Sol Magazine © 2000
Our topics touch a variety of subjects about nature and the nature of
humanity. The purpose of our all volunteer organization is to educate
poets, and to foster the reading and writing of short poetry. We
are not a vanity press. Not every poem submitted will be published.
We are a family magazine. Do not advocate the use of alcohol or drugs
in your poetry then ask us to consider your work. Please read our
monthly rules before sending us your work.
CONTENTS:
WELCOME: Bev Forbes, Sofia Mauja, Terrie Relf, Candace A. York.
SPOTLIGHT - by Paula M. Bentley, Assistant Editor
This month's guest poet is Stazja McFadyen. An interview with
photo and poetry may be seen at:
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ON THE WEB - by Craig Tigerman, Lead Editor
This month's article is about group of websites managed by editor Stazja
McFadyen: Map of Austin, Dream Forge, Poet's Porch.
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BOOK DRAWING WINNER: Each month during 2001 we will draw a name at random from among those poets who enter our contests that month. The winner will receive a donated book of poetry. The winner this month is James M. Thompson, from Baytown, Texas. He will receive a copy of 3 Savanah Blue, recently published by Plainview Press. Congratulations, James!
NATURE AT NIGHT
JUDGE: BETTY ANN WHITNEY
One night
One singing
One breath mingling
Cradled in arroyo's arms
I join with
Humming mosquito
Booming bullfrog
Serpentine millipede
Clicking acro-bats
Wise-eyed night eagle
Hovering and dipping to drink
From moonlit, spring-fed pool
And we, encircled by shapeshifting,
Ageless, rock faces
Animal and human -
Lean against
Ochre hands ceremonially tattooed
On rock walls
One creating in the night sky womb
Lynette Bowen, League City, TX
JUDGE'S COMMENTS: Skillful use of alliteration, echoing sounds
and near rhyme make this exceptional poem memorable.
============
FOURTH PLACE - TIEJUDGE'S COMMENTS: Marvelous narrative with a strong emotional tug.
Beautiful, Calm Possum
She came around when the light of the sun was out,
And she traveled through our garbage.
We heard rustlings outside
And saw through the light of the indoor the biggest rat's tail
We had ever
But we turned on the porch light
And it was a big gray marsupial with a long pink tail,
And the beautiful possum blinked slowly
And acknowledged us.
She seemed to smile, serene, and
Stood there motionless, looking up.
She didn't travel off
In a quick don't-want-ya-to-know-me...
She stayed and blinked her pretty pink eyes
And went for the garbage again,
And the light was not too much for her to experience;
In her sloth and hunger,
She stayed and said "Hello."
Coke Brown Jr., Fort Worth, TX
On a moonless night, silver fox was slip sliding
Near the hen house door till squawking birds
Brought farmer Jones sailing out
The clucking brood settled back on their roost
Grateful to be spared from that perilous fate
Jones returned on the warm featherbed
Dreaming of fried chicken on his Sunday plate
Don Castiglioni, Austin, TX
JUDGE'S COMMENTS: Humorously written.
============
Lamp Light
The moon and I exchange stares
As Madam Opossum
Pouch heavy with young
Makes her nocturnal rounds
Bats dart across a
Sky lit with lanterns
Viewed by the ancients
Whose genes I bear
Lois Lay Castiglioni, Galveston, TX
JUDGE'S COMMENTS: Vivid images, past and present melded in one
brief moment.
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THIRD PLACE
Winter SolsticeJUDGE'S COMMENTS: Inspirational message with an undercurrent of calm rhythm.
Winter dark need not depress us
we can trust its hushed waiting.
Under snowdrifts, roots
flourish to strengthen
the blooms of spring.
In the ashes, sparks glow
sufficient to rekindle fires.
In the stillness of our spirits
creativity quickens.
We learn to appreciate the light
by cycling through the dark.
We won't hurry spring.
Winter's quiet blesses us too.
SuzAnne C. Cole, Houston, TX
A razor blade of moonlight
Slices across
The pewter colored lake
Reveals an old barn owl
Perched on a leafless limb
Tuning up to join the serenade
Of bull frogs and katydids
To lull the child to sleep
Kay Lay Earnest, Smyrna, GA
JUDGE'S COMMENTS: Skillful use of metaphor.
