My poetry contest continues to bring amazing poetry entries from an international audience! I truly never thought I’d be getting responses from other continents.
This month, the winning poem comes from Medha Goel, a poet living in India. Medha posts short poems under the instagram handle of @whyj_st.
The $25 prize will be send to Medha directly.
Medha’s poem was created using page 242 of Like a Charm by Karin Slaughter.
Another month, another surprising entry in my monthly poetry contest! In April, the winner of the contest is not an individual, but a SurvivalWolves, a creative collective.
The collective asked that the $25 donation be made directly to Kaze Shadow, the leader of their team. You can read their poem below.
It is my time
For the ones who are unaware, it is my time
I have come from a position that is a far
In my forgotten spirit, I’ll become greatly divine
For the words within the book of me will evolve from its line
Ignite more flames of passion than the bright stars
For the ones who are unaware, it is my time
I was lost, so lost that all I could find
Pushing me forward was my hatred and scars
In my forgotten spirit, I’ll become greatly divine
I soon found more within me, more within life
Something beyond the smoke and blinding bars
For the ones who are unaware, it is my time
Now I move quick, quicker than a piercing knife
Empujando obstáculos, con fuego para ganar
In my forgotten spirit, I’ll become greatly divine
For the people who believed that I wouldn’t strive
Now beyond the clouds, I fly on heaven’s radar
For the ones who are unaware, it is my time
In my forgotten spirit, I’ll become greatly divine
I received a record number of entries this month! I think that the theme of equanimity resonated with a number of readers. This month, I am excited to announce that we have our first international winner!
Ojo Taiye is a Nigerian poet whose work appears in the Rumpus, Glass Poetry Journal, and a number of other places. His poem, “Hereditary Blues,” has a subtle connection to the theme. I appreciated the way his work made me pause and think.
Due to challenges related to international transactions, this month, I made an exception and gave the prize directly to Ojo himself. I definitely didn’t anticipate having international poets enter this contest, so I didn’t anticipate this issue. But I think it’s a good problem to have!
Hereditary Blues
for some years now, you lay out your blue-coated pills & thank them
for their taste buds: the dilating seas that neatly occupy your bed
with a living dream. the sky today is made of your lover’s breath. you
realize your love for him is like a city on fire: mother of all balm &
each growing desire is a wing shaped by time. you dream of homeland
only in your poems. this is always what you wanted: to hold your
breath when no one else will. all day you watch for the mail—lost in
the reverie for some news from a distant place. you are an un-happy
thing—a grey country quietly waiting for the catastrophe of its own
beauty. haven’t you travelled enough—to end the chore. to be lost in a
suspension of time. it maybe the coldest month of the year— & you are
an odd spot of calm misled by want. how your imprecise side stayed up
to watch the sun eat the moon. this morning you woke up to snows &
skies of laughter not enough—
Another month, another delayed contest result. This time it was the fault of the Texas Snowpocalypse! I’m glad to be on the other side of that and getting things back on track.
This month’s winner is Peter H. Schmidt. His golden shovel, “Rise Up,” draws from John Gillespie Magee’s “High Flight,” as well as “My Shot (Rise Up Part)” from the musical Hamilton. Peter asked me to make a donation to an organization helping homeless people in Austin; I selected Caritas of Austin, an organization dear to my heart, to receive a $25 donation in his honor.
Rise Up
What does it mean to rise up
Is it enough not to give up
Is hope caged the rage the
Phrase of the heart too long
Denied a fair start, delirious
Furious infamous self-injurious burning
Away as respect is due, blue
Notes all through, I’ve
Never stopped, won’t be topped
Won’t take my eyes off the
Sky, gonna do, not die, wind-swept
I will climb clouds to heights
Flights of eagles at my feet with
Stars so close I’ll make it easy
For all eyes to see: my amazing grace
After much delay, I’m finally excited to announce the winner of the January poetry contest! I received a record number of entries this month, and on top of that, I had to move unexpectedly after my landlord sold my house! It’s a relief to be getting settled in my new place and back into a routine.
Lisa Janice Cohen wrote the winning haiku. For the prize, she chose a $25 donation to the Central Texas Food Bank.
