To celebrate World Poetry Day (21st March), here are some of our favourite poetry submissions from Sphere News readers and writers!
About this competition:
SPHERE NEWS
Writing poems for Sphere News-
so many styles from which to choose!
I must heed the writer's call:
Sphere News readers to enthrall
by Wraithzeon
On the trials, tribulations, and beauty of the Nether:
THE NETHER
Fire, heat, burning sensations
All present within this accursed dimension
Ghastly screams fill the air
As lava sizzles below
Twisted by hatred
Crude structures rise from the ground
As skeletal soldiers roam the halls
Souls trapped
Protecting objects unknown
As one travels on
The ground, solid and firm
Slowly shifts to sand
Energy of lost ones is trapped within
Creating visions
Of pain and suffering
That cry out for help
Unknown to most
Goods of high value rest underneath
This desolate landscape
For the ore that is present
Has a strength beyond diamond
Surviving even the taste of the scorching magma
But obtaining it can lead to death
Yet as dangerous as it is frightening
There is some peace within this world
For sturdy trees of blue and red
Grow quickly
Overshadowing the hurt
Giving those that visit a semblance of peace
by SpeedyGRT
A slightly darker take on Minecraft:
VILLAGER'S FAITH
Just a regular day, I thought
Sighting a man getting fought
By the protector of the village
Since from the beginning
I watched as he farmed
I watched as he digged
I watched as he broke our resting beds
I watched as he placed the resting beds.
I watched as he crafted a boat
I watched as he came to a bout
I watched as my sister get trapped
I watched as everyone had a shared faith.
I watched as I fell
I watched as I wept
I watched as I soon began eating
Just to satisfy his demands
I watched as my family grew
I watched as I grew enslaved to my enemy
by Jynx
On the nature of cubes – based on a real conversation in a group chat:
THE FIVE-SIDED CUBE
What are on cubes? Spen ponders, perplexed,
“Five flat sides—no, six? My logic is vexed.
“This again?” sighs Archie, eyes rolling tight,
As if we’ve debated this all through the night.
"Each side a world," Muffin muses, bemused,
"But what of the edges—are they just unused?"
Spen shakes his head with a knowing grimace,
"None return from the brink of it's premise."
"But Edgy McBackerson?" Archie protests,
"He made it back, unlike the rest!"
Muffin just scoffs as Syren takes flight,
Bringing up maps and the curvature’s might.
"If Earth were flat, flights wouldn’t behave,
The costs would be millions they’d rather have saved."
Yet amidst the reason, a riddle takes shape,
Do cubes hold six sides—or is that a mistake?
Spen leans in with a mischievous air,
"Have you seen them all? Are they really there?"
"Schrödinger’s flat," he smirks with delight,
"If you can't see the back, is it really in sight?"
Rinzeon laughs, the puzzle unfurls,
"What if it’s glass? A window to worlds?"
"A window cube?" Syren debates,
"Is a hole still a hole if glass seals its fate?"
"The purpose defines it," Muffin contends,
"A window must show, or its purpose ends."
"But if covered, is it still the same?
Does a window without light still hold the name?"
Spen, the trickster, grins as he speaks it,
"Is a sandwich still a sandwhich if nobody eats it?"
Rinzeon squints, caught in a daze,
"Wait—you spelled it two different ways!"
"What is sand, and why do we eat it?"
"A salad of grains, the changing seasons we season?"
Archie nods, a spark in his eyes,
"Seasoning—weather disguised in disguise."
The discourse unravels, absurd yet grand,
As thought loops tumble like grains of sand.
A lesson? Perhaps, though lost in the jest,
That questions outlive the answers at best.
by Spentaneous
On a player’s experience with an Enderman:
ENDERMAN
Cold seeps through armor
Coating your skin
And seeping into your bones
You look up at the blackened sky
And meet eyes of violet
Staring into your soul
They pierce your heart
Sending a shiver down your spine
As you curl in on yourself
Screams fill the air
(But not yours)
You run
They approach
More appear
Chasing
Running
Trapped
by SpeedyGRT
On the nature of monsters:
YOU CAN'T REST NOW, THERE ARE MONSTERS NEARBY
"You cannot rest now"?!
But I need my sleep.
Exhausted from mining,
I want to count sheep.
What mob is out there
disturbing my rest?
I craft a new sword
to take on this quest.
No creepers in sight,
no zombies around.
No spiders to kill,
no caves underground.
Perhaps it's this frog
in the swamp by my base?
A stab and it's gone,
might as well just in case.
I still cannot sleep?
So perhaps it's this cow?
The XP tastes good
like the beef I have now.
Must be this parrot
that cowers in fear.
Feathers in hand
but still monsters are near.
If my kills were counted
I'd have a high score.
I just want my slumber
but now I think more:
"There are monsters nearby"
is a strange thing to see
when you're on Peaceful Mode.
Perhaps the monster is me
by Wraithzeon
On the beauties and the dangers of the End dimension:
THE END
A platform of glassy stone
Floats above an inky void
Suspended in air
As neighboring islands loom menacingly
Ebony pillars rise from the ground
The decad surrounding a sleeping beast
Snoring
Ready to wake
Crystals, embedded with power
Glow fiercely
Surrounded by twisted bars
Shielding them from harm
Gateways hover above
Leading to outer islands
Cities defying any laws of gravity
As their inhabitant’s fight to protect their homes
Fruit grows on the pathways
Tall stems twisting around
Mystical energy emanating from their cores
The dragon, sleeping, protects a frame
Unbreakable rock, a shell
The portal glows
Leading the way home
As two voices whisper
Tales gone by
by SpeedyGRT
On time:
TIME IN MINECRAFT
twenty ticks a second
twenty mins an in-game day
when I start up Minecraft
my free time flies away
by Wraithzeon
On Minecraft as a sandbox:
BLOCK BY BLOCK
Through pixel lands so vast and wide,
I build my dreams, my hopes, my pride.
The sun sinks low, the stars shine bright,
A creeper hisses—stay out of sight!
The forests whisper, rivers run,
Mountains glisten in the sun.
I dig down deep through stone and sand,
Hoping for treasures beneath the land.
With diamond sword and armor strong,
I brace myself as nights grow long.
Zombies groan and arrows fly,
But I stand tall—I won’t shy.
At dawn, I farm, my wheat stands tall,
I trade, I craft—I do it all.
A house of oak, a roof of stone,
A little place to call my own.
Beyond the hills where torches gleam,
A portal hums, a glowing dream.
The Nether calls, the End is near,
A world unknown, yet drawing near.
So stack your blocks, reach for the skies,
Let your world materialize.
For in this land where limits fade,
Imagination’s dreams are made
by Jynx
Thank you for submitting your poems – we hope you enjoyed reading them. Which was your favourite?
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