Welcome to the 1999 entries for the Stephen King Poetry Competition. This page contains the entries up to December in month order, along with each winner's poem highlited. Some of the poems from November and December were held over to the Jan 2000 competition owing to workloads of setting up Horrorking.com
January
The Castle (Winner for January)
The Castle
The Castle on the hill
If I can't make it
No one will
I knock on the gate
And wait to see
But isn't surprised
When no one is there to welcome me
The clouds are gathering in the sky
So I step on in
Realizing I have all to lose
And nothing to win
But no sound from above
And no sound from below
So I leave my place on the floor
And up the stairs I go
Descending down a corridor
Watching my step as I go
And at the same time being careful
Not to move to slow
The Hall will not end
It is far too long
But seeping from the ceiling
Is a strange ominous song
I stop for a while
And listen to the sound
Soon realizing
That my secret I've found
I open the door to my left
The one painted red
Knowing all to well
What is waiting up ahead
In the gloomy light
It is hard to see
But it is no question
Who the man at the desk must be
And yes, there he is, typing away on an old metal device
Making his machine to the darkness sing
Is the castles dark, frightening
King
April
The Tower Awaits (Winner for April)
Roland walks,
alone with his guns
Guns
lethal hands, ready to fight
himself a weapon.
Jake dies, lives, dies again
Cort comes and goes
Childe Roland from the Tower came
Roland walks with friends
Eddie, Susannah, Mort is dead
dead from the door
the door of death.
Shoot the bear - kill it
Or it will kill first - a killing machine of wormy flesh and an insane mind.
Jake dies, insane.
Can he ever live again?
Susannah - pregnant with a demon child
only Roland knows.
Tell me a riddle .
Blain the train
Blain is a pain
Roland tells of the beam, the thinny, the fire
The witch.
Laughing Cuthbert, Alain, not even gunslingers yet.
The story of the girl and love and death.
The dark tower waits
the bloody roses wait
death awaits the heroes of the ka-tet.
May
Alcheema
The blood gives me such warm feeling
my soul seems like it passes the ceiling
when blackens partial death no longer serving me
so solid as solid as the fact i can't see
one day i felt a solid in my waterbed
i one day changed the water which looked so red
it smelled like the smell you get just before the fright
when a twister touches down and two angels fight
i quickly snapped it shut it smelled so bad
i paid some money to have changed all i had
the man wouldn't come for twenty days
i dreamed of this neckless fading away
i pumped the bed back up enough
to not feel hide nor hair of the stuff
such strange noise a ring in my head
it sounds like i'm sleeping just above the dead
the demon sounds the low hissing soft hums
my goose bumps grow to much for me to run
the bed vibrates to brake my body up
i hear in the water the ripples kicking up
i dream of the terror of an empty grave once full
the body of a girl Alcheema once beautiful
finally i'm waiting for the man to arrive
instead the police said "she never survived"
i hide and scream the cop says what's that
the other explains it's nothing more than a bat
i'm less depressed i see the front of the hotel door
seeing the name "Alcheema" in gold i scream in top horror
i walk back in the bed has drained they're cutting it apart
they open it revealing that horror work of art
a rotted body someone is dead
they drowned themselves in the waterbed
the familiar neckless i've been dreaming sees the eyes of my very head
the coffin they had familiar in my dreams next to a strange shaped rock
the name i've been dreaming the name "Alcheema" then the metal brass lock
the very place i dreamed of without a body to hold
the horror i felt but now i see they're putting that body there in bold
i walk the croud i say "excuse me" no will respond
i think "how rude" until i feel like an air chemical bond
the priest when singing makes that very hum that i grasp
my goose bumps as he sings are sharper and longer then grass
the very place i dreamed of i try to run i try
but i feel like rather i can actually fly
the ripples in the water is God watering me
with so much Holy Water it feels like i'm drowning in the sea
but i breath no longer i got so depressed the very body was me
who is that little girl crying beneath the Holy Water
the purpose i should have live for my very very daughter
the police had long been searching for such an Alcheema
crying she says they finally found her my very very mama
THE TICKET (Joint
Winner for May)
The Race was just beginning
it was his very first time,
he began to walk with fear in his heart
he knew he had to make it beyond the start,
People were passing him left and right
all day long and into the middle of the night,
he kept his speed steady and his mind in check
because the losers of this race would get there ticket,
The competitors feared the instant that a ticket came
for they would surely feel the sorrow, and the pain,
a ticket meant death right there on the spot
without hesitation without a second's thought,
He had to keep walking
to ensure that he would not die,
he had to save his family
he had to stay alive,
The competition began to tire,
they began to slow down,
the time was now to catch up to the pack
and send them to a place
from which they cannot come back,
He takes the lead and bursts ahead
his legs are weak his face is red,
the cold is taking its bitter toll on frozen bodies
he is tiring now, the rest are too,
Only the strongest will survive the race
the reaper laughs and has a smile on his face,
The weakest will be lost in that eternal place
where the dark survive in savage hate
Their destiny is catching up
their ticket is closing in
the walk is near its frightful end
The weak try to outrun him
the strong are smart
they know to keep their pace
for when it is over,
they will be in a better place
Saliva - From the Journal of a Christian (Joint
Winner for May)
She would go to school and think to herself,
That dust on the blackboard ... where does it all go?
