In the April edition, the Bugle announced the three winners for its 12th annual poetry contest and published their winning poems in conjunction with National Poetry Month.
Contestants were asked to write poems that drew inspiration from the words “resilience, flexibility and perseverance.” This month, we are featuring a sample of the other poetry entries that, while not placing in the top three places are worthy of publication.
“When winter is over…”
by Elizabeth (Libby) Baur
When winter is over,
we’ll pull our weary bodies into a lilac world.
We’ll string lights in the lime green canopy,
and lay watching them sway from the
perfumed pink carpet below.
Inside the gray rooms we leave behind,
the breeze will ripple the curtains, airing out
the longest, loneliest season.
When our color returns,
we’ll exchange our blues for juicy reds —
and we won’t think of returning
until after the sunflowers find rest
for their heavy heads.
“Looking West”
by Judith Monson
It’s good I waited
Until I was 80
And dying
To knock out
The west wall
Of the back porch
Build a small
Cedar deck
Open up the backyard
To shadows
And paint the house
Pink with lilac trim
Looking west
This is
As good as it gets
“Just in Spring ”
by Betty Lotterman
Just in Spring the pale green shoots spring
out of the ground,
Unfurling themselves to reveal
Tiny, fragrant white bells hanging
from a delicate arch.
What hymn are they singing?
Just in Spring a pointed nose springs
out of its small round hole in the ground.
Is it a mouse? Or a vole? Or a chipmunk?
Just in Spring the kite springs
from my outstretched arms
as the gusts whirl
the unspooling string in my hand.
Will the string be strong enough?
And I, Just in Spring, I spring
down the sidewalk
in my new tennis
on the first day I leave my heavy,
clunking boots behind.
Will you skip down the sidewalk with me?
