Thank you to all who entered and congratulations to our winners!
The following prizes are awarded winners in each age group.
1st Place $35.00 Amazon Gift Card
2nd Place $25.00 Amazon Gift Card
3rd Place $15.00 Amazon Gift Card
We received an incredible array of talented submissions, making it quite a challenge for our judges to select the winners.
We urge everyone to continue writing and pursuing their dreams.
Here are our winners!
1st Place - Children Up to 12 Years Old
Zoe Clough
Horses, horses.
Over a small meadow, beneath a petite hill,
I watch the horses go by.
Free. Wild. And more.
If you might look upon their gorgeous sleek coats,
one will ask for mercy in the presence of that beautiful thing.
collect in its presences, and free yourself.
Horses, horses.
Over a small meadow, beneath a petite hill,
I will join the horses.
Free. Wild. And more.
2nd Place - Children Up to 12 Years Old
Avery Leanne Hoyle
Garden Memories
In the misty meadows of grass so green
Lay pink and purple flowers in the shape of a ring
As the winds slice through the blades
Suddenly you start remembering the days
As if you stepped into a time machine
Back to the day you were pushing your brother on the old tire swing
When all of the sudden you catch a whiff of something so amazing
You bolted towards the house to see what was baking
You stepped inside and were so overwhelmed by the feeling of warmth and safety
Suddenly a prickly tongue crossed over your hand and brought you back to reality
When you open our eyes, you see your childhood cat
And your father in a baseball hat
"Chalk it up to luck I have found you here"
The gap between them got smaller as they drew each other near
An so, the feeling of home was very clear
5 random words: gap/slice/ring/of/chalk
3rd Place - Children Up to 12 Years Old
Nosara Spainhour
A bird links sticks of glory
to build his nest
He promises to be done
by sunset that blazes the
sky like fire
But a hole starts to grow in
the side of the nest and in
his heart
So he breaths in and out 4 times
until he heals and then the nest
heals with him the nest is done
5 random words: promise/heal/nest/hole/link
1st Place - Young Adult - 13 to 18 Years Old
Ash Shaver
The storm of that unknown feeling fills my mind with doubt
Like a 1950s novel no one ever heard about
My life has never been fair
No matter how hard I try to sort it out
The storm of that unknown feeling still fills my mind with doubt
Memories of my life from years ago
Are overshadowed by the storm of that unknown feeling
Filling my mind with doubt
Images of me and my brother
Running through the field
Of our old house
Every picture of him covered
By the storm of that unknown feeling
Always filling my mind with doubt
2nd Place - Young Adult - 13 to 18 Years Old
Lily Steel
New Neighbors
March was reaching over the yard,
mellow fingers drawing warmth
when I saw them first.
In the old tree whose papery bark peels off at the slightest provocation,
I heard that hollow sort of tapping.
It seemed to promise a woodpecker on the other side.
Slowly, so slowly, I crept over, squinting up against the sun.
What better way to heal from hours of school
than to glimpse my feathery neighbors?
When I finally spotted these elusive birds,
I found them a pair of busy nuthatches.
Brown heads crowned blue backs, linked by a splotch of white.
They were cheeping, twittering, dashing back and forth-
up, down, upside down!
Newlyweds, I can only imagine, preparing their nest.
Wood chips flew out of a hole in the tree.
Another crevice caught my eye-
By my count, this couple has five front doors!
Some are framed by crusty bark,
others smoothed-out halls into the wood.
They open into a hollow dead tree
as a haven, a home for the next generation.
5 random words: promise/heal/link/nest/wood
3rd Place - Young Adult - 13 to 18 Years Old
Soehia Kay Levin
I Got My Foot Stuck in a Hole
I got my food stuck in a hole, a hole in a chain link
fence. It hurts when I twist it, if just feels tense. I
promised my mother I'd be home soon. I'm just
going out for a stroll. But next thing I knew I
slipped and I flew and now my foot's stuck in a
hole, a hole in a chain linked fence. My foot is
nestled in quite tight. It's swollen and it's sore.
Maybe if I twist and pull . . . . . *pop* I'm stuck no
more. I had my foot stuck in a hole, a hole in a
chain linked fence. With a healthy dose of pain my
foot is now free. Now I'd better get home fast
before the neighbors see me.
5 random words: hole/heal/promise/nest/link
1st Place - Adult - 19 + Years Old
Kaylea Cerminara
Spring 2025
I would gladly dig the hole
To plant you.
It is spring after all
A deeper than average compost heap
Is bound to heal
The rot of the past
This new season has momentum,
Sun streaked warmth.
A grave is a garden
Perhaps a colony of rabbits
To neighbor you.
To nest and to feast.
And whatever grows in the disrupted earth
Will be useful
If only as roughage
Hope smells like a fresh grave,
Like a promise.
