Highland Park Poetry, founded in 2007, is dedicated to sharing poetry with audiences through our website as well as community events, writing workshops and poetry displays. Each year, Highland Park Poetry issues a Poetry Challenge to spark the imaginations of poets of all ages and levels – from experienced, published authors to beginning writers; from adults to students.
For the 2022 Poetry Challenge, participants were given three options: write about U.S. National Parks (honoring the 150th Anniversary of Yellowstone National Park, the first and oldest National Park in the United States), Underwater Life, or write a poem on any subject in the form of a Waltmarie, invented by Candace Kubinec. The Waltmarie is a ten-line poem where the even numbered lines have only two syllables and may be read independently as its own poetic line. The odd numbered lines have no restriction in terms of syllables. Poems were selected by our guest judges. British poet Tina Cole judged all the poems about Underwater Life. Chicago poet and Poets United founder Jennifer Brown Banks made the selections for U.S. National Parks. Pennsylvania poet Candace Kubinec chose the Waltmarie poems.
We thank all of the poets who shared their writing with us. We thank the many teachers who encouraged their students to participate. We thank our guest judges for their time, energy and enthusiasm for the project. Highland Park Poetry also wishes to thank the following organizations for their support of the 2022 Poetry Challenge:
- The Art Center of Highland Park for hosting our Poetry Challenge recognition event for adult and high school student poets
- The Highland Park Public Library for hosting our Poetry Challenge recognition event for elementary student poets
Enjoy!
Sincerely, Jennifer DotsonEditor & Founder
Jennifer Dotson
Editor & Founder
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| Jennifer Dotson, Photographer |
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Mark Hammerschick
1st Place, Highland Park Resident
Map of My Heart in the Tetons
My heart is a map.
How it has known the latitude of loss.
Creases and folds litter its tattered edges.
How my fingers have skimmed its slim surface
like so many interstate miles
through prairies, pine and pasture
recalling the rapture of longitude.
Faces blur, reappear, calling my name,
laughing in crowded, smoky rooms,
on cool sand and sweaty sheets.
Arteries of latitude and longitude
pulse pulse
along a narrow trail above tree line
how hiking means moving
high above Jenny Lake
on a hazy sunrise in the mountains
where the forests are lovely dark and deep
how Emily’s words drive us forward
since we do have promises to keep.
Your fingers are points of interest
in the drama of true north
lost on secondary two lanes in the deep
highlands of Wyoming sky
along a lazy stretch of the Snake river
in the shadows of the Tetons.
Why I stay with you defies the compass
caught in the folds of this dusty heart
knowing out west speed limits do not matter.
But you, those eyes, that body
and a voice like fingernails on sandpaper
keep me on course, destination unknown.
| Emmett Mahoney
1st Place, High School Student
Blue Ridges, Green Leaves
Hues of green mix with the haze in the air
Painting a scene of smoked beauty
Running water harmonizing with the sounds of birds
Trickles and streams run underfoot
Carrying water from the skies to the floor
Tracks, trails, and time cover the ground
The dirt begging to be dressed with vines and bush
While rock and sky clash above, arguing
about the true height of one another
Their struggle blocked by a web of branches and leaves
It’s still quiet, despite all the noise
My thoughts combine the sounds of life, death, growth, and
wind like a talented quartet
Bouncing off one another, moving from one solo to the next
Then combining it all for one final sendoff
Until I notice it’s still quiet
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| Kim Strellis, Photographer |
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Dylan Gangel
1st Place, Elementary Student, 3rd – 4th Grade
A Day at a National Park
National parks.
They will give you a memory in your heart.
With the beautiful trees,
And their glistening leaves.
You could see the animals lumbering all around,
And hear their wondrous sound.
With a calm stream.
Twisting and turning with its beautiful gleam.
With all the mountains standing tall,
They will never ever fall.
National parks are like that, too,
Because they are always true to you.
| Oliver Vila
1st Place, Elementary Student, 5th Grade
Sunset at Yellowstone
The Birds start chirping
and the sun begins to rise
It marks the start of another day
more beyond the bare eyes
The geysers burst
and the springs awaken
I look at Yellowstone
for the animals, nothing is forsaken
The falls gush
and the river roars
The streams rush
with the deer on the soft grassy floor
The wolves howl
and the log is afloat
Old Faithful blows
Nature is not remote
The cubs rest in their den
and the birds fly back into their nest
The sun is setting
right into the west
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| Lakshmy Nair, Photographer |
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Lakshmy Nair
1st Place, Adult Non-Resident
Old Faithful
I stand gazing, far enough to be safe
I dare not to flicker my eyelids
Around me, nothing moves, no one speaks
Even the wind holds its breath
And the leaves forget to dance
Waiting for the old faithful action
Then, from the earth’s crust she emerges
Forcefully, violently, shooting for the sky
Lasting for a minute and bowing slowly
She goes back quietly into earth’s womb
The wind breathes, leaves dance
I flicker my eyelids, say joyfully
“That was real.”
| Betsy Dolgin Katz
2nd Place, Highland Park Resident
My New Reality
Traveling through Montana and Wyoming
Violet mountains, blue lakes, and white glaciers,
Rushing rivers creating chasms that border rocky trails,
Fertile plains stretching forever toward the horizon
Where animals roam unfettered
And the eye can see where land meets the sky.
Continuing in this huge world of nature
We arrive in Yellowstone National Park
And check in to our cabin
Just in time to celebrate the 4th of July,
Exploding fireworks, cheering crowds
And a song I’ve heard but never understood.
Its words I have pronounced but never felt
Phrases like “spacious skies,” “amber waves of grain,”
“Purple mountains majesty,” “fruited plains”
I now know what they mean,
And prayers for God’s grace and brotherhood
Move me like never before.
America. America.
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| Gail Denham, Photographer |
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Valerie Saldana
2nd Place, High School Student
Only If
(A poem portraying the views of The Grand Canyon)
If I keep my eyes closed, will this reality never have happened?
Only if you were here
Only if you could see this
If only you were beside me
Rocks stretching to the skies
Colors across the horizon
Light as bright as your smile
Waterways reflecting off of your smile
Walls as deep as the love you gave
Temperatures as unpredictable as your laugh
Caves behind the anger you displayed
Winds as graceful as you
Such beauty seems unreal
It reminds me of you
With roads to the heavens
If I take them, would I see you?
| Maryann Hurtt
2nd Place, Adult Non-Resident
at six weeks
my parents took me to Yosemite
I like to think of us
curled together
in my first ever camping trip
how they stayed awake
just to admire
my mewling tiny body
and how sometime after midnight
they heard strange growls
and how we held each other
even tighter
to wake in the morning
to paw prints
dusting the canvas
me lying quietly listening to
the Merced
a lullaby still singing
in my ears
all these years
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| Logan Wallace, Photographer |
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Eha Gupta
2nd Place, Elementary Student, 3rd – 4th Grade
Yosemite
Where –
Might I see
No wolves,
Only coyotes.
