Contents of Part One
| In each instance, we have listed form first, topic second. To read about any form, click the name of the form. To see the winning poems in the Poet Laureate 2001 Competition, click on topic. |
| A SPARROW FELL | |
| SAY IT AGAIN, SAM | |
| ONE SMALL LEAP INTO THE FUTURE |
FIRST PLACE - WINNER of a $10.00 electronic BGC from Barnes & Noble
Lake Erie LamentationJUDGES' COMMENTS: Well structured meter, rhythm, and rhyme. Well paced and subtly rhymed. Long assonant sounds and watery metaphor enhance this lament of transience.Beneath the curling wake of life
The Blue Pike swims no more
For overexploitation proved
A prime competitor.Maryann Hazen-Stearns, Ellenville, NY
SECOND PLACE
The Last Wild Passenger PigeonJUDGES' COMMENTS: Creative writing. A type of drama in the form of a poem, humorously written with strong images. Strong metaphor, reminiscent of school-age foolishness.Shot March 24, 1900, for feasting on Ohio corn
Buttons, the last wild passenger pigeon now sits,
Stuffed and named for his black shoe button eyes
A primer in the hazards of arroganceLynette Bowen, League City, TX
THIRD PLACE
Bygone Karner BluesJUDGES' COMMENTS: "Lifeless cocoons, birthless coffins," vividly show us what a "civilized" world can do. Excellent description, particularly intriguing since those same cocoons could be seen as the leavings of birth rather than death. This threnody is packed with loss, painting an alliterative picture of life, transitioning into a consonant vista of death.Fluttering amongst flowering wild lupine
Small, delicate, white lacy-edged wings
Vanishing, lifeless cocoons, birthless coffins
Civilization!! Destroyer of savannas' EdensDenise Nichols, Freeport, NY
HONORABLE MENTION
Not For EvergladesJUDGES' COMMENTS: Good use of alliteration. Well metered and well rhymed. An ideal threnody, both simple and elegant.Playing in the deltas or grazing in grace
We catch and release a rare familiar face
Protected and tagged, christened in sad irony
Shall be named Hugh ManateeRoz Garay, Whitter, CA
FIRST PLACE - WINNER of a $10.00 electronic BGC from Barnes & Noble
Sibyl-Quibble (fighting among your inner personalities)JUDGES' COMMENTS: Insightful, as it should be when dealing with inner personalities. Very imaginative. Great fun.Shelley L. Crabtree, Enid, OK
SECOND PLACE
Fairest Faucett (leaks word of engagement)JUDGES' COMMENTS: Descriptive, Excellent play on words. Silly, yet almost touching.Kay Lay Earnest, Smyrna, GA
THIRD PLACE
Selleck-Relic (props from Magnum P.I.)JUDGES' COMMENTS: Ouch! A biting commentary on how long that show has been around.Andrea M. Zander, Rochester, MN
HONORABLE MENTION
Lagasse-Kielbasy ("kickin' it up a notch")JUDGES' COMMENTS: Unlikely rhyme makes this memorable.Kathy Kehrli, Factoryville, PA
FIRST PLACE
WINNER of a $10.00 electronic book gift certificate
Laundry DayJUDGES' COMMENTS: Excellent use of alliteration to punctuate metric markers in this surreal journey. Very well paced. Fine word selection. Well done. Imaginative.I have given my eyes
a chance to adjust; I take my seat.
The clock is wound tightly.
Between my legs I listen
to the miserable rhythm
of this madly rushing machine.A rebellious rumble above
swings the battered lantern.
And still, I pump in place.
Sometimes I pray. And hunger comes.
The songs I used to dance to
whirl within my head.
The tub churns and dingy jeans
dash about in thin gray foam. I sing.
I sing, and the cellar swelters
in this fragile escapade.
My lonely throat flies open
and the war of 2004 comes pouring in.Maryann Hazen-Stearns, Ellenville, NY
SECOND PLACE
CrocodilianJUDGES' COMMENTS: Beautiful and grounded, these words trip lightly on the tongue. Strong connections to the past make this view of the future memorable. A clash of images adds interesting conflict existing between the speaker of the poem and some external, technical force. The poet reveals the character of the narrator. The repetition of sound at close intervals in phrases such as "The wired world pulls me along its web," is great alliteration. Good use of internal rhyme.Comfort is the knife blade
that shaves my concessions to technology.
Keeping pen and paper beside
monitor and modem, I glow
to know my home is still this planet.
In 2004, I do not shuttle off to work
in space. I am stationed
near my garden, with my dogs romping.
I choose to plug-in to humanity
and keep the choice to unplug again.
The wired world pulls me along its web,
and my reptilian brain rebels, evolving wings to fly free.
Humans are only dinosaurs of a different era,
drawing our own destruction closer.
Call me fossil this year, but I mean to remain
a living relative of disappeared dinosaurs.Andrea M. Zander, Rochester, MN
THIRD PLACE
A World Within A WorldJUDGES' COMMENTS: Writing enhanced by rich adjectives. Power packed with sight and sound. Excellent poetry. The last line, delightfully and unexpectedly lures us with the sense of taste.I didn't expect this...
All my fantasies of getting out to middle Americana
Seemed to dissolve as quickly as the swipe of my debit card
I thought these homestead landmarks would exist until i got here
The Painted Desert, now painted in solar panels
The steel reinforced Rockies to keep the westcoast west
Thermal warming games like Minnesota Meltdown Survivors
Self-Help Laser tatoo/Belly piercing booths in Sturgis, South Dakota
Electronic ankle-biting street sweepers during Mardi Gras
Filling in the space so that Long Island isn't long or an island
Even Washington DC - Digital City, that is
(Although the Lincoln hologram was quite impressive)
Wow! i tell you, Disneyland 2004 sure isn't the
same one I grew up with...except maybe the ice cream
Yummmmm!Roz Garay, Whittier, CA
HONORABLE MENTION
Coming HomeJUDGES' COMMENTS: The relaxing imagery enhances the reminder that there can be peace in every time. Leads the reader to experience conditions and stimulates our emotions, while showing us that satisfaction the character in the poem feels. If all of those "inventions" are available in four years, I can't wait for the future to arrive. A peaceful piece.My small apartment welcomes me with fragrant candles lit,
Water on the boil for tea, the sound of wavelets lapping at the Lakeshore, whose image flickers with the candlelight upon the wall. Kicking off my clogs signals the music
Tonight it's Mozart.
Refuge, refreshment, renewal - virtual or real?
Technopossibilities in 2004 may never measure up
To the present capabilities of the human spirit
For serenity.Jean McAllister, Bellevue, WA
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