|
Gold Rush By Katherine J Lee Northbrook, IL 1st Place
The other day, umbrella inside out, metal Ribcage exposed, I collided with Chicago.
Monsoon rains in winter, bearded stranger; He said he knew me well.
I fumbled for words, recognition, Pepper spray, maybe, but I left it in my other coat -
He took our picture, two faces Isolated by a Polaroid at arm's length
Both smiling, though mine was Merely meant as distraction, painted on a decoy duck
He shoved the picture still white in my pocket, and laughing grasped my hand, Thundered, LOSE THE UMBRELLA!
Before taking off, hustling us through crowds, Scuttling past a man shielding a stack of documents,
Scattering them, of course. They fluttered, Unfolded paper cranes crushed brittle underfoot.
Arrived at the river, a dubious muddy green - He never looked back before jumping in, howling as he fell away.
He drank deeply, murky water clear in handfuls, Planning for an illumination.
I checked my watch, Thought only twice before I jumped
Into a cab, yellow as Pyrite. The driver, with arched eyebrows and smoker’s teeth,
Asked, What’d you do, jump in the river? And I told him I'd lost my umbrella.
I missed it, the train, and stayed a sopping hour in Union Station. Going up and down the escalators.
Wondering about Forty-Niners who'd left their families In pursuit of golden opportunities and missed them both,
Ask about my own godless illusions, clinging to his heels. I remembered the photograph, hoped for development —
No image but blurs where he escaped capture, but Ensnared me, grinning decoyly, a portrait of myself.
|
By John Prince Pass Christian, MS 2nd Place
Digressing into the antipodes he wrote, As though there were a dagger at his throat. He did not know what evoked him to write, Perhaps it was the lucid night. He must utilize it all before twas gone, As inevitable as the next day’s dawn.
Just like that it comes and goes, But where to no one knows, Into the next day’s light he began to chase, For twas the night that he longed to embrace. Looking up at the light his eyes began to burn, For twas his soul beginning to yearn.
Faster and faster he ran, Chasing blindly and lacking a plan. Without it all would be lost, He must have it at all cost. Without it he would be trapped alone, In a world of which little is known.
He leapt for it with a desperate gasp. Somehow he caught it in his grasp. He knew little of what he had caught, other than that twas after this many men sought. Its place was here and it’s time was now. He would use it some way, some how.
Black into the antipodes he went, Following the directions his mind had sent. He ran and ran until he was out of breath, He was on the brink of death. Then he realized that the road had diminished. But that was alright, his work was finished.
|
|
Darkness By Chelsea Lower Liverpool, PA Third Place
A sly hunter, Agile and swift. Looms in the dark Watching its unsuspecting prey
Quick to elude, Easy to make its quarry blunder, All it needs is it to falter, And it has them in its fingertips
As soon as they stumble And eat the forbidden fruit, It has them forever In its eternal darkness.
They live in the light Until they indulge, And fall into its cunning trickery And its fiery deceit.
It knows its target, Their wants and desires, To make their wrong turn Seem a glorious decision.
Until they realize They had made a mistake And the road back to the savior Is much longer than before.
The sly hunter Uses its dirty tricks And stays hidden in its darkness Until it seizes its unwary victim once more. |
By Andrea Guinn Ashville, NC Honorable Mention
sweltering and staggering the summer beat hovers in a bathe of molasses air
her smiling rays dance upon sun-kissed cheeks and tulips awaken to her fervent beauty
oh! creep once more rays unto my back and blanket sorrows stained unto my all-enduring heart
let not winter thrive again
My Request to Understand You By Lindsey Bellard Long Beach MS Honorable Mention
I didn’t know who I was when I was born, I didn’t know who I was when I was two, I didn’t know who I was as a child, And I still don’t know who I am as a teenager, I don’t know if I will know who I am when I am an adult,
But you know, You know morning and night, You know wrong from right, You know when I cry, Or when I lie, You know when I sleep and who is going to have my heart to keep, You know everything there is to know, Including what’s in my heart and soul,
But how is it so, That I don’t know anything about you but what I have been told, I find it very odd, Because I want to know and love my God, And if I die today, I would like to walk in your path your way, But if I die for heaven’s sake, My soul dear Lord please take. |