A mystery –
Where no one’s carefree like so
Even though
The birds still sing do, re, mi, fa, so, la, ti, do.
The legend of John Muir –
The cabin where he lumbered so
Not still intact
But lost within the low.
The curse of Tenaya Canyon –
All the fallen lives
Lost with little mercy
Blessings swept through the country
For fallen
Yessiree.
Yosemite –
A beautiful place
Still gives us much happiness
And joy you will hold while you race.
Brought all people together –
For sad and happy
For adventure
Yosemite.
| Landon Moore
2nd Place, Elementary Student, 5th Grade
Yellowstone
Hot water shoots up saying goodbye,
Leaves come dancing down from the sky
As a bald eagle soars by.
Trees lying down on the vast green ground,
A pack of wolves hunting deep in the night
As the moon shines bright.
Oh, what a wonderful sight.
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| Lorin Pritkin, Photographer - Joshua Tree |
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Karen Petersen
3rd Place, Adult Non-Resident
Then
In the early
morning rebirth
of the world
the first ray
of light arrived,
betraying
the secrets
of the wilderness;
there was passion
at this hour,
in the strong beat
of wings
moving forward,
in the unfolding
of a flower
toward a curve
of sunlight,
in the empty soul
of time,
with its
great beating heart,
when water
was alone with itself.
| Julian Glasser
3rd Place, Elementary Student, 5th Grade
Joshua Tree
A Joshua tree sits in the sun.
Though it is burning,
The tree cannot run.
It’s giving shade to
everyone.
But the poor tree just
cannot run.
People sit under the tree
But the tree is working
For free.
A Joshua tree sits in the
Sun. Though it is burning,
The poor tree cannot run.
A Joshua tree sits in the
Sun, while the water is
Churning,
The poor tree cannot run,
The poor tree cannot run.
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| Judith Stern Friedman, photographer |
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Julie Isaacson
3rd Place, Highland Park Resident
Utah Parks: Carved Canvas of Creation
Variation #1
Arches
Awe
Imbedded in formations
Millions of years of history
Produce solid, yet impermanent
Forces of nature
Red tones, striated texture in sandstone,
Shaped by water shedding from cliffs
2000 arches, shaped like ceremonial chuppahs,
Some will remain, others will widen and collapse
Commentary on the sheer eroded burden of beauty.
Variation #2
Bryce
Bountiful Hoodoos,
more plentiful than any other continent
Vistas well named, Sunrise, Sunset, Inspiration,
Appear to be populated towns with skylines
Columns in standing ovation
Shadows of spirals, primitive Doric design in pinks and reds
Trails invite miniature humans
To witness shapes from above, from below
All positioned on a majestic plateau
As far as the eye can see, and the heart can beat.
Variation #3
Zion
Zeal
Strong protector, yet seeks protection, Utah’s Life Elevated
Bears witness, since the indigenous Kaibob Paiute tribe
Open invitation for us to come,
Become one: land, human, plant, wildlife
Cohabitate in layered ecology, call it home–
Zion, We the Keepers
Mt. Carmel tunnel greets us since
Independence Day, 1930
Red, white, blue
Red rock, white cliffs, blue sky
Colors of power, hues of respect.
| Max Koch
3rd Place, Elementary Student, 3rd – 4th Grade
The Snake in the Grass
It is a sunny day
I hear children yelling,
birds chirping,
grass rustling.
I lay down on the wet grass.
I spot a snake slithering towards me
I freeze
I sit up
The snake slithers up my right leg,
across my stomach,
onto my right hand.
The snake digs its fangs into my skin.
I shake it back into to the grass and I run
I stop
My heart is beating wildly
Everything is silent except the pain
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Hannah Race
3rd Place, High School Student
Trails that wind
with a climb
that seems to never end.
Ogling at waterfalls,
debating wading in the water
suddenly remembering
that there may be leeches.
Small hellos
to the passersby.
A daylong event
with many quick exchanges.
Ending with exactly
one trillion bug bites
and itching the whole way home.
[1] Starved Rock is technically an Illinois State Park as opposed to a U.S. National Park; however, the Judge loved the poet’s imagery that captured an experience which could apply to other locales.
| Violet Maras
Honorable Mention, Elementary Student, 3rd-4th
I See
I see the leaves fall in winter
and in fall the leaves turn
orange and brown. I see
a summer flower and a spring rainbow.
I see a peaceful and loving world.
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| Lawrence Feder, photographer |
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| Carroll L. Robert, Photographer |
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Carol Spielman Lezak
Honorable Mention, Highland Park Resident
Just Like Ol’ Faithful
I know someone—ain’t gonna say who—
but we call ’im Old Faithful.…
Yep—just like that geyser at Yellowstone Park….
Somebody who’s ageless—
kinda older than the hills, like that old saying goes,
but just as likely to erupt almost on a regular basis.
You never really know why ’cept they’re sorta prickly—
like those prickly pear cacti that’re all over the park—
and, if you don’t mind me saying, temperamental as all get-out,
and then they’ll spout and spout—not steaming water, o’ course…
but, well … plenty of heated words.
And maybe—truth to tell—even spits a little in the gushing forth…
if you know what I mean.
And if anyone’s in close proximity,
well, they just might end up a little scorched.
On the other hand, just like the real Old Faithful,
this person’s real dependable, always there for ya,
and, somehow, is someone folks are attracted to—
even if there’s a chance they could get burned.
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| Logan Wallace, Photographer |
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Emma Arnold
Honorable Mention, Elementary Student, 5th Grade
Old Faithful
150 years from when people gave you your first cheers.
The geyser of fame.
People around the world everywhere know your name.
Oh how you erupt with joy,
people all around you always enjoy.
Such a beautiful sight
that makes everything feel bright.
Oh 150 years from when people gave you your first cheers.
| Leslie Ortega
Honorable Mention, High School Student
My Pain
Nature doesn't think twice
It loves
Waterfalls rinse the world's soul
Like blame
Some spit fire like a path to hells gate
Loves me
Dry like the Mojave but not dead because Joshua still lingers
I live
I want to fly so I’ll ask sequoia how to touch the sky
I’ll rise
I just want to be loved like Yosemite
For me
I’ll hide my pain in crystal caves so you can see them but not heal them
Hold on
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| Jennifer Dotson, Photographer |
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Joan Luther
Honorable Mention, Adult Non-Resident
Dear Yellowstone:
The news arrived when I was nine, how majestic
You’d appear to our eyes, traveling to view you,
Boldly climbing your paths and picnicking with delight.
