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Sol Magazine (C) 1998
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Sol Magazine sponsors poetry contests that come due several times a month.  From the results, we produce an electronic poetry magazine, published on the last day of each month.  The winners are posted to our website at:
http://pages.prodigy.com/sol_magazine

Our topics are a variety of subjects about nature and the nature of humanity.  Our purpose: to foster the reading and writing of short poetry.
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THIS MONTH'S SPONSOR:  LEO F. WALTZ - Thanks Leo, you're an angel.
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THIS MONTH'S JUDGE:  THE EDITOR
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October Journal Entry - by Mary Margaret Carlisle
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In the past few months, a series of sad or overwhelming events have changed the lives of many of the poets who are part of Sol Magazine'a literary family.

Naomi Stroud Simmons, a Lucidity poet from Fort Worth, Texas, suffered a broken elbow.  Tropical storms along the Gulf Coast brought down the home of Alberta Powell, a poet from the Galveston Poets Roundtable.  A dam burst in Florida, flooding and perhaps damaging permanently the home of Betty Ann Whitney, Sol Magazine's Poet Laureate of 1997.  A fire swept through one side of a duplex, causing massive water and smoke damage on the other side to the offices of Sol Magazine, and the home of the editor and her husband.  Even more serious, Tim Hahn was reportedly very ill and the outcome of that illness is uncertain.  (If you have a current address or phone number for Tim Hahn, we'd appreciate having it.)

Our prayers are with you all.

Sadder still than all the temporary bad news reported, Jon Duvall, aka Venkov or Draeden, a Prodigy poet of tender words and even more tender praise for other poets, passed away in mid-October.

In a note from Bonnie Williams, one of our Poetry Judges, we found a scrap of Jon's poetry.  Thanks for sending it on, Bonnie.  We publish it here in his honor.

Many journeys ended,
Some began
In this warm abode
Of the warmest hearts.
As travelers come and go,
The warmth shall never fade.

Remember me...

Jon Duvall, on a journey to a far land, October 16, 1998.  Our love goes with you.
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This month we only had two weeks to give poets to prepare, but we optimistically held five contests anyway:   "The End of Time," " Patterns of Love," "Texas Silver," "Autumn Haiku," and "The Judge," a contest for our poetry judges, only.  Four judges entered.

Judging makes you look at poetry from a different point-of-view, and this view often shows in a judge's work, making it stronger, and more honest and direct, some of the qualities judges look for in other work.   Look for the special views of Sol Magazine's judges, Craig Tigerman, Nina Jo Tyler, Jade Walker, and Betty Ann Whitney.

For this issue, the Phoenix Edition, rising from the ashes of September, we've put the poetry of the poets in alphabetical order, not by contest, so each poet's work is grouped.
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FIRST PLACE - AUTUMN HAIKU $5.00 BARNES & NOBLE GIFT CERTIFICATE

Skywriting
Across the sunset
Geese
Don Castiglioni, Austin, TX (Honorary member of Poets Roundtable of Galveston)
Editor's Comments:  Paints with words the view from my heart's window.
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HONORABLE MENTION - THE END OF TIME

Missing

After months of daylight savings,
My time-saved ledger
Has a zero balance.
Must be a banking error.

Lois Castiglioni, Galveston, TX  (Poet's Roundtable Member)
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SECOND PLACE - AUTUMN HAIKU

On the hood
Frosty telltale prints
Cat was here
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FIRST PLACE - TEXAS SILVER - BOOK WINNER

Special Quilt

In every stitch of her quilt
With love my grandmother built
She passed this gift to me
From the turn of the century
As I stitch Texas Silver with love
My grandmother smiles from above

Editor's Comments:  Charming recollection of a womanly relationship
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HONORABLE MENTION - END OF TIME

Confusion

In creating a void
More daylight is enjoyed
From Nixon we have toyed
The clock reverse employed
In springtime we're annoyed

Shelley L. Crabtree, Enid, OK (Enid Writer's Club, Lucidity Poet)
Poet's Note:  "Nixon started the Daylight Saving's Time thing, didn't he?"
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THIRD PLACE AUTUMN HAIKU

birds and butterflies
follow sun
Autumn

Emily Earnest, Smyrna, GA  (Emily is ten years old.)
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HONORABLE MENTION - AUTUMN HAIKU

Fall arrived
We survived
Amen

Editor's Comments:  I had to smile at this sentiment.
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HONORABLE MENTION - END OF TIME

Time Spent

Clocks move forever forward
We race to finish our tasks
Time so often the enemy
Fall sets clock back an hour
Big deal

Sharon Goodwin, Galveston, TX (Poet's Roundtable Member)
Editor's Comments:  Again, this poet made me smile.  First lofty laudable sentiments, then the resounding end, "Big deal."  A double whammy!
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FIRST PLACE - PATTERNS OF LOVE BOOK WINNER

Love's Duration

Why does love extend beyond
The honeymoon, embracing
Weakness, storms of temper,
Stubbornness, neglect?
Love gives, forgives, and takes
The faults as if they were his own.

