First Place:
CLICHE ALPHABET
by Riva Dunaief
Abandon hope, all ye who enter here,
Batten down the hatches, this is the
Calm before the storm! In the
Dead of night I became an
Eager beaver, felt
Free as a bird and
Girded my loins to
Have a field day.
In a nutshell, I arose to put my
John Hancock on the whole
Kit and kaboodle of the alphabet. It was a
Labor of love, so
Make no bones about it, the
Name of the game is
Odds and ends cliches. With the
Patience of Job, I
Quaffed a brew and
Racked my brain to
Scratch the surface of cliches, so
Take it or leave it! But, I'm
Up against it. It's become a
Vicious circle, so I guess I'll
Wash my hands of this effort,
XXX out all my lines and admit
You can't win 'em all. Time for some more
ZZZZ's
Second Place:
My Girl
by Norma Jagendorf
I want to lift the cloak of sadness
from your young shoulders
move it to my not very broad
but well-seasoned ones.
I want to pierce
that gray cloud that follows you.
with sunshine
If only I could find ways
to smooth the path of your future
I would line it with rose petals
and poems of love.
Honorable Mention:
Grang - Grang's Home
by Olive Forrester
?
Grang-Grang a woman of ideals high,
Escaped
the clamor of teenage fighting to rest in
Mother Earth's
Welcoming breast by digging under the
floor
of the little wooden house propped up by
two saplings
strong
Clinging to the stoneless hillside
steep .
Single-handed she fashioned walls smooth
beveled, with a spoon
seemingly with trowel of steel, with a niche
to shelve
The Holy Bible , prized possession sweet,
with
bed, table for oil lamp only , straight backed
rickety
chair, and fastened on the wall a calendar with
worship
days marked , and Jesus looking down with
out-stretched
arms blessing Grang - Grang's peaceful happy
under
ground
dirt
floor
castle.
Honorable Mention:
Heart Throb
by Blake Valin
Desire flutters about -
inappropriate angel
rattling rusty sensations.
Sigh
He walks like a religion -
sinuous grace
a complicated study.
Sigh
I accept him like a sunset -
never enough
out of physical bounds.
Sigh
My affirmation of wisdom -
"This is as good as it gets."
Silent prayers say otherwise.
Sigh
Special Contest: SONNET
The Meaning of Life is to See
(Hui Neng, 7th Century Chinese Sage)
by Shirley Kent
Great knowledge thirsts when Art of Seeing lost.
While life evolves to meaningless vacuum,
Does lack of vision readily presume
That feelings, love, grow old no matter cost?
What craft employs emotions not wind-tossed
But sweet sensations that shall ever bloom?
Momentary or lasting, like in womb
Ensconced, deep precious truths become uncrossed.
Intensify consciousness. Don't expand.
As eye perceives, draw life. Make wonder, awe
For simple things begin great commonplace
Epiphanies. No boastful Mes demand
Chambered abodes. Endure not life's crammed craw
Like pebbles grinding corn. Ego Erase!