3rd Place - DragonflyPoetry

I wanted to believe that all this water could wash away the sins my

Lips could not lick clean

But I knew I was wrong

About: Joy loves creative writing, singing, dancing, and drawing. Read more of her work in Nightmares of Burying Victoria and Dreams of Being Victoria.

2nd Place - "Puddle" by TheMasterAssassin101

Tripping into a puddle of rainbow swirls and plum daydreams,

I fall into a river of tears,

I am drenched in gold souls and the smell of roasted hazelnuts.

Crystal snow flutters in the bleak breeze,

it melts on my fingertips

and I giggle like a child as snowflakes tickle

my coral nose and sunlit cheeks.

There is a pleasant warmth in

the air, though I am shivering

like a leaf during a hurricane.

There is a refreshing silence

that breaks when I crunch the snow underneath

my fuzzy boots.

All is calm.

All is good.

I watch the sunset on the elated horizon,

as gracious tears make their way down

my small face.

They drip onto the icy sand and

evaporate into a frozen whiff.

Ice tears and lucid snow.

Raw breaths and brisk winds.

I sigh in content.

All is calm.

All is good.

I am sucked back

into the puddle,

doused in freezing waters.

It starts to rain.

The raindrops drip onto the surface

of the magical puddle

and the world I once knew,

vanishes within the ripples.

All that is left

is my god-awful reflection

and the fading of a familiar feeling,

as I am left,

soaking up reality,

in the dry rain.

About: N.o.v.a is 15 years old and she started writing poetry about 4 years ago. Please check out her other poetry in her book Neptune.

1st Place - "Bugs during rain" by S-Ingrate

You can move a mountain

But never punch a raindrop

If we get our just deserts

Life ain't a cakewalk

Big talk, businessmen

Hotspots, and makeup

Bacon and skyscrapers

Pancakes and K-pop

We just pay attention to the floods

Never mind the sprinklers that are hanging from above

If we do we celebrate the flowers with new buds

Never say the showers also tend to murder bugs

You should take a look at what does happen on the bus

All that salt ain't healthy, it ain't healthy for the slugs

Umbrellas always up, whether wealthy or a bum

Logically it don't always just rain inside the slums

Down come the cannonballs on the plants and animals

Life is like a basketball, now you're telling me

Crushing force is "miniscule", still we become cannibals

There's no second chances, oh, like a spelling bee

We just pay attention to the storms

As if nothing ever happened several weeks before

It isn't like an infected-apple stranger worm

It builds itself little small cocoons before it's born

First task, don't be scared of rain on the forecast

No need to barricade the doors if you have a doormat

Rain is painful too, and it's best to not ignore that

So afraid of being swatted, just remember who we blow at.

About: S-Ingrate writes rhyming poetry/raps about mental health-related topics. His goal as a poet is to help other people feel better with his writing. See more of his poems/raps in his books iNFRA, The Book of Guilt, and The Straddlers.

Note: Rap the poem above, and you'll understand why we picked it. It sounds amazing, and it's a lot of fun, especially if you're doing it in a quiet and isolated room by yourself.