Editor's Comments:  this portrait of love is singularly direct and honest, and tells a tale succinctly in clear English.
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HONORABLE MENTION - END OF TIME

Ambivalence

Anticipation scuffles
With anxiety
When we adjust our clocks
To save an hour of light:
Opera, cocoa, fireside visits, and
Driving in the rain at night.

Jean McAllister, Bellevue, WA
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HONORABLE MENTION - AUTUMN HAIKU

layered red and gold
autumn leaves  winter compost
springtime breakfast food

John Rice, Houston, TX (Bay Area Writer's League Member)
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HONORABLE MENTION - AUTUMN HAIKU

Fall honking
Shy traffic jam
Ahead
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HONORABLE MENTION - AUTUMN HAIKU

Rusty crepe myrtle
Mockingbird pleasantries
A deep breath
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SECOND PLACE - TEXAS SILVER

Camera Ready

As we appear in fine attire,
I, in my sleek Dior,
You?  Tux, Justins with Texas Silver trim,
No one suspects
Our love is sore skinned knees
Covered by our Sunday best.

Naomi Stroud Simmons, Fort Worth, TX (A Lucidity poet)
Editor's Comments:  Interesting contrast between knees and Sunday best.  Vivid picture.
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HONORABLE MENTION - AUTUMN HAIKU

finger paints against
a canvass
of time's sentinel
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HONORABLE MENTION - PATTERNS OF LOVE

Brightness

When time passes, things look new again
Old emotions die and others flowing begin.
We look to others to solve our pains
When truly inside is all we have to gain.
Touch a heart, open soul,
Feel the brightness, become whole.
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HONORABLE MENTION - END OF TIME

Raking Seasons

A pile of leaves calls
just like the darkened morn
fall into my embrace,
back to your earth and home.

Marsha Steed, Citrus Heights, CA
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SECOND PLACE - THE JUDGE CONTEST - $5.00 GIFT CERTIFICATE

Discern Without Delay

Fresh verses like wet paint,
Wriggling rhymes
Vie for judge's eye.

Well-turned phrase
Evokes my praise,
My eyebrows raise.

Partial to poetry's power,
Every ode contestants create
I appreciate.

Editor's Comments:  Every judge goes through this process as we try to put those "wriggling" verses into neat little piles of "yes" "no" and "maybe," while they hop from pile to pile.  Craig is one of Sol Magazine's reserve judges.  Thanks, Craig, for backing us up.
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HONORABLE MENTION - AUTUMN HAIKU

Summer's successor
Splashes surrounding splendor
Senses surrender
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THIRD PLACE - PATTERNS OF LOVE

Waves

As firm yet gentle waves adore the shore,
Your freely-given love laves over me
Unceasingly; it will not let me go.
I breathe your name, across the miles you know
My love returned, as waves return to sea
Caressingly, to flow forevermore.

Editor's Comments:  Sweet, simple, elegant.
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THIRD PLACE - END OF TIME

The Tunnel

with warm weather ending
It feels like descending
From a seven-month world of light
Into a five-month tunnel of night.

Craig Tigerman, Moline, IL
Editor's comments:  True observation, well spoken.
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THIRD PLACE - THE JUDGE CONTEST

Hard to Pick

Words on paper everywhere
Some are written without a care
And some put together with a flair.
Hard to pick just one first place
Put one aside so just in case.

Editor's Comments:  one thing all our judges agree upon, picking a winner is not an easy process, and takes much out of the one doing the judging.  Nina Jo, one of Sol Magazine's best judges, puts everything she has into the process.

Nina Jo Tyler, St. Louis, MO
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THIRD PLACE - THE JUDGE CONTEST

Creative Arbitration

Peering at the black and white realm,
I seek a quick glimpse of genius,
The outer edges echo with clarity
Worded in poetic madness.