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SECOND PLACE
Reflections In The DarkJUDGE'S COMMENTS: Painted images glide across this poet's canvas, with the vivid paint of metaphorical language.
such a rich palate of black and brown umber and ochre
streaking madly across the pages of my life
I find joy in the blaze however brief of quiet firefly
spinning his simple tale lit bright with purpose a
timeless sacrament to humming buzzing winged gods and
kings of silence a deep abiding reverence
for natural things of leaf and stone
twig and the push and pull of rapid breath
in furred and feathered comrades
hiding in webbed skirts of Mother earth and
Father time the man in the moon and
blue brother Jack the coldest relative of all
sienna trailing crimson
to a cluttered land I walk so deep into myself I
cannot see the warm spattering of vermilion
washed from cool cerulean
chasing dry ashes to windy spaces in the night
Beverly Forbes, Dickinson, TX
The blue hue of a subtle moon
lies dormant on the lake
Fog is generously paraded
in swirling eloquence
hung on the winds of fate
It is taunting me, haunting me
The shards of crisp, cold air
Feeling so small in this masterpiece
Adorned in silver gossamer
with humbled heart I care
so deeply
Roz Garay, Whittier, CA
JUDGE'S COMMENTS: Excellent use of metaphorical imagery.
============
A Matter of Relativity
Whistled trains
And siren screams
Pierce the urban night.
Rubber squeals
On asphalt streets
Jerk wide my weary eyes.
Cricket chirps
And bullfrog croaks
Float on soundproof wings.
Warbled trills
Sing reveille
And yet I never stir.
Kathy Kehrli, Factoryville, PA
JUDGE'S COMMENTS: Creative handling of the topic.
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FOURTH PLACE - TIE
Old ManJUDGE'S COMMENTS: Rich metaphors and subtle rhymes.
snarling limbs
swaying in midnight's whims
tangled vines
wrapping in lovers' confines
heady arms
canopy of shadows' balms
cracking skins
telling of morning sins
deepened lines
craved forever in binds
gnarling feet
cooled tonight from heat
reaching fingers
needing Sun's tempers
cloaked in darkness
of wooden loneliness
Sofia Mauja, Singapore, SP
Northern lights sparkle brightly on cold winter nights
Wintertime creates a crystal candelabra of lights
Snowy tipped pinecones dangle from trees
Carrying the future's evergreen seeds
Cute little bunnies camouflaged in the snow
Deer skid on ponds performing a funny ice show
Big black bears are hibernating in dark caves
As squirrels run around looking for nuts they've saved
At the forest's edge, one can spot a deer
Under naked oaks, frozen motionless with fear
Snowbells peek their way up through the fallen dust
A beautiful bouquet growing in winter's frigid gusts
On the sill, a design spotted in the fresh fallen snow
Tiny footprints left by winter wren...three little toes
Winter winds blow, shriek soprano, whistle by
Pillows of white crystals contrasting ebony sky.
Denise Nichols, Freeport, NY
JUDGE'S COMMENTS: Good series of couplets with vivid images.
============
Echoes Of The Night
Do not hurry me through this starry night,
rather sit with me and watch the evening out,
the day was hazardous and tense,
this night is peaceful, warm, and safe.
The breeze that blows across the field
scents the yard with perfumes of its own,
I cannot recall a night more pleasant to my soul,
a night that echoes crickets' calls and
other nameless sounds.
If you are in a hurry, please continue on your anxious way,
but I must sit and linger just awhile,
perhaps until the night turns into day.
Janet Parker, Leesburg, FL
JUDGE'S COMMENTS: Luminous thoughts glowing in images that beg
us to stay on through the night with this poet.
============
Night Sky Wonder
Darkness warmed up
In nighttime wonder--
Illuminated moon vapor
Craig Soderquist, Universal City, TX
JUDGE'S COMMENTS: Much said in few words using a sequence of
power packed sounds.
============
through rustling leaves
through rustling leaves
and wisps
of clouds
you peek at me
shadow my every move
in strange
luminescence
and if I look
quick enough
perhaps
I will catch you
spying...
but alas
all I see
is the shadow
of a foolish man
gazing at the moon...
again
James M. Thompson, Baytown, TX
JUDGE'S COMMENTS: whimsical and enchanting with a brief illusion
before its surprise ending.
============
FIRST PLACE
Under Some Deity's Velvet DarknessJUDGE'S COMMENTS: An interesting journey inside the narrator's mind, alive, not only because of the message portrayed, but also the repetition of sounds throughout.
It is vulgar to suppose you've tasted what you've never plucked.
Ambrosia, nectar of the unseen gods,
is motionless, and skilled with evasion.
I like to dilate happiness with the honey of nocturnal wine,
to roll it past my lips
between sunset and sunrise
under some deity's velvet darkness.
Sometimes, I watch midnight like a vintner,
reveling under the arched arbor of the sky,
intoxicated by divine liquor.
Who says the draught, visibly grand in the night's eyes,
would sour if imbibed at dawn?
The duskiness of a titan's mead
is even sweeter when drunk by morning.
Candace A. York, Austin, TX
JUDGE: BETTY ANN WHITNEY
Joseph Boccalino, Freeport, NY
JUDGE'S COMMENTS: Clear images, and true, the sky somehow seems
brighter in winter.
