Winning Poems February 2010
First Place:
Incivility
by Victoria Maynard
Men, dressed in tattered uniforms,
the wrong color, were herded and penned
like cattle, behind barbed wire. Held captive
in their rags , while winter swept across
the land and carved her icy claws
into weak flesh, bloodied by bayonets
and indifference. The prisoners, received
no blankets and should be grateful
for a daily bowl of gruel.
Some died, the lucky ones , all buried
in a common grave together
with their common cause. Those who
tried escape were flogged then shot
as an example to the rest, but many
more would risk the barbs and beatings
to take one more precious breath
of freedom.
Years have passed, and fences mended
between the men in blue and gray. Now all
are one, beneath one flag, and long may
freedom's banner wave.
Second Place:
The Ides
by Norma Jagendorf
The Ides of March boded danger, disaster death for Caesar, income taxes for us.
The Feds changed taxes to middle of April, the ides of April.
Caesar was
done in by a scheming cabal of friends,
enemies jealously fearful of his power.
We are prey to the greedy IRS
their cruel talons grasping
shares of our retirement savings accounts.
et tu, American eagle, beware tine ides of April.
Honorable Mention:
Technology
by Olive Forrester
Virgin, raped Scratched, clawed,
Denuded, torn and broken. Skin peeled off, hair disheveled, Twisted mangled, dragged by metal teeth
Swollen here, gouged there,
Invaded privacy winged hosts view askance.
Homo Sapiens—the animals bereave
Brush, branch., beak ,claw
Green jungle scraped —stone jungle bears
Song crawlers gone/
Worms now live hi concrete boxes.
Honorable Mention:
Love Vines (Cassytha filiformis)
by Angela Margolis
I walk the soft paths of the Florida Scrub Preserve and watch
Love Vines climb and creep, wind and caress
bushes and trees and scrubby shrubs.
They love their hosts to death.
(Who named them, Love Vines? A distant friend of mine from another time?)
Their Sanskrit name—akasha—
Akasha—endless space,
God,
the life force,
Love.
Suddenly I want to be a Love Vine,
leafless, yellow-green, godly.
I'll wind my sinewy arms around the scrub pines
and carefully form a strangely-domed home
where we'll live, you and me, in parasitic harmony.
But who are you? A scrub plant, a live oak, a joke?
In my dream, you,
of course,
are me, God,
creeping space.
We are one.
One grand Love Vine,
all long skinny arms, creeping, crawling,
winding around and around
the towns, cascading down and across
the grand sea
and gently weeded grounds of Europe.
We bound into the ancient mounds
of Afghanistan and Pakistan and the Taliban,
and we twine ourselves around
and around and around
each one
until we become
only one.
We can learn a lot from plants.
Special Contest: Villanelle
Love Sparkles Bright As Gold
by Jackie Moffett
Love sparkles bright as gold while hearts beat and flutter treasured when we are old
if I may be so bold kiss me with tenderness love sparkles bright as gold
you are mine to hold
with every loving commitment
treasured when we are old
precious thoughts can't be told hold them close to your heart love
sparkles bright as gold
when you depart, I feel the cold my very soul misses your touch treasured when we are old
children keep us in the fold with memories of times we shared love sparkles bright as gold treasured when we are old
First Place:
Incivility
by Victoria Maynard
Men, dressed in tattered uniforms,
the wrong color, were herded and penned
like cattle, behind barbed wire. Held captive
in their rags , while winter swept across
the land and carved her icy claws
into weak flesh, bloodied by bayonets
and indifference. The prisoners, received
no blankets and should be grateful
for a daily bowl of gruel.
Some died, the lucky ones , all buried
in a common grave together
with their common cause. Those who
tried escape were flogged then shot
as an example to the rest, but many
more would risk the barbs and beatings
to take one more precious breath
of freedom.
Years have passed, and fences mended
between the men in blue and gray. Now all
are one, beneath one flag, and long may
freedom's banner wave.
Second Place:
The Ides
by Norma Jagendorf
The Ides of March boded danger, disaster death for Caesar, income taxes for us.
The Feds changed taxes to middle of April, the ides of April.
Caesar was
done in by a scheming cabal of friends,
enemies jealously fearful of his power.
We are prey to the greedy IRS
their cruel talons grasping
shares of our retirement savings accounts.
et tu, American eagle, beware tine ides of April.
Honorable Mention:
Technology
by Olive Forrester
Virgin, raped Scratched, clawed,
Denuded, torn and broken. Skin peeled off, hair disheveled, Twisted mangled, dragged by metal teeth
Swollen here, gouged there,
Invaded privacy winged hosts view askance.
Homo Sapiens—the animals bereave
Brush, branch., beak ,claw
Green jungle scraped —stone jungle bears
Song crawlers gone/
Worms now live hi concrete boxes.
Honorable Mention:
Love Vines (Cassytha filiformis)
by Angela Margolis
I walk the soft paths of the Florida Scrub Preserve and watch
Love Vines climb and creep, wind and caress
bushes and trees and scrubby shrubs.
They love their hosts to death.
(Who named them, Love Vines? A distant friend of mine from another time?)
Their Sanskrit name—akasha—
Akasha—endless space,
God,
the life force,
Love.
Suddenly I want to be a Love Vine,
leafless, yellow-green, godly.
I'll wind my sinewy arms around the scrub pines
and carefully form a strangely-domed home
where we'll live, you and me, in parasitic harmony.
But who are you? A scrub plant, a live oak, a joke?
In my dream, you,
of course,
are me, God,
creeping space.
We are one.
One grand Love Vine,
all long skinny arms, creeping, crawling,
winding around and around
the towns, cascading down and across
the grand sea
and gently weeded grounds of Europe.
We bound into the ancient mounds
of Afghanistan and Pakistan and the Taliban,
and we twine ourselves around
and around and around
each one
until we become
only one.
We can learn a lot from plants.
Special Contest: Villanelle
Love Sparkles Bright As Gold
by Jackie Moffett
Love sparkles bright as gold while hearts beat and flutter treasured when we are old
if I may be so bold kiss me with tenderness love sparkles bright as gold
you are mine to hold
with every loving commitment
treasured when we are old
precious thoughts can't be told hold them close to your heart love
sparkles bright as gold
when you depart, I feel the cold my very soul misses your touch treasured when we are old
children keep us in the fold with memories of times we shared love sparkles bright as gold treasured when we are old