1st Place
Yesterday's News
Anna
One child's life
Warped, now relegated
To yesterday's heap of old news,
His fate now back page.

One child's memories
Seared, now forever
Tainted by what has gone before.
One person, faceless.

One child's future
An unknown destination.
Will he try to find life
Away from childhood's ugly face?



2nd Place
A Visit From My Past
Jenni
Inspired by "A Visity of Charity"
Addie's story

I sit here in my room all day and all night
I rock back and forth in my rocking chair.
I hear the mindless chatter of a woman who lives here with me
And sometimes it is more bearable knowing that there are people out there
They come to visit me...even if they are only doing it for the brownie points...
Sometimes they remind me of myself.
Afraid of the unusual, of the bizarre- and I am a tad unusual
A bit bizarre
But a human, none the less.
I wish others could understand that a pat on the head is not enough to make me feel
Wanted
Loved
Or of any consequence whatsoever.
That's the way it is.
We old people are left to the dust
Ready to crumble
Left on the shelf like
An old antique doll left because it is too fragile to play with.
But I would rather enjoy my life than save it and spend it in a creaky old rocking chair
Or lying in bed looking at the ceiling
Crying inside my heart to think
My one son
My only son
My child would leave me to rot in a place like this.
Waiting for my inheritance...
While I wait to die in a block of ice.




3rd Place
Quietly Arranged
Stacy
Quietly arranged
as the lavender in
the garden
towards the summer
afternoon
with a glass of
lemonade.




Honorable Mention
Deciding To Level Out
Stacy
Deciding to level out.
Turning toward an inner thought
which often changes in times of doubt.
Opening a neon fuse
to evaporate all unwanted warnings.
Shifting morals collide and dazzle
chiseling out new depths.
In a chance to uniquely defy
your so called gravity
and strip away gratitude.




Honorable Mention
Freshman In High School
Brandi
I recognize that girl over there in the corner.
She is lonely and scared on the outside,
Yet BRAVE and bold
on the inside
She observes this world and takes it for what it is worth.
She holds the flowers in her hands just as if they were glass.
She understands
The beauty of rain,
The power of sun,
The strength of wind.
She
C O U N T S
the blessings she has been given.
Nobody can see the
M U N I F I C E N T
MaGnIfIcEnCe she holds inside.
I recognize the girl in the corner. I used to be her.
Then, I let the world know that I knew and understood the beauty of the
UNIVERSE,
That I wasn't going to give in to the everyday
SINS,
That I had Standards, Beliefs, and I could
Conquer the world with
Kindness.
She doesn't yet know that being kind and knowledgeable is OKAY.
She is just a b e g i n n e r,
a freshman in high school.