Here are the winning poems for the current month. They are also published in the Newsletter.
March 2011
Judged by: Victoria Maynard
First Place:
FREAK
by Thomas J. Pangia
children laugh
at the freak
snickering and pointing
as they pass
asking mommy
what's wrong with that man
as she pulls them away .
admonishing their honesty
they must learn
fear and respect
shunning that which they don't
understand
they grow at arm's length
intolerant of suffering
popping pills
to numb their feelings
never becoming weak
or spineless
by reaching out
saying
I love you
Second Place:
Japan, March, 2011
by John Vincent Palozzi
The sea awash with fallen leaves
blown from limbs
by winds 50 feet high
Some were eating
others at work
many were making love
The wave of ruin
indiscriminate
unforgiving
Children sang their last song
standing on the shore
watching history engulf them
Buildings, art, poetry
the efforts of millions
crumbled to rubble
Families torn asunder
strangers fused together
everything changed almost instantly
Some will forget one hundred years from now
But those still dreaming, walking the shore,
will remember
Honorable Mention:
SPINNING
by Beth Morris
On the radio
the other day a
learned psychologist
asserted- 'Spinning is
not lying."
simply exaggeration of the Truth;
a remolding of particulars to enhance the
speaker’s point of view. Let’s see if I
got it right:
RAPE-
unannounced positioning of the
male sex organ into someone else's
convenient, (ordinarily) female
aperture
MURDER-
recalibration of a high·speed
projectile towards a
human target, (often) the
head or heart
SCHIZOPHRENIA-
the city' s way of entertaining tourists:
populate the urban landscape with
hallucinatory, (sometimes) colorful
street people
ADULTERY-
close encounters with the
neighbor’s spouse outside the
(normally) boring confines of the
marriage bed
OBESITY-
a thin person trapped in
the body of a true devotee,
(usually) willing to die for the
love of food
STUPIDITY-
the cosmic inability to separate fact
from fiction;(generally) based on genetic
incapacity or a lucrative attachment
to bullshit,
Honorable Mention:
Frame of Preference
by Blake Valin
Construct me a window
paint it lollipop red -
shiny as a fire engine
with a lakeside view
Build me a window
frame it rustic gray
wormwood distressed
with a mountain view
Create me a window
jeweled and gilded gold
draped in royal velvet
with an ocean view
Fashion me a window
simple knotty pine
curtains gingham stitched
with a country view
Hold up my windows
so I may choose
a view for
my life
Special Contest: Acrostic
ACROSTIC
by Cyndee Bowdoin
Another poetic challenge arises!
Can you dazzle us with verbal surprises?
Rhyme or not — it is your choice
Open your heart and give it a voice
Some may choose to be sweet and pretty
Then, others may be dark or witty
It’s up to you to pen or not
Come, fellow poets! Give it a shot!