THIRD PLACE

Beyond the Reach of Time, Ann Christine Tabaka

Black crow

sings a song

unknown to man.

Forest awakes,

answering back.

Vestiges of life

fall from the sky

like winter snow.

Existence comes into being.

Dawn bursts forth,

day enters.

Stars blink their goodbyes.

So it is said, so it is done.

The guardian steps forth

as light emerges.

Time lapses …

Burgeoning worlds converge.

The sky is alive.

I hear his song.

Black crow flies off,

Beyond the reach of time.

~

SECOND PLACE

Fervency, Jill Lyman

What would I know
if I fell, naked,
into the grass
and did not get up for days?

What would I taste
if I waded, bare-armed,
through the cold stream
and did not drink for years?

What would I dream
if I swam, web-footed,
over the volcanic mountains
and did not inhale eternity,

that dangles between each
collision of pulse beats.

FIRST PLACE

Tangier, Alicia Fernández

[The poet subsequently asked us to withdraw this poem for another publication opportunity]