Now, I observe you in wondrous views, online in photos
and recent videos, but how I appreciate your wildlife too!
Please forward a message for review to elk, deer, buffalo,
All of the bison, wilderness fur lined families with sons
And daughters alike, that they are welcome
To return in kind, a visit here, at my Illinois home.
By comparison to your gardens, mine are small
But I’ll leave the spring grass long for you all.
Roadways in the park can be traffic jams, so call
Ahead to cities on the way here so you won’t befall
Similar issues; as for food, cookies will be made
And served to each member who makes their way
In peace and quiet as good guests promise, on trays
Of wood or possibly silver, if I find you well behaved.
For the cubs, calves, chicks, and such tiny tots,
Friends and family here will knit and purl a lot
Of mittens and booties, or quilts we will sew
To keep the youngsters warm on their pillows.
When visiting you there when young,
The warm summer season had begun.
As your winters there appear a challenge,
Come, enjoy Illinois weather for a change.
Should others offer a similar, kind invitation
To a warmer climate for your winter vacation,
Maybe I will join you for a temporary home
Before spring arrives, I dream of Yellowstone.
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| Kim Strellis, Photographer |
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| Jennifer Brown Banks, Judge for U.S. National Parks |
Jennifer Brown Banks is an award-winning poet, author, freelance writer and senior editor of a regional publication in the Midwest. Over the decades, her work has appeared in numerous online and print publications such as: Rigorous Journal, Write City Magazine, Poetic Voices, Curbside Splendor, Chicken Bones, Two Drops of Ink, and Willow Review Magazine. She is the president and founder of Poets United to Advance the Arts, based in Illinois. Banks is the recipient of the “Spirit Award” for 2020 from Chicago Writers Association.
| Squatter’s Rights
a haiku about parks
Scenic beauty found
Draped in green and so serene
Place to “park” my joy
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Kate Hutchinson
1st Place, Adult Non-Resident
Interment
We travel from the West, Midwest, and South,
meeting
in the small town our parents called home
to mourn
their passage from us to another realm.
The loss
is sharpened at the cemetery where we place
two urns
before the stones etched with their names. Overhead,
bare trees.
| Jennifer Dotson
1st Place, Highland Park Resident
Morning Meditation
before the sun cracks the horizon, I enjoy a
quiet
walk to the lakefront and watch the gentle
water
dissolve into foam upon the shore.
I can
feel my weight shift the sand and pebbles I stand on. I can
hear my
breath and how the lapping water is an echo of my
heartbeat
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| Pamela Larson, Photographer |
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Cathy Bryant
1st Place, International Non-Resident
Recovery
Bereaved, I lost everything, even myself,
you see
I was completely closed off to experience,
new thoughts
until I started walking here. Now
ideas
arrive gently with nature
and worlds
of life and difference are rebuilding me
in parks
| Allison Solare
1st Place, High School Student
Frozen Moment
The roof of my skull is scarred from clawing my brain for -
something
Anything I can conjure up to entertain, hoping they will find me -
worthwhile
I cannot stay as the background to a scene that has already -
happened
It’d be better if I didn’t engage with them; they’d be much happier -
without
But they are a loud shiny trophy and even if I panic all I want is -
me there
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Max Edward Rothbart
1st Place, Elementary Student, 5th – 8th Grade
In the Wild
The sun setting-
Calmly
The leaves bristling-
Relax
A show for your eyes-
Watch as
The animals pop out and in-
Nighttime
Watch the beauty before your eyes-
Sunsets
| Waverly Ahn
1st Place, Elementary Student , 1st – 3rd Grade
The Conversion
Capturing imaginations for generations
mystic
The Lost Island of Atlantis
City
Skyscrapers emerge from the rapid waves
reborn
Making an unknown path to a new civilization
transform
Time changes from ancient to present
New York
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| J. Ray Paradiso, Photographer |
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Novalee Niederer
1st Place, Elementary Student , 4th Grade
Life
Young girl looked up to the sky and watched a
brilliant
Sunset turn into
starlight
That falls over her as she
gazes
Back at the moon that looks
over
The world and she sees a reflection of
her life
| Rory O’Neill
2nd Place, Elementary Student, 4th Grade
Wild Cat
I am a wild cat.
Hungry,
I will stalk my prey
stalking.
I make a big leap,
jumping.
My claws sink into my prey,
digging.
But my prey gets loose
again.
I will look for food tomorrow.
Hungry.
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Este Marks
2nd Place, Elementary Student, 1st – 3rd Grade
Neighborhood Dogs
I see dogs everywhere I go
barking
They play by biting necks
playing
They make messes
messy
They pull flowers
dirty
They really are good friends
Cute dogs!
| Lucy Hoy
2nd Place, Elementary Student, 5th – 8th Grade
The Owl
The owl sits quietly in the tree
Silent
It sits looking for something to eat
Searches
It scans the snow for something moving
Patient
Mice scurry across the snow
At last
The owl swoops down to catch it but doesn’t succeed
Missed
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Alwyn Gornall
2nd Place, International Non-Resident
Searching
The crunch of my step –
piercing
through the ice capped snow –
echoes
as I search through the winter of our love –
longing
for the warmth of you –
fading
under a blanket of hoar frost –
then gone
| Iliana Banu
2nd Place, High School Student
Unlucky
Crossed my fingers and threw salt,
I’ve got
to make up for you stepping on cracks and laughing at black cats and
jokers,
whose grins fade as you cut out the sun with shards of broken mirrors.
How is
it, to watch us from up there? Beginner’s luck perched you high on a thin branch, but
your hand
barely misses the moon’s rivets. Are you even
looking?
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| Joan Tooley, Photographer |
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Emma Alexandra
2nd Place, Highland Park Resident
Rocky Mountain Syncopation
Rocky Mountains speak First Peoples, Indigenous, languages –
flawless
Chants and incantations, flow, sparkle like –
nature
Past, present, future, unconquerable –
endless
Heartless cavalry drums play incessant beats –
rhythms
Foreshadow brutality, conquests ever expanding –
pulsate
| Laura Hodes
2nd Place, Adult Non-Resident
Pandemic Bird Feeder
A flutter of wings, a chickadee arrives -
lonely
Visitor to our new feeder -
frozen
Snow everywhere, too cold for us to go outside -
We watch
Birds eating seeds with excitement,looking -
for signs
nature is everywhere, thrumming with force -
of life.
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Megan Hack Philippi
3rd Place, Adult Non-Resident
January Morning, Chicago
I’m all yawns as I unstick the deadbolt, mine my pockets for mittens. But then
the sky
slaps my senses, suspends me over roofs and walls in waves of brightest pink. I
will make
my way through crunchy snow while the sorbet sun feeds
me a
river of salmon wriggling upstream at every violet-blue cross-street.
