicated from your spirits my brown hands find their way to pink
At times I love you in red because rage takes over when you PTSD from past lovers blends in
Reflecting though on your grace, I know I am safe and I'm back to white again
White that offers no opposite to how much I love you in black because we both posses Nigerian DNA
I love you like shining silver lining when things feel bleak and together we pray
Our Jaded hearts once broken now meet focused on the work to heal and mend
Conversations at night journeying through truth and understanding our true colors blend
Discussions that get deeper with each green that we inhale
Exposing ourselves in vivid flesh and 4k honesty seeing every color, texture and detail
And when we fall I love you like the in orange leaves we land in, the pile of blessing we stand in
You see no matter how many muted “just ok” days we have in colors less bold
And no matter our distance from the Pride flag
Our love IS the rainbow…our love in Gold.
Follow Arianna: https://www.instagram.com/arrrr.ianna/
Social Media by Aretha Rodney | Entry #7
Social Media
When did our value started being determined
by how many people choose to follow you
when did our worth divert to a double tapping of ones
finger leaving thoughts to linger if enough people didn’t tap twice
then just maybe just maybe that photo wasn’t post worthy
when did our identity
and our reality become our enemy
see I don’t mean to offend but in this era we would
rather live a life of pretend just to stay up to date with the recent trend
again
when did our worth divert to one opinion behind a device screen
that results in us tampering with our genes
it seem we live a life based off others reaction
so SELF LOVE just fits a great caption
our satisfaction lies with the world wide web of lies
being deceived by what we see before our eyes
being displeased with our own lives because we still working 9 to 5
as if a 9 to 5
makes one less applicable to succeed and thrive
see so much have changed
and if not doing it like the world your considered a lame
at some point the ultimate goal became a blue check beside ones name
if you ask me social media is what you make it
and its filled with opportunities
people coming together building communites
but on the other end of it its filled with a lot of hypocrites a lot of judges and
jurors a lot of counterfeits
so be sure of who you are so you don’t get lost in it
Follow Aretha: https://www.instagram.com/aretharodneyartistry/
More from I Am Root:
Contest Details:
The Rules:
LUV Poetry Contest
LUV = Let Us Vent
Our annual LUV celebration continues!
Details:
submit a video reading or performing your best poem.
1. Upload your submission to youtube and then register your link and information on our website
2. YOU ARE NOT REQUIRED TO BE ON CAMERA (Audio submissions can be converted to video files with the poem title
and writer’s name on the screen.)
3. No minimum or Maximum length is required, but recordings must be new and not repurposed.
4. Please submit a written copy of the poem when you enter the link on the website
5. For alternative submission options email iamrootco@gmail.com (subject: LUV Poetry)
Submit online at www.iamrootco.com/poetrycontest
Deadline to submit: February 4th 2022
Cash prize + I AM Root® Merch
1st Place $75
2nd place $50
3rd Place $25
All online voting at www.iamrootco.com/luvpoetry
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