I am not a fool! she would remind herself,
Even if they all laugh and shout and mock and pity;
Pity, she thinks, pity, the spit on her in the classroom
and corridors like they spit on the floors of the world.
They don't see me for what I am, carbon and saliva:
She goes home trying to forget everything she heard in that
place; all the made up facts by all the made up words
by all the made up gods.
June
solid skull
a girl who is a high school outsider
but she accidently thinks in such a way as to line her
brain cells up to give her strange interdimensional powers and all
little does she know that it was caused by looking at a solid skull
carved by the mother in the right shape to do it
and she thought the same emotions as the mother at the time she saw it
the skull was solid from birth so it was a baby skull
she can go into mirrors than her inverted
invisible outer image has infinite mass inertia
but she sees and moves the invisible image
like the normal mirror reflection we move with our image
the image is used to crush heads and bodies
she also paints pictures on mirrors for hobbies
they show exactly the positions of leaves and falling objects at the time
the time can be in the 18th century or whenever the time
if you go into the picture the objects will fall
you will be in that time but bad stuff will happen to you as she dreams it all
one guy grew furr and split up into bats
these bats eat like pirana fish on anything even animal skin mats
and had large crocodile mouths
another guy turned pale white and expanded head expanding out
and turned to concentrated spider webs
the blood vessels turned to snakes as he expanded on
there were white wolf spiders the size of rats
the snakes were one monster with many heads
and shaped like the human blood vessel system
another got caught in a cylinder vat
and the g-force push his nose to the back of his head
and then flattened his skull and the out surging brains he was dead
made an inprint in the metal
another guy's entire insides turned into flies and skin to leather
another to magits and the magits became lighted and colored
and when they froze in position they became holes for a ground that
broke up and a colored flame poored out human skulls that went into
space and came back in the same shape but as
meteorites the size of houses and the rock and iron was glowing red hot, blue
the idea was to find the simple drawing where no objects moved
a dimension machine in there would brake all the your particles up as you
go 200 miles per hour and turn you into electricity, then light,
then the beam would guide you to a cemetary where you would be ghost light
but you would also rule the cemetary
that contained and the people were mean and ugly
Darkness (Winner for June)
Outside it smells like a cleansing rain
Is coming soon.
As the darkness closes in on my soul again
No light from the moon.
My body hurts, my mind screams out in confusion and pain.
I realize I am alone.
There is no one to hear my strange refrain,
My cover blown.
The darkness closes in and it starts to rain.
Face sad like a clown.
Outside I hear as the torrent pours down.
Washing away the stain.
No longer was there a use for this expensive, sequined gown
It caused the pain.
No way will I ever let them see my lips frown
Such an emotional drain.
As the darkness grips and covers this tiny town.
Nothing left to gain.
The darkness surrounds and the rain pours down
Logic tears at my brain.
The sequins sparkled so bright, the lace so soft and smooth
Sound engulfs me.
In the darkness thunder claps, shaking the booth
Is the end near? I plea.