Morning
births me into day and disappears. I seek her echo on the face of every passing
person.
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Annie Fick
3rd Place, Elementary Student, 5th – 8th Grade
The Water Debris
The water washed up against the rocks, loudly-
calmly
Small dead fish attached to garbage wash up on shore, slowly-
quiet
I go to pick it up while my feet make indents in the wet sand, crunching-
splish-splash
I watch the debris wash up on shore, the waves roll in, crashing-
on shore
As the sun starts to set on the deep blue, I start to walk back and I hear loud-
Waves
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| Jan Burke, Photographer |
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Annie Jenkin
3rd Place, International Non-Resident
Beauty Slips Away
Butterflies dance in sunlight, their once
ample
numbers failing to source rich
pollen,
species lose the battle of survival; their
beauty
like water, washing words from a page
fading,
man's attempt to remedy, timed out,
| Diane Grauer
3rd Place, Highland Park Resident
Miss Mabel
You came to us scared, but willing.
Brown dog
You showed us your spirit, and decided to trust us.
Sleeping
You learned our rules, sniffed our faces, and found the sunny spots.
Cozy
Now we sing silly songs, and lie next to you on the floor near the heat vents.
Breathing
You are the warm fuzzy heart of our family
Comfort
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Bryton Butler
3rd Place, High School Student
This is Baseball
This is Baseball
My one
Desire is to play the game I
Love is
Never-ending, from the moment I started
to the
Moment that I stop. To the
game called
baseball that I have loved forever, thank you,
baseball.
| Ines Fernandez
3rd Place, Elementary Student, 4th Grade
Going to Sleep
Entering a big void of nothing
Darkness
Going down from ten to one
Counting
Forgetting all my troubles
Relax
Closing my eyes slowly
Sleeping
Drifting away into a world of imagination
Dreaming
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| David Dotson, Photographer |
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Willa Klaus
3rd Place, Elementary Student, 1st – 3rd Grade
The Days of Heaven
The days of Heaven — once I looked into
The sky
Shining bright in my eyes I look
Above
To see clouds from out of
The sky
The clouds are white light in
My eyes
The twinkle of the heavens and down below, be careful,
Careful
| Lexi Newman
Honorable Mention, Elementary Student, 4th Grade
The Summer Cycle
The flowers grow and the roots drink.
Blooming.
The snow flees and the bare trees shrink.
Getting.
The soccer players get on the field.
Ready.
The summer sun becomes a shield.
Playing.
And the summer cycle comes again.
Joyful.
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Landon Strait
Honorable Mention, Elementary Student, 4th Grade
Football
The defense brings the wide receiver down to the ground –
Tackle
The Quarterback throws a complete pass into the end zone –
Touchdown
The kicker kicks the ball through the goal posts on the fourth down –
Field goal
The running back drops the ball and the defense picks it up –
Fumble
The running back gets past the second marker –
First down
| Max Weis
Honorable Mention, Elementary Student, 4th Grade
Cats
Cats are soft and nice to pet.
Furry.
Cats love to sleep and to eat.
Hungry.
Cats sometimes love to go run a bit.
Swiftly.
Cats sometimes love to go in the backyard.
Outside.
Cats sometimes like to be by themselves.
Lonely.
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| David Dotson, Photographer |
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Grace Leavitt
Honorable Mention, High School Student
Bicycles
Handlebars twisting and turning -
Gliding
Down the sidewalks of the city -
On bikes
Spinning, spinning, spinning -
Around,
Wheels go flat, chains break -
You twirl
Fast pedaling into the sun -
I crash
| Kylie Conklin
Honorable Mention, High School Student
Icicle
It sits there without an exact purpose -
frozen
A remnant from an ugly winter storm -
bitter
A hazard to those who roam below it -
piercing
As the sun peeks out, you must look up -
dripping
Those unaware will surely regret -
falling
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Tim Andersen
Honorable Mention, Adult Non-Resident
Vegan Except for the Bacon, Sour Cream, and Cheddar
I had a lousy, no good vegan snack of too ripe
berries,
an amazingly crappy, tasteless red
apple,
a very hairy, brown topped
carrot
so crooked I couldn’t peel it
then a
heavenly, fully loaded – bacon, sour cream and cheddar –
spudboat.
| Max Korte
Honorable Mention, High School Student
hunger as intent
nectarine blood between your thighs
i eat
with vigor. unlike
boy-flesh
i carefully break the skin of cherries
for lunch,
but the way i carve my name into your hair isn’t force fed like
raw meat
but the simplicity of breakfast
for dinner
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| Image from creative commons |
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Curt Vevang
Honorable Mention, Adult Non-Resident
I’m a Puppy Lover
I'm a puppy lover of the first degree and
God knows
for me there's no limit to
how much
love I can bestow on those little yippers.
I hate
to think of all the sad little dogs in the world cooped up
yipping
in cages and left all alone as young
puppies.
| Paul Buchheit
Honorable Mention, Adult Non-Resident
Travails of Youth
As all around America
young men
and women seek and strive, their dreams
have gone
astray while still at home, from angry glance
to war
of words with disapproving dad and mom;
since time
would never wait for resolution, fights unfailingly
began.
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Carol Spielman Lezak
Honorable Mention, Highland Park Resident
With No Goodbye
Gone without warning, like a
whisper,
a life filled with turmoil where
words of
hope and hate and even
love—it
was as if they were never heard. It
does not
make a difference now she’s gone; it doesn't
matter.
| Nancy Hepner Goodman
Honorable Mention, Highland Park Resident
Spare Change
Pennies, nickels, dimes and quarters -
my loot
From the car’s grubby console tray -
moolah
Accumulating over fourteen years -
waiting
Then pitched into the coin counting machine -
today
My “pay it forward” smackers, two hundred -
for you
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| Candace Kubinec, Judge for Waltmarie Poems |
Candace Kubinec lives a peaceful life in Western Pennsylvania where she writes from a comfy chair with a cat on her lap and a cup of tea at her side. You can read more of her poetry at rhymeswithbug.com. She is the Grand Prize winner in the Pennsylvania Poetry Society’s 2021 contest and the creator of the Waltmarie poetic form.
| Amid Chaos
The morning sun slants through the kitchen window where
I sit
surrounded by lacey patterned shadows made on the wall.
Amid
the calmness of morning bird calls, Bach, and tea there is
chaos
at the bird feeder. Finches and sparrows battling for position, not
waiting
their turn - for theirs is a battle of survival not a negotiation
for peace.