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HONORABLE MENTION
JUDGE'S COMMENTS: This poem gives us both something to see, to hear, and to think about. Tragedy, powerfully and clearly portrayed.
shot shatters air
woods quiver frigidly
whitetail drips crimson on snow
Lynette Bowen, League City TX
JUDGE'S COMMENTS: Terse, vivid. Though concise, images are clearly visible, leading the reader into a vanishing of white on white.
cotton tails
vanishing
in snowfall
Don Castiglioni, Austin, TX
snowJUDGE'S COMMENTS: Striking picture of the winter woods, in clear, precise words. The compressed language of this haiku strikingly marks a picture of winter woods on our senses.
swallowing
saplings and shrubs
Lois Lay Castiglioni, Galveston, TX
dark forest winterEDITOR'S COMMENTS: Beautiful example of classic Haiku.
wood mouse breathes the snowy owl
hare tastes the wolf pack
SuzAnne C. Cole, Houston, TX
Warner D. Conarton, Zephyrhills, FL
EDITOR'S COMMENTS: Wonderful triplet, beautiful word-choice.
============
morning snow
erasing
prints of evening explorers
Kay Lay Earnest, Smyrna, GA
JUDGE'S COMMENTS: Life does not stop, even on chilly nights.
============
Jewels in night skies
guide cold black crawling embrace
of the longest night
Beverly Forbes, Dickinson, TX
EDITOR'S COMMENTS: A song in one verse, with an unspoken longing
for longer, brighter days.
============
stark is the raven
gleaning upon sweet tidbits
on barren snow drifts
Roz Garay, Whittier, CA
EDITOR'S COMMENTS: Beautifully written, vividly portrayed.
============
SECOND PLACE
amidst fields of frostJUDGE'S COMMENTS: Effectively shows the brittle colorful events of winter by showing where (amidst fields) when (winter) what (bittersweet) how (unfurling pods).
bittersweet unfurls its pods
scarlet berries' blaze
Kathy Kehrli, Factoryville, PA
Celia Lawton-Livingstone, Colchester, UK
JUDGE'S COMMENTS: Faint stirrings of new life conveyed here.
============
thin brown polka-dots
fur thickens to silver grey
bambi's winter coat
Ted T. Leung, Derwood, MD
EDITOR'S COMMENTS: Sweet picture.
============
HONORABLE MENTION
lone sliverJUDGE'S COMMENTS: Capturing the essence of sound and silence, these clear images reveal subtleties on the blanket of snow.
lightweight feather
over whitened field
Sofia Mauja, Singapore, SP
Denise Nichols, Freeport, NY
EDITOR'S COMMENTS: Something to see, hear, and feel. Excellent
Haiku.
============
a path of sunlight
cuts a narrow way across
the frozen grass
Janet Parker - Leesburg, FL
EDITOR'S COMMENTS: Crisp writing, all of winter seen in narrow
view.
============
HONORABLE MENTION
predawn on snowy stoopJUDGE'S COMMENTS: This amusing narrative poem visually lingers in
old black cat dozes atop morning news
until door cracks open
Sarah Quigley, Galveston, TX
flowing through branchesJUDGE'S COMMENTS: Tranquility and quiescence.
conduits of rain
spin strings of leaves to earth
Carlyn Luke Reding, Austin, TX
Craig Soderquist, Universal City, TX
JUDGE'S COMMENTS: Signs of preparation for a cold spell.
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THIRD PLACE
JUDGE'S COMMENTS: Face to face with the marvels of winter, this poet uses quick, clear imagery to make us shiver and appreciate technology with a vivid image of intrusive nature.
cold north wind
flurries on windshields
wiped away
James M. Thompson, Baytown, TX
Jade Walker, New York, NY
JUDGE'S COMMENTS: Good use of overlapping via the tool of
personification.
============
ice capades
squirrels skating figure-eights
on clay tile rinks
Candace A. York, Austin, TX
JUDGE'S COMMENTS: Intimate observation of nature right outside
the window.
Sol Magazine will mail no book prizes to poets outside the United States
of America. Book gift certificates from Barnes & Noble will be
substituted. No exceptions.
============
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P.O. Box 580037, Houston, TX 77258-0037
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Sol Magazine's Website: http://www.sol-magazine.com
============
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We do allow poems about God, mythological gods or goddesses. See
our contest website or last contest for current guidelines.
=============
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without asking for permission or forgiveness.
============
Sponsors in 2000: Don Castiglioni, Lois
Castiglioni, James Lay.
============
Angels in 2000: Martha Kirby Capo, Lois
Lay Castiglioni, Leo F. Waltz.
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Book donors in 2000: Lois Lay Castiglioni, Sharon Goodwin, Peggy
Zuleika Lynch, Carlyn Luke Reding, Kathleen Elizabeth Schaefer, Craig Tigerman,
San Antonio Poets Association. Corporate book donors: Flying
Cow Productions, Bookstop. New sponsors and angels always welcomed.
Thanks for your support.
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Phone number: 281-316-2255
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