So, technically, this poem just won me a first place prize (with cash!) and will be published in my college's Lit Review. It might feel like cheating to post something that I can't change... but if anybody's criticisms are convincing enough (I'm sure they will be), I might rewrite it anyway and then... put it in the collection?

I dunno. I'm just kinda curious what your guys' reactions would be to this, especially if you saw it in print, and hypothesize as to why it might've won the prize. I personally thought at the time I'd be lucky to get an Honorary Mention, and I'd be tempted to say maybe the other entries were really sucky, but I think this is one of my best (if not *the* best) poem I've written thus far.

So bite away!

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I love landscapes
and animals munching
on wet leaves.
The thought behind quiet faces.
the waves coming in and going out across the sand
forever.
The everything in nothing
The sharp subtle wit.
The power
the beauty in silence