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Olivia Maciel Edelman
1st Place – Highland Park Resident
Olor a Sal
Los peces trazan círculos, se besan los plateados labios,
se deslizan sobre espiraladas ondas verdes,
se elevan por el angosto caracol de la escalera.
Los peces ondean como banderas luminosas,
hélices en el mar.
Ráfagas de olor a mar, olor a sal, a alga marina.
En mi niñez vi el horizonte del mar inmenso, infinito,
sin comienzo ni fin… Azul.
Un día soleado,
un plano horizontal desierto de árboles,
espacioso silencio preñado de un baño antiguo
en el que prorrumpen las olas
con su ir y venir
Así fue la primera vez:
aquel camión en el que viajamos descendió por la vertiente
hasta llegar a ese grandísimo y líquido paraíso azul
Insondable, atrayente y caliente,
me embromó en su aliento húmedo
entré a una gran boca azulada y marina
con olor a sal.
Los peces trazan círculos, se besan los plateados labios,
se deslizan sobre espirales ondas verdes,
se elevan por el angosto caracol de la escalera.
Los peces ondean como banderas luminosas,
hélices en el mar.
| Olivia Maciel Edelman
1st Place – Highland Park Resident
Smell of Salt
The fish trace circles, they kiss each other’s silver lips,
they glide among spiraled green waves,
go up through the narrow coil of the staircase.
The fish wave like luminescent flags,
helixes in the sea.
Bursts of sea smell, of salt smell, of marine algae.
In my childhood the open horizon of an immense sea, infinite,
Without beginning or end… Blue.
A sunny day
a horizontal plane barren of trees,
a spacious silence pregnant of an ancient bathing
in which waves break
with their coming and going.
That’s how it was the first time:
the bus that took us descended the slope
until we arrived at the edge of that enormous and liquid blue paradise
Unfathomable, alluring, and hot
I teased myself in its enveloping wet breath
I entered a great blue and marine mouth
smell of salt.
The fish trace circles, they kiss each other’s silver lips,
they glide among spiraled green waves,
go up through the narrow coil of the staircase.
The fish wave like luminescent flags,
helixes in the sea.
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Josh Poole
1st Place, Adult Non-Resident
The Nautilus
I don a coat of old coats sewn
Trot ‘neath settled stars rolled of stone
My steps tap the timid drum
Light paints the path of arrow flung
A star unfollowed from Orion slung
To meet me halfway, I ask steadfast
But nodlessly the nautilus pass
In instant’s instance I asked again
To where do you go, my glowing friend?
| Cole Ramirez
1st Place, Elementary Student, 5th – 8th Grade
Poem
A boater with a motor and a loader
saw a fish in a wish
in a witch by a ditch switch
which shark will bark by the park in the dark
going to impart to an ark
with a clark with a remark with a mark
from the spark with a lark in the dark
by a tiger shark with a lying shark.
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| Logan Wallace, Photographer |
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Elizabeth Inula Crist
1st Place – High School Student
Sea Stalker
below the surface
i stare
the salt and the water and the sun morph your image
you look wiggly and pretty
you’d think you look bad but i swear you don’t
your eyes narrow and your face focused
look deep down down down
can you see me?
you can’t
like a squirmy seashell or a silent fork or a ripped plastic bottle
you intrigue me
my collection needs you
i need you
my newest addition
my shining star
my most precious keepsake
you should be
come closer and reach down for my hand
and grab it will you?
your once narrow eyes widen with–
what is that
–fear?
mine squint as my grin is what widens
i yank and i yank and i pull
and you squirm and lose your breath
but it’s okay because you’re with me now
because i’ve got you
here with me
below the surface
| Desmond Farren
1st Place, Elementary Student, 4th Grade
Shark
Its eyes gleam like black diamonds
Its teeth shine like daggers
Its body moves through the water like a bullet
Its guts are big but its heart is small
Wait, is it swimming at me?
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Brecken Rosenbaum
2nd Place, 4th Grade Student
Da Fishies
Oh fish I love you,
I love your beautiful view,
I love your beautiful rainbow color,
I love your beautiful blue water,
You’re aren’t at all lame,
You have no reason to be blamed,
Oh fish you’re so cool,
And this is why you rule!
| Olive Bracken-Sáenz
2nd Place, Elementary Student, 5th – 8th Grade
The Ordinary Future
Year 2087
An ordinary old man
sits next to an ordinary brick fireplace
He flips through pages in an ordinary book
In the room lies an ordinary bookshelf
lined with ordinary books
Across the room an ordinary painting
hanging on the ordinary wall
The ordinary painting is of an ordinary extinct animal
the octopus
The ordinary man sips from an ordinary cup with a bright pink plastic straw
He places it back down on the ordinary coffee table
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| Ka |
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Logan Sill
2nd Place, High School Student
Problems in the Sea
In the sea,
Waves bending light,
Boats glide across the top,
They are casting their nets,
Catching everything that passes,
Sharks get stuck not being able to move,
They suffocate slowly and horribly,
Others swimming hungry with no food,
Overfishing by the horrifying creatures above,
They fly like we do in our seas but different
Their godly, wizardly tech lets them fly higher,
Some of their machines break, spilling liquid.
This liquid burns our scales and skin,
We can’t breathe through it,
Their machines drop their trash,
The junk traps our food and kids,
Kills off our turtles,
If they mistake it for jellies,
They get trapped in their throats,
Forces them not to breathe and die,
They suffocate from their arrogance,
My sea friends dying from the people above,
It’s so sad for them,
I miss them.
| Lynn West
2nd Place, Highland Park Resident
Ice Moles Tunnel
black holes into the frigid icing
Thick skin broken, Mother Earth tempts pilgrims
Divers don thermal hides and blaze trails
sipping life from vents of steel balloons
Bubbles dance as glow fish loom
Tiny sea krill shower a castle of coral
as light pokes through darkness
Silent beauty swims through black ice
Spineless relics glide through the past
Frozen in time they remain hidden
but for those few who have ridden
the deep waves of passion
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Rob Baker
2nd Place, Adult Non-Resident
Clownfish
In the tank against the wall, angel
fish weave among the coral claws
of neon pink, blue, and green.
A yellow tang, unblinking eyes twitching,
presses its mouth--a Spaghetti-O
of constant surprise--against the glass
that reflects my brother and me
chatting on the intake room’s
orange plastic chairs. A home
improvement show blares
from the corner, couples demolishing
walls with sledgehammers.
“Last time I was here,” he says,
“there was a woman, real peaches-
and-cream looking, who was in
because she had obsessive thoughts
about killing her husband and children.
She loved them but couldn’t stop
thinking about murdering them.”
I picture her vision ricocheting
around her skull like a screen saver
or like that clownfish repeatedly attacking
the water’s surface, seeming to seek and seek
and seek escape through the impossible air.
| Ann Tracy
3rd Place, High School Student
Goldfish
What?