Editor's Comments:  this entry used perfect choices to bring the message home.  Well thought out by September's judge.
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FIRST PLACE - END OF TIME - $10.00 GIFT CERTIFICATE FROM BARNES & NOBLE

Timely Terror

Shaken by the extra hour,
They question each shift in time and tide.
Altering their inner clocks,
My eggtimer falls onto its side.

Jade Walker, Lake Worth, FL
Editor's Comments:  This poet smoothly uses familiar cliche wording, "shift in time and tide,", and "inner clocks" to bring us bring us to an abrupt surprise at the end.  Wonderfully written.
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FIRST PLACE - THE JUDGE CONTEST - $10.00 GIFT CERTIFICATE FROM BARNES & NOBLE

Intrinsic Analysis of a Poem

With an exploratory spirit
each poem is read with a silent tongue
and said aloud

word by word--line by line

that which woos, revealing itself
comes to cling upon the mind;

and through the eye of an insider's view
I am come to understand
what the artist has done with language...

Editor's Comments:  A powerful command of the language is what makes this poem stand out, where rhythm, alitteration, continuity combine to teach and engross the reader while the poet paints a picture from her honest Judge's point-of-view.
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leaves of red and gold
scattered through the autumn light
crunch beneath the feet
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FIRST PLACE - PATTERNS OF LOVE - $5.00 GIFT CERTIFICATE FROM BARNES & NOBLE

Immediate Impression

To say it in six lines is a must, and yet
How can I form into a few inches
An account of ideas, echoed in flesh:
One man's topographical map, expanded
Into the slope of myself.  We are full and round and
Liquidly level, a luminous white sea of life.

Editor's Comments:  This is a complex rendering of heart, mind and soul, sensually written in simple terms, a question answered fully in the last words of the poem, "we are full and round and liquidly level, a luminous white sea of life."  Lovely, elegant, honest, breath-taking.
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SECOND PLACE - END OF TIME

When Time Falls Back

Driving home from the office
in the pale light of day
I remember the brilliant sunlight
our clocks clipped away.

Editor's Comments:  this poet effectively contrasts her immediate point-of-view with a memory in a few succinct lines.  Her strength is getting to the point using well chosen words, simply, cleanly, quickly.
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We requested a poem from Betty Ann Whitney, our Poet Laureate of 1997, about both nature and the nature of humanity.  Here Betty Ann speaks eloquently with an immediacy about her kitten, Ginsing, that is touching.

Gift of Love

after the flood
seeing that nothing stirred
he came home with a kitten
place her splendid breath
into my arms--

could he have known
she would scramble life across bare floors
glints of yellow flickering from her eyes
like a candle into the withered empty rooms

could he have known
she would tug at me to bring her up into my lap
like a child
that she would dissolve the edges of things
with soft sound tumbling into the air

like that of a song:  I am happy.  I am happy.

Betty Ann Whitney, Land O'Lakes, FL
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Send comments, questions, advice to:  DMHT67B@Prodigy.com
Snail mail:  Sol Magazine, P.O. Box 580037, Houston, TX  77258-0037
Phone number:  (281) 333-3741
Website:  http://pages.prodigy.com/sol_magazine
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Write to above address to be added or deleted from this list.  Include the id that needs to be deleted, please.  Some folks have more than one.
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Do you want to be a judge, guest editor, interviewee?  Tell us.
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All poetry remains the property of the poet, except Sol Magazine reserves the right to publish all poems (once) at a future date, or to post them to a web page.  NONE may be reproduced without permission of Sol Magazine.  Electronic forwarding is permitted as long as no portion of this magazine is changed and all credits are given.
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New sponsors for Sol Magazine are always welcome.  Thanks for your support.

Blessings to Leo Waltz, sponsor of October, Sharon Goodwin and Steven Cox, sponsors of November, and John Rice, sponsor of December.

Previous sponsors this year were:  Lois Lay Castiglioni, Rita Smithuysen, Patsy Williams and Jean McAllister.
 
 

See our contest website or last contest for current guidelines.  We do not accept entries that make use of graphic language, touch on partisan politics, or support particular religious views.
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We correct grammar and spelling errors, and often add a leading capital to the start of every line without asking permission or forgiveness.  We usually ask about other changes.  If you use punctuation, expect us to make it consistent throughout your entry.
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New sponsors always welcomed.  Thanks for your support.
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Sol Magazine (C) 1998
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        Mary Margaret Carlisle
        P.O. Box 580037
        Houston, Texas  77258-0037

        DMHT67B@Prodigy.com
       (281) 333-3741

        Web pages for Sol Magazine:  http://pages.prodigy.com/sol_magazine
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Sol Magazine (C) 1998
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