September Poetry Contest Winner Announced

October 8, 2015

“let your imagination bud forth and give form of things unknown, the poet’s pen, and turn them to shapes which gives to airy nothing a local habitation and a name”

~ William Shakespeare.

Many of you have a shared interest in reading and writing with Colleen and so for last month’s contest we wanted to reward our top two favorite poems written by YOU with a Writer’s Prize Package!

First let me say that it was difficult to choose as there were many beautifully written poems. Great job everyone! Before I announce the two winners, I’d like to feature five poems submitted for the contest. I hope you all enjoy!

KHLORIS

By Allana Lopez

The maiden dances,

weaving among the golden stalks of the earth.

Fingers brushing the delicate petals of

ruby roses and

billowing poppies.

Lilting and turning, she swings

arms wide

like a bird caught in the lethargic drafts

of warm, summer breezes.

Her head tips back.

She breathes the field

of wildflowers,

hyacinth

narcissus

and crocus,

the nectar of their bloom

Sweet. Palpable.

Her hair swings, she hums.

Lost. In perpetual, endless bliss.

The maiden circles upon

delicate, little feet.

Daisies

eagerly spring from the cool dirt

greeting their lady.

She is spinning, twirling to

the melody of her own design.

Mellifluous notes dance

from coral lips.

Eyes gleam, liquid emeralds.

She moves dreamily,

supine. Blissfully unaware.

She breathes bright, enlivened tranquility.

The maiden always

tending her flowers, her fields

Flawlessly.

For she is

Khloris.

A goddess, a mother

of flowers.

Untitled

By Mariana Perez

With bleary eyes I sat awake
And felt around my empty bed
Maybe a dream would help me through
But nightly sounds just called me too.

Without a thought I ran outside
Looking at the starry night
Never look down, away from me
Begged the moon, a sight to see.

The grass was wet between my toes
And crickets sang, as did the frogs
But nothing could compare to you
The shiny stars and the full moon

I floated slowly to the sky
As playful birds helped me get by
The air got thin and so did i
There’s nothing left of me in the sky

Yet I am here, I’m far and wide
And I have nothing left to hide
Now I’m nothing, I am all
I have nothing, and I’m whole.

Mother Nature

By Mariana Costova

She watches silently, unflinchingly

Hidden in the shadows,

In the haze between reality and dream,

A spectator to our lives.

You’re a child running across the grass,

Chasing butterflies that cannot be caught,

Toasting marshmallows on a summer night.

You’re a teenager kissing under the old oak tree,

Young and alive,

The leaves a halo in the light.

You’re an adult,

Your face is wiser, older,

Not quite as unlined as before.

Flower are thrown,

Catching in your hair.

Something old, new, borrowed and blue.

Tears of joy in everyone’s eyes.

“Until death do us part.”

“I do.”

You look back,

The memories distant,

But that happened almost yesterday.

You’re floating in between this world and the next,

Your feet not yet touching the ground,

Until she has decided,

That it is time.

She sees everything,

Your first day and your last,

The good times and the bad.

She watches from afar and nearby,

She sees, she see it all.

(The Nature of) Life

by Maggie Change

You cry as you are torn away,

from everything that you’ve known.

Before, you were one half of two,

and now you are all alone.

The nature of life,

is that you’re thrown into it.

To learn and to grow,

and to find where you fit.

With time you shed your childhood innocence,

and are thrown into the midst

of hardship and joy, excitement, and fear

The beautiful chaos it is to exist.

The nature of life,

is that it can be,

as if you are lost,

in a forest of trees;

a forest of scary and prickly things,

that just might cut you,

and the harm that brings,

can make you feel broken,

alone and so small…

That you wonder what it is,

to exist at all.

But the nature of life,

is that it’s a journey.

To find who, and where it is,

you are meant to be.

And the nature of life,

is that we must all die.

But the nature of life,

is that to be alive,

means so much more,

than to only survive.

The nature of life,

is we all want more,

to do something, mean something,

make it better than before.

snowflake

By Isabel Niforatos

I am born on his hot skin

a tear dripping like his wax feathers-Icarus

falling because he dreamt

because he dared to dream

i am tossed through the steel-crystal clouds

burning into ice and symmetry

so so cold as i

tumble down the rabbit hole

of grey-white checkerboard skies

splintering with his promise to be free

breaking with the life he never meant to give me

confused because i live from his sorrow

am alive with his death

a fallen angel retreating into myself

as the wind strokes me with harsh glass fingers

making me bleed my life force and go numb

with the sensation of my icy wings breathing in the coldness

the pain of existence as a reflection

reflecting my companions sifted like me through a sea of air

emptiness, ashes dreaming of fire

snowflakes dreaming of impact

asphalt burning through my lungs

leaking through me seeping into me until i

end the way i began

a tear streaked from sadness into death

and i die like my creator

wishing for more and remembering

the beautiful lonely stained-glass agony

of being alive

Untitled

By Samantha Norton

It is in the dappled sunlight of the leaves

A child’s first smile

The first time a newborn breathes

A moment of beauty you strive to keep

It’s in the mountains haunting song

The whispering between the trees

Shadows cast by them on hours long

The remnant of petrichor after rain leaves

In all, time is quintessential

It urges all to keep moving forward

As well as it is inevitable

To the end of this journey we are all reaching toward

It isn’t just life or death

There must be both to complete the cycle

Like sunlight and shadow

There will be end, there will be incipience

It is the equipoise of everything in our world

Visual treasures, hidden secrets

Everything, not always as we see it,

But feel it, inside our beating hearts.

What do you think? I see some great writing potential! A big thank you to each of you that participated, each writing experience is a step toward the artist that you are becoming.

Without further delay, it is time to announce the two winners.

Isabel Niforatos

and

Mariana Perez

Please respond to the email sent you within seven days or another runner up will be selected. Congrats!

Reach high, dream deep, and dare to write from the heart!

~ Till next time,

Linda Louise Lotti

This entry was posted in Contest, Contest Winners.

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Colleen Houck

Colleen's blog

September Poetry Contest Winner Announced

October 8, 2015

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