Sorry, I wasn’t paying attention.
I couldn’t remember I said,
I have the memory of a goldfish.
I swim in circles
Trapped in my tank
My gills won’t let me drown
And that isn’t always a good thing
Because swimming in circles distracts me
from the responsibilities I have
Goldfish don’t have many responsibilities
But I do
and I can’t remember what they are.
Or maybe I just don’t want to do them.
I hide behind my miniature castles
when anything frightens me
I’m too scared to face my own fears
So please don’t tap on my tank
It scares me.
I can’t keep swimming in circles anymore
Over and over again
I have too much to do
And goldfish don’t have much to do
But I do and…
…
…
Wait, what was I saying?
I forgot.
I’m sorry,
I have the memory of a goldfish.
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| Kay Thomas, Photographer |
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Pauline Kochanski
3rd Place, Adult Non-Resident
Impenetrable Vastness Speaks
With words unknown
Silence roars
Quiet and still.
Under the surface
Releasing her thoughts
She speaks of wonder.
| Irene Hoffman
3rd Place, Highland Park Resident
Transcendent
Stealth-like, she glides as if on glass, far above the world below her.
Her body slices through the cold, clean water; no sounds, except for the
swish, swish, swish of her arms propelling her forward.
Underneath, a mystery. A civilization hidden unknown.
Water-like, she is suspended, breathing in harmony with the sea.
Her body cuts through the swell, effortlessly moving rhythmically with the
swish, swish, swish of her limbs propelling her onward.
The unseen urging her from below.
Wave-like, she becomes one with the ocean.
Her body twitches and writhes, darting towards infinity with the
swish, swish, swish of her tail propelling her free.
Below she finds comfort and peace.
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Charlotte Schrimmer
3rd Place, Elementary Student, 5th – 8th Grade
Below C Level
I swim up to class which is taught by a scary teacher
She is terrifying and acts like a fearsome mystical creature
Mrs. Chomp the great white
If you mess with her she will put up a fight
Don’t show that you are weak
Don’t make a peep
Because if you do surrender
You have been beat
She will sauté you and put you in a pile of students she will soon eat
The homework is almost impossible
If you make a mistake there is only one outcome possible
So I’ll swim to the surface to take a breath just in case
Knowing that I will not just pass her class but get an ace
| Isra Alam
3rd Place, Elementary Student, 4th Grade
Under the Ocean
Under the ocean, as the fish swim, octopi squirt their ink in fear.
Under the ocean, while the seaweed sways, the sharks swim
around searching for prey.
Under the ocean, as the flying fish soar, the fish swim by the
coral covered floor.
Under the ocean, while the turtles go to tide, the babies hatch
with their eyes open wide.
Under the ocean, the sting rays sting, while the dolphins come up
to enjoy the sun shining.
Under the ocean, as more coral grows, the humpback whale has a
big large blow.
Under the ocean, where the fish swim, the world around them
spins.
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| Kovey Cohen, Artist age 6 |
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Cooper Simpson
Honorable Mention, Elementary Student, 4th Grade
Crustaceans
Crabs
Feel the power of their pincers.
Snap, snap, snap again.
They have tall eyes on their heads.
Blink, blink. Creepy.
Oysters
They make pretty, shiny pearls.
Shine, shine. In the sun.
They are missing their faces.
No eyes. No nose.
Lobsters
They swim with their tails.
Swish, swish. Fast.
They come in lots of colors.
Red. Blue. Not green.
Shrimp
They are very small, not tall.
Light, not heavy.
They don’t and can’t think.
1+1=prawn.
| Ashley Suk
Honorable Mention, Elementary Student, 4th Grade
Sea Life
When the fish say bye,
The sun comes up and says hi.
The sand blows away,
The boat comes to the bay.
The seagulls fly,
Then they say bye.
When they fry fish,
The fish become a dish.
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Charlie Kauf
Honorable Mention, Elementary Student, 4th Grade
Underwater Sea Life
The most salty places, the ocean.
The calmness comes to your body as you stand and watch the whales jump up and down and pop in and out.
As you walk deeper and deeper, the fish tickle your feet and you watch the sun go down.
The water pushes and pulls you back and forward and you feel your feet
moving you.
Continue watching and watching the beautiful view of whales.
As you walk on the soft and rough sand, you see birds flying and gliding
away.
You look in the water as you go deeper into the salty, blue, beautiful ocean.
You see big and small fish swimming and swimming.
You keep watching until they swim away to their homes.
You walk back from the beautiful ocean and feel the water pushing you again.
| Brady Gottlieb
Honorable Mention, Elementary Student, 5th – 8th Grade
The Dark Night
The dark of the night and the stormy sea,
I see the fish hiding in seaweed.
Always waiting for that certain moment we have seen so offend
The flash of the light and the burning sea
The cry for help among the floating debris
And for so many, no help would be
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| Miranda Dotson, Artist at age 9 |
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Abel Coleman
Honorable Mention,
Elementary Student, 5th – 8th Grade
Axolotl
Small Animals.
Awesome, Adorable, Endangered, Creatures.
Floating, Swimming, Cute, Animals.
Amphibians.
| Adrien Tipescu
Honorable Mention, Elementary Student, 5th – 8th Grade
Insanity
As I look through the pitch black water, I see the sun.
I think of the freedom that gives up on the surface.
I wish very much that I could touch the sun,
It must be very positive up there.
Down here I feel lonely without anybody or anything.
Just the dark and the silence.
Can the surface fix the broken.
I don’t see how I can stay here. My sanity is slowly fading.
I will get there. I know that if I try to swim up, I can't. Stuck. Never. Get. Up.
I fell down in the dark Years ago. I still make it work.
It somehow played out. I survived. I can somehow breathe.
I swim up. I keep going. It feels like years but I can see myself getting closer.
Closer. CLOSER.
Finally I reach the top.
I’m not aware if this is real. It’s probably just my insanity.
I’m there. A few feet away. I go up. I’m not there?
I keep going. I’m getting closer but it never stops.
This is just my insanity, I know it.
Wait what? I’m there and I can touch the surface.
I do so. I can't, I try to stick my hand out but it doesn’t work.
It’s like a hard surface.
I'm staying here. Thinking why. Why is my life like this?
Then suddenly the current pushes me through the Barrier. I see an island.
This is not how I remember the surface.
The sky’s dark and everything is a wasteland. No one up here either.
I might have been better off down in the deep.
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Chloe Winkler
Honorable Mention, High School Student
Yours Truly
A secret hidden to only us,
Do they know our intentions,
Our deep desires,
And the destruction that comes with?