Frost flowers
A log’s jeweled heart
Fused in glass
Thank you, Lisa! And thanks to everyone else who participated. I was especially heartened to see several entries from people who don’t consider themselves poets or writers.
I received a number of delightful holidays poems this month. In a year where I’ve felt out of touch with the holiday spirit (I didn’t even put up the tree), it was lovely to open my inbox and find poems from both good friends and distant acquaintances.
This month’s winning poem is “Christmas Cento” by Christa Pandey. She used the hymnal One Faith/Una Voz (2005) as her source text. In the poem, you’ll see numbers next to each line; these denote the page in the hymnal where the line originally occurred.
Christmas music is my favorite aspect of the winter season, and I have a special fondness for classical carols even though I’m not religious. I enjoyed seeing the ways in which Christa made something new out of traditional music.
As her prize, Christa chose a donation to Conspirare.
Christmas Cento
397 It came upon a midnight clear,
400 the darkness everywhere,
376 the silent stars go by,
397 o’er all the weary world
374 they traveled on together
400 amid the cold of winter.
397 Beneath life’s crushing load
397 the days are hastening on,
390 let nothing you dismay
379 nor thorns infest the ground,
383 wing your flight o’er all the earth
397 above this sad and lowly plain.
376 No ear may hear his coming,
380 silent night, holy night,
382 say what may the tidings be?
380 All is calm, all is bright,
390 all you within this place
380 sleep in heavenly peace.
374 Lo, when they had heard it
387 joyful all ye nations rise
383 ever more your voices raising,
392 the stars in the sky
382 and the mountains in reply
390 each other now embrace.
379 Let us our songs employ,
382 echo back their joyous strains,
379 let every heart prepare him room,
400 dispel in glorious splendor
376 the hopes and fears of all the years
390 when we were gone astray.
374 There shone a holy light,
383 brighter visions beam afar,
387 join the triumph of the skies,
383 sages leave your contemplation,
390 with true love and charity
404 the king of kings salvation brings.
378 O come let us adore him,
378 joyful and triumphant,
382 come adore on bended knee,
404 bring him incense, gold and myrrh.
387 Christ is born in Bethlehem,
379 he rules the world with truth and grace.
Thanks to those who participated in the November poetry challenge! One of the fun things has been seeing who enters. I received poems from people that I had no idea were interested in writing!
This month’s winner is my friend, Colleen Miller. In lieu of a gift certificate, Colleen opted for a donation in her honor to Room to Read, an organization that promotes literacy and girls’ education. Here’s the winning poem!
G’mornink
The feathered chonk plomps on my shoulder. “Bonjourno! My funny, gray angster.
She laughs and explains the situation.
“Good girl!”
Only two words, but I catch her meaning. She has indeed been well behaved today and deserves a reward.
I hold a slice of Lite-Brite pink grapefruit out on my palm.
Dancing excitedly, my ersatz child digs her black beak into the acidic flesh.
In an instant, her reward becomes my regret as it squirts to land in my eye.
Life. It would be nothing without these bad surprises from good decisions.
Congratulations to Carol Dorf, winner of my inaugural monthly poetry contest! She won a $25 gift card to East Bay Booksellers.
Yes, inaugural winner, because this was so much fun that I’m going to run it again! Details in early November.
For now, please enjoy Carol’s winning poem!
At this Resolution
How do ants avoid drowning,
and how sympathetic to their plight
should I be? I admit I am a monster
when they form lines across the counter.
They (and I) wish I were on a sofa
zoning into the NBA finals, or maybe
attempting to mimic the choreography
that follows the irresistible rise of k-pop.
© Carol Dorf, 2020
Here’s the running list of people participating in Big Poetry Giveaway 2016! It will be updated as more bloggers contribute.
With the help of a trusty random number generator, I have determined the winners of the Big Poetry Giveaway!
Jessica Goodfellow won America Zen: A Gathering of Poets
Laurie Kolp won We’re Smaller Than We Think We Are
Congrats, poets!
I also won two books in the giveaway, and I’m thrilled. I always love getting new poetry in the mail.