An end and a beginning
You'll be the link of the natural order
Progress incarnate,
Fertilizer
2nd Place - Adult - 19 + Years Old
Heather Brewer
TRANSFORMATION
I shout, “I’m here”,
No acknowledgment,
only tears,
and then they turn away.
I’m alone for an instant
Until a spectacular light,
radiating every color I’ve ever seen, beckons.
Wave after wave of love envelopes me.
I trust the light,
And release to a purely spiritual plane.
I Begin Again…………..
3rd Place - Adult - 19 + Years Old
Jennifer Tillman
Beach Day 1975
Waiting in the driver’s seat in shorts of madras plaid,
Was the hero of the story, my adventure-loving dad,
Who’d convinced my stalwart mom somehow to simply take a pass
On Sunday’s normal ritual of dressing up for Mass.
Instead we gathered towels and toys, and swimming suits and snacks,
While my mom wrapped lots of PBJs in crisp brown paper sacks.
And the five of us piled into dad’s Ford Pinto (with no air)
For our three-hour hooky-beach-trip to Rehoboth, Delaware.
My mom, up front, had a bright red cardboard fan from A&P,
While in the back we kids watched out for changing scenery.
And when we crossed the drawbridge, with the pine trees everywhere,
My dad announced, as always, “Mmm. Just smell that ocean air.”
Have you ever had a stolen day of perfect blue delight?
With sandcastles and singing and big brothers shining bright?
Have you skipped a million miles - back and forth into the sea?
Or found a shiny shell that made you pirouette in glee?
Did you ever sprawl on an old, blue quilt and have a sun-kissed nap,
Or dine on sublime sandwiches while cuddled in dad’s lap?
Have you built a careful town of tiny houses in the sand?
Or twirled into the gentle waves, and leapt onto the land?
I remember how the boys were fearless swimmers, stout and strong,
And they held my hand and gave me rides and let me tag along.
I recall my mom was vigilant, and armed with suntan lotion,
Would reapply with an eagle eye when we came out of the ocean.
In the afternoon my mom and I lay down to watch the sky,
To marvel at the gulls and see the clouds go drifting by.
While my brothers and my dad played in the waves, all rough and wild,
And my dad was just as lively and as loud as any child.
And finally the hour came to gather all our junk,
And trudge it slowly to the car to pack it in the trunk.
We had lost a plastic bucket, and one little sock and shoe;
We had gained something more lasting though than any of us knew.
We were all sunburned and sandy, and yet somehow didn’t care.
We were glad to be together in the Pinto with no air.
While headed home, we stopped at Arthur Treachers Fish and Chips,
A treat reserved for only very rare and special trips.
I’ve seen the beach a hundred times in all the years since then,
But it’s never been more magical, and never will again.
My mom expressed it clearly when she tucked me into bed.
“Some days are made to be ‘forever memories,’” she said.
5 random words: fan/dine/shell/sock/trunk
1st Place - Library Staff
Maggie Bircher
Occasionally, I glance at the old box in the corner of my room
Packed with love,
With trinkets that remind me of you,
With memories I can hold no longer,
With words of love and forgiveness.
Packed with silly PJ pants that match mine,
with greeting cards from hundreds of miles away,
with sloppy drawings of your favorite animal,
with the sweets that make you feel young again.
Packed before you told me goodbye,
Back when your name made my heart swell with joy,
And I could call you when I missed your voice,
When I really didn't have to miss you.
But I glance at the old box in the corner of my room,
With your full name and address written messily in Sharpie,
And I contemplate once again,
Should I send it?
Or is it too late?
5 random words: glance/no/old/swell/young
2nd Place - Library Staff
Wendy Rosen
The Winter Bird
The winter bird came and stayed too long
From morning to night, an entire day
It did not fly away as all birds do.
There was an unnatural balance amongst the trees,
far from the public sharing of memories,
even as the winter chill settled in,
you remained to honor on the silent branch.
We are bonded, bird and I, with grief.
This does not grow old, it does not spoil,
it is a gift and you are the donor.
I wait each year knowing you will come,
and settle in deep winter amidst the bitter wind.
The time is always the same - that spoil of life,
when I lost part of me, and you came to remind me of the spirit.
Will you see the light when your turn comes, since all dreams are eternal.
5 random words: donor/public/spoil/light/balance
3rd Place - Library Staff
Crystal Levin
Snapshot
In the public we live our lives hoping it's a good one, worthy of the next sound bite
We spoil our children but only in front of the cameras.
You get the perfect curated portrait of our lives.
Light, happy and in balance with everything we pw present to our own audience.
Our belief's, a donor to a good cause.
A reader, political with only the newest and best. All the while
drowning in debt, doubt and soul crushing hatred of ourselves. Not
knowing how to help our friends, our kids or our world.
Each person a hopeless mess, all prisoners. Trapped in our own
curated profiles.
5 random words: donor/public/spoil/light/balance