But when we get through?
“I’m sorry,”
“It’s not my fault,”
They say,
And in the blink of a full moon,
We’re drowning.
In our own ocean
Of destruction,
A pool created by
Yours truly
| Andrian Afonso
Honorable Mention, High School Student
Oh, Coral…
Oh, Coral,
so true and bright,
what happened to your color
once so right,
how may you live
with all this trash,
flooding your housing,
These people are rash.
Everyone has come
to see your beauty,
little do they know
you will soon not be like the movies.
Your color shall fade
due to all the warming.
Just like a spade,
it will break due to too much storming.
You could dance and sing
for all these fish
but now you are sick
so we can only wish.
A solution is what we need to know
but many don’t know of it so.
This isn’t goodbye
not so quick
we won’t let you get
the short end of the stick.
Oh, coral,
now bleached and white
we are trying to heal you
but we’re not doing alright.
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| Jennifer Dotson, Photographer |
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Charlotte Digregorio
Honorable Mention, Adult Non-Resident
haiku
walking the beach
currents carry a jellyfish . . .
the sting of Mom’s death
| Natalie Hess
Honorable Mention, High School Student
Do Turtles Think They Can Fly?
Do turtles think they can fly?
Spread their wings and glide,
In what might be another sky
Peppered with weeds that climb
Like trees
Does a bird not know it can dive?
Spread their arms and glide,
In what might be deeper sky
Scattered with clouds that cry
Like waves
Who am I to tell them no?
I sink
Admit the ocean is a sky that drowns,
The sky is an ocean that breathes,
Flip this world upside down
And view it from your knees
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| Logan Wallace, Photographer |
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Carol L. Gloor
Honorable Mention, Adult Non-Resident
At the Aquarium
The lights dim, the guards warn
fifteen minutes until closing,
so I skim the story of the lung fish:
Triassic ancestor, only fish with true lungs,
can crawl on land, breath air,
forever my relative, and yours.
He barely floats above the gravel bottom
of his smeared glass tank
in the two feet of water
they give him to live:
his body too thick,
his scales too large.
He sinks to the gravel,
dreams whatever he can.
I would reach in, stroke his scales
if I could.
The guards chide closing time, lady.
On land he coats his body
with liquid that hardens for protection.
I would do the same if I could.
| Tim Callahan
Honorable Mention, Adult Non-Resident
Monsters of the Indigo Depths, a villanelle
Fading into indigo from ultramarine
in the ocean’s abyssal depths there hide
monsters in the darkness rarely seen.
Turning deep blue what was once green
the waters darken from the foaming tide
fading into indigo from ultramarine
Each of them shaped like a killing machine
with fanged jaws agape there abide
monsters in the darkness rarely seen
Their fantastic forms seem to contravene
nature in a realm where light is denied
fading into indigo from ultramarine
Like visions induced by mescaline
there rise, as if from a nightmare descried,
monsters in the darkness rarely seen
So, in their sphere so adamantine
dwell – where dreams and reality coincide
fading into indigo from ultramarine –
monsters in the darkness rarely seen.
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Jennifer Dotson
Honorable Mention, Highland Park Resident
Great Blue Whale
Giant of our oceans
dives deep to
krill rich waters,
sings mournful songs
to distant companions,
tracks from the top
of the blue marble
to the bottom and
all the briny middle.
You’re an old soul
Great Blue Whale.
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| Tina Cole, Judge for Underwater Life |
Tina Cole is a U.K. retired head teacher and education consultant who has taught in schools and universities with young people aged 5 to 25. She has been writing poetry most of her life and her main focus is on the psychology of relationships.
Her poetry has appeared in many collections, magazines and journals including the Guardian Newspaper. She has two collections published, – I Almost Knew You (2015), and Forged (2021/Yaffle Press). In 2021 she won the Yaffle Press national poetry competition.
She is also the organizer of an annual Young Peoples Poetry Competition in local area schools (yppc2019.org), which has sadly been stalled by the COVID pandemic. Currently she is halfway through a Master’s Degree in Creative Writing/Poetry at Manchester Metropolitan University.
| The Sea Captain’s Wife
60 years together, running full sail before the wind,
no lighthouse could have forewarned this Kraken disaster.
You sought the oceans rhythm, the reassurance of pebble
chatter, his old secrets whispered in the daily ebb and flow.
Awash in a sea with no horizon or stars, your compass
lost its north, the yellowed foam of memory dissolving.
A mile from the sea, slumped in his chair,
your days stopped like the old grandfather clock,
in the slack lapping time betwixt night and day
you sunk to the sea bed and waited for a new tide.
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| Jennifer Dotson, Photographer |
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2022 Daily Poem Archive - March
Jennifer Brown Banks, Daniel Cleary, Jane Cooper, Gail Denham, Jennifer Dotson, Janz Duncan, J. K. Durick, Regina M. Elliott, Maureen Flannery, Mardelle Fortier, Paul M. Jamar, Richard V. Kaufman, Joan Leotta, Terry Loncaric, Lennart Lundh, Joan Luther, George Markoutsas, William Marr, Adrian McRobb, Wilda Morris, Susan T. Moss, Carl "Papa" Palmer, Phyllis Patterson, Marianne Peel, Marilyn Peretti, Jenene Ravesloot, Marjorie RIssman, Alice Marcus Solovy, Gwen Van Velsor, and Lynn West.
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2022 Daily Poem Archive - February
Michael H. Brownstein, Paul Buchheit, Monica Cardestam, Jan Chronister, Daniel Cleary, Tina Cole, Gail Denham, Jennifer Dotson, Regina M. Elliott, Margie Emshoff, Dan Fitzgerald, Mardelle Fortier, Janice Freytag, Cynthia Gallaher, John Grey, Paul M. Jamar, Richard V. Kaufman, Joan Leotta, Lennart Lundh, Joan Luther, William Marr, Adrian McRobb, Carl "Papa" Palmer, Jenene Ravesloot, Sandy Rochelle, and Curt Vevang.
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2022 Daily Poem Archive - January
Michael H. Brownstein, Renee Butner, Jan Chronister, Daniel Cleary, Gail Denham, Jennifer Dotson, Michael Escboubas, Mardelle Fortier, John Grey, Kate Hutchinson, Richard V. Kaufman, Joan Leotta, Lennart Lundh, Bonnie J. Manion, William Marr, Adrian McRobb, Michael Minassian, Carl "Papa" Palmer, Karen Petersen, Jenene Ravesloot, Marjorie Rissman, Marie Samuel, Julie Sheldon, Alice Marcus Solovy, Curt Vevang, Lynn West, Rev. Court Williams, and Kao Ra Zen.