A stranger arrived and touched his hat, his breath vermouth
From such filth, no courtesy.
But even in the pain, the confusion, I held myself aloof.
Not quite like a tree.
The darkness enclosed, it was so soft and smooth
And then I was free.
The Reaper
Lying in a stark white bed, Crazy thoughts keep running through my head.
The doctor comes in with a needle in hand, while i'm flopping around like a fish on dry land.
As people work and people sell, i'm screaming in rage as i burn in hell!
I'm in a coffin underground wishing i could die,
When I suddenly see the reaper smiling at me, winking with one red eye.
July
LOVE'S PERFECT ROSE (July Winner)
Bird, Bear, Hare and Fish
Give my love her fondest wish.
With heart aglow and hair a fire,
as passion burned, the flames leapt higher.
The light blue eyes were all she saw-
her only hope, her fatal flaw.
Fish, Hare, Bird and Bear
love is like a candle's flare.
Now she lives in dreams and myths
as through the pinkish haze she drifts
and finds her lover's touch grown cold
like the steel blue eyes that horrors hold.
Fish, Bird, Bear and Hare
love's like ashes in the air
the "Oh, so very young and pretty"
the ashes cry in silent pity.
But, passion burns in places deep
behind the door their love does sleep.
Bear, Hare, Fish and Bird
on her lips a single word.
And may in dreams or doors beyond
meet the lovers when youth is gone.
And, then he'll say, where time is true,
"A perfect Rose - my gift to you."
THE ROSE
I've stood upon the yonder hills
And heard the laugh of daffodils.
I watched the universe unfold
And saw the world inside a rose.
But, leave me now, if you must
There are other worlds in which to trust.
The tower looms inside my head
The shadow like a blanket spread
I stand beside the fearful gate
And wait upon my awe-full fate.
But, leave me now if you will
Other worlds are waiting still.
Where evil flees and good stands true
Where time and tides are all askew
The rose's petals hold the key,
And the center holds eternity.
But leave me now, if you please,
There are other worlds than these.
August
Cold hand (August Winner)
A black sky and a silk moon
Reflects down on the spider & its eight legged dance
Her eyes wide drifting into the web of memories
The smallest of things captured & remembered
Looking back into the sands of never
Digging away uncovering the painful thoughts of tomorrow
A skeleton of flesh holds the secrets of man
The autumn wind that hushes out the candle of light
Whispers our fate
She sits upon her throne of glass
She peers sharply into her endless graveyard
Cries of pain & sin float through the air of reality
The tune of cries fills the cracks of the graves at all hours
Each cry carries the same melody
No matter how hard you try to escape
The pain of misery-it will always find you
And coat you in its grasp
She rises out of her throne
Pushing gently on the arms of the chair with her cold hands
Takes a lost look into endlessness
Then walks into her bedroom of darkness
She walks over to crimson
Red candle- and lights the wick with her satin touch
She sits at the corner of her bed
Another night of sleep to perhaps escape the cries
She ever so skillfully lays her Xerox skin onto her mattress of lust
Each move like a silhouette ballet
She lays her cheek onto the pillow & closes her eyes
Her crimson candle flame flutters from the melody of pain
The candle soon blown out by the autumn wind
Just another whisper with a story
Just another rose with out its pedal
It remains unheard
"The Stand and Fall"
Evil walks among us, silent with a smile,
Evil plays with us, sure does have style.
Good walks among us, living day to day,
Good plays with us, thinking kindness is the way.
Evil offers large rewards, just bow to the hand,
Good offers nothing, demands we make a STAND.
Nothing left, no in between, good and evil meet,
Pick a side, right or wrong, won't this be sweet.
The Gods above are watching, indifferent to the screams,
They are the one's who sent the message through your restless dreams.
Never-ending battle, around you death has the upper hand,
No one wins in this battle, so much for making a STAND.
When the fields are soaked in blood, you stand very still,
You look to the sky and roar "IS THIS TO BE YOUR WILL?".
Start over, new beginnings, "do it right this time" you say,
We all know different because we know for most people, evil is the way.
Back There
They's killin' babies back there.
I can hear'm plain as day,
but no one's noticin'
and I guess I best don't neither.
Then I'm next in the coffee shop line,
last outta the rain, with no more
than a cuppa coffee
and a smoke on my mind.
Been walkin' three days straight,
those voices, dead and damned,
not far behind, not far at all.
They ain't dyin' for nothin',
no matter what I'm s'posed to believe.
And I ain't the one's killin'm either,
not me, no way siree. Keepin' my nose clean,
mindin' my own, like the doctors say to.
Just can't get'm out, that's all.
"Get Out!'", I'm tellin'm, but they won't
let me alone! Those poor kids screamin',
screamin' like there's no t'morrow.
And me, my mouth full of horrors
just itchin' to be let out, set free.
One endless blood-curtlin' cry
'till my lungs collapse into themselves.
No easy answers, say the doctors
in their glass-tower offices
with their pressed suits and pressed hair.
It all takes time, they say. It all
takes time.
And I think, "But what about those kids,
what about them?"
Then I wonder, "Maybe they know somethin'.
Maybe there's more."
Outside, a streetcar, all red
and screechin' iron, passes.
I look up into each window, my hands
grasping the cold formica countertop,
and in their reflections
I see a bloated, angry sky
watching.
September
Hurt Me
Beware of the flare of the fire in my hell
Beware of the tear in my love's soft shell
I was seeing, eyes were bleeding
Didn't care and wasn't needing
Then I found you,
Sweet profound you,
And you caught me in your web.
I was shallow 'til you tore me
Put my love on and just wore me
How you prayed and then betrayed
And the end of my rope frayed
Until you bit me
Open-slit me
And then left me by myself.
Take heed of the bleed that is pouring from my heart
Take heed of the need as it pulls my dreams apart
I was dying, you were trying
To force me down though I was crying
So I gave in,
Dug my grave and
Let you shove me in the hole.
I was naked 'til you hurt me,
Covered up in all your dirt, me...
You beguiled then just smiled
And were deceiving all the while.
First you loved me, then you shoved me,
'Til I was nothing but your past.
The Enchanter (Desperado II) (Winner
for September)
Childe Roland to the Dark Tower came,
A tower of evil with no other name.
Striking the sky like the head of a match,
Like a shadowy reaper with deamons to catch.
A tower of pain built on perpetual screams,
Its dark doorkeeper; a destroyer of dreams.
The path to the tower was lined with the dead.
We met in the golgatha, all bloody and red.
The doorkeeper's cloak was covered in dust.
I came to him blindly with infantile trust.
He clutched at my soul and bade me within,
Yet what I saw in his eyes was fury and sin.
My first thought was; he lied in every word.
But the enchanters gaze told me that was absurd.
He asked of my journey through hell and chaos.
I told him a story of blood, pain and loss.
"Let me show you fear in a handful of dust",
And he looked into my heart with a demons lust.
Then he cast his silver runes onto the ground,
And the world melted away without a sound.
What I saw was untainted perfection.
Perfect contentment, as a child in my vision.
Then a beast broke the sky with a thunderous crack,
And I saw that he held the world on his back.
I drew my pistols, but hadn't a chance.
We fought for a milenia in a lovers dance.
We struggled over mountain tops and seas,
We fought through forests, oceans and great cities.
Our blood flowed forth into torrential streams.
So fierce a battle had never been seen.
It slashed at my side, I opened its face,
And then it suddenly withdrew at a demons pace.
It drew back through chaos, ravaged and dying,
Yet below me was the sound of multudinous crying.
Then the world moved away at a tremendous speed,
Unill it was no lager than a small blue seed.
The blue rock was held in the enchanter's hand,
And he begged me to leave the tower while I still stand.
I told him I would reach it or dye trying,
To restore balance to a world that was surely dying.
"Aye Desperado, Gunslinger, you've come to a crossroads, a nexus."
Then the enchanter spoke to me of an impending, horrific crisis.
He spoke this; "Stronger than you have failed to reach the tower,
No mortal can ever unlock its secrets or restore its power."
I took the blue stone from his hand,
And placed it above the golgatha in the blowing sand.
Then I said to him this, "I will rebuild the the tower all alone,
And I will begin it all again with this single stone."
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