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2021 Daily Poem Archive - December
Renee Butner, Vittorio Carli, Yuan Chang Ming, Jackie Chou, Gail Denham, Jennifer Dotson, Michael Escboubas, Dan Fitzgerald, Mardelle Fortier, Kate Hutchinson, Paul Jamar, Richard V. Kaufman, Candace Kubinec, Ann Lamas, Arlene Gay Levine, Carol Spielman Lezak, Lennart Lundh, Bonnie J. Manion, William Marr, Susan McClellan, Joan McNerney, Adrian McRobb, Carl "Papa" Palmer, Karen Petersen, Jenene Ravesloot, Marjorie Rissman, Terry Slaney, Alice Marcus Solovy, Lori Wall-Holloway, and Kao Ra Zen.
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2021 Fall / 2022 Winter Gallery Archive - Poet's & Artist's Choice
Marina Angione * Ellen Blum Barish * Dan Boyd * Michael H. Brownstein * Teresa K. Burleson * Renee Butner * Tim Callahan * Monica Cardestam * Yahn Changming * Hanh Chau * Jackie Chou * Daniel Cleary * Linda M. Crate * Gail Denham * Charlotte Digregorio * Jennifer Dotson * Janz Duncan * J. K. Durick * Olivia Maciel Edelman * Idella Pearl Edwards * Regina M. Elliott * Dan Fitzgerald * Janea D. Harris * Cynthia T. Hahn * William D. Hicks * Mark Hudson * Caroline Johnson * Dr. Richard V. Kaufman * Candace Kubinec * Arlene Gay Levine * Terry Loncaric * Lennart Lundh * Joan Luther * William Marr * Bruce Matteson * Susan McClellan * Joan McNerney * Michael Minassian * Wilda Morris * Lakshmy M. Nair * Howard Nemeroff * Toti O’Brien * Carl “Papa” Palmer * René Parks * Marianne Peel * Ann Privateer * Jenene Ravesloot * Marjorie Rissman * Tom Roby IV * Sue Roupp * Christine Kierstead Sheeter * Alice Marcus Solovy * Pat St. Pierre * Jacqueline Stearns * Suzanne Elia Stephan * Kay Thomas * Lori Wall-Holloway * Lynn West * Bruce Whitaker * Court Williams * Michael P. Wright * R. M. Yager
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2021 Daily Poem Archive - November
Lois Barr, Nila Bartley, Michael H. Brownstein, Joseph Kuhn Carey, Charlotte Digregorio, Oliva Maciel Edelman, Michael Escboubas, Kate Hutchinson, Richard V. Kaufman, Arlene Gay Levine, Carol Spielman Lezak, Lennart Lundh, Bonnie J. Manion, William Marr, Susan McClellan, Joan McNerney, Michael Minassian, Carl "Papa" Palmer, Marianne Peel, Ann Privateer, Jenene Ravesloot, Marjorie Rissman, Ellen Savage, Alice Marcus Solovy, Pat St. Pierre, Lori Wall-Holloway, Lynn West, R.M. Yager and Kao Ra Zen.
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2021 Daily Poem Archive - October
Emma Alexandra, Michael H. Bornwstein, Renee Butner, Danie CLeary, Gail Denham, Jennifer Dotson, J.K. Durick, Dan Fitzgerald, Mardelle Fortier, John Grey, Janea D.Harris, Arlene Gay Levine, Terry Loncaric, Lennart Lundh, Joan Luther, Bonnie J. Manion, William Marr, Susan McClellan, Michal Mendelson, Wilda Morris, Khalid Mukhtar, Lakshmy Nair, Carl "Papa" Palmer, Jenene Ravesloot, Sue Roupp, Alice Marcus Solovy, Judith Tullis, Curt Vevang, Lori Wall-Holloway and R.M. Yager.
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2021 Summer Gallery Archive - Shoes
Nila Bartley * Jessica Weyer Bentley * Mary Beth Bretzlauf * Fiona M. Campbell * Monica Cardestam * Joseph Kuhn Carey * William Carey * Chris Chandler * Jackie Chou * Jan Chronister * Hinda Cole * Tina Cole * Gail Denham * Charlotte Digregorio * Jennifer Dotson * Janz Duncan * Idella Pearl Edwards * Michael Escoubas * Indira Esson * Isadora Esson * Daniel J. Fitzgerald * Karen Fried * Judith Stern Friedman * Dominique Galiano * Cynthia Gallaher * Nancy Hepner Goodman * Alwyn Gornall * Janea D. Harris * Teresa Harris * Janis Butler Holm * Mark Hudson * Kate Hutchinson * Linda Imbler * Julie Isaacson * Paul M. Jamar * Caroline Johnson * Judith MK Kaufman * Richard V. Kaufman * Betsy Dolgin Katz * Tricia Knoll * Michael Ethan Landau * Joan Leotta * Terry Loncaric * Cindy Madara * William Marr * Michael Maul * Susan McClellan * Cassandra McGovern * Bob McNeil * Adrian McRobb * Silvia Morgan * Wilda Morris * Lakshmy Nair * Carl “Papa” Palmer * Phyllis Patterson * Ann Privateer * Marjorie Rissman * W. R. Rodriguez * Rie Sheridan Rose * Marie Samuel * Julie Sheldon * Alice Marcus Solovy * Miranda Stewart * Christine Swanberg * Nick Sweet * Kay Thomas * Connie Vitale * Lori Wall-Holloway * Lynn West * Lynn White * Diane Wlezien * Michael P. Wright * RM Yager * Yvonne Zipter
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2021 Daily Poem Archive - September
Lois Baer Barr, Michael H. Brownstein, Jackie Chou, Victoria Crawford, Jennifer Dotson, Mardelle Fortier, Marne Glaser, Carol L. Gloor, John Grey, Jaqueline Harris, Ariella Kharasch, Candace Kubinec, Ann Lammas, Arlene Gay Levine, Carol Spielman Lezak, Terry Loncaric, Lennart Lundh, Nitya Menon, Sandeep Mishra Kumar, Carl "Papa" Palmer, Jenene Ravesloot, Marjorie Rissman, Tom Roby, Alice Marcus Solovy, and Court Williams
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2021 Daily Poem Archive - August
Chris Chandler, Victoria Crawford, Jennifer Dotson, J.K. Durick, Mardelle Fortier, John Grey, Janea D. Harris, Caroline Johnson, Richard V. Kaufman, Joan Leotta, Arlene Gay Levine, Terry Loncaric, Lennart Lundh, Jean McDonough,Sandeep Mishra Kumar, Carl "Papa" Palmer, René Parks, Jenene Ravesloot, Donita Ries, Alice Marcus Solovy, Nick Sweet, Curt Vevang, Lori Wall-Holloway, Lynn West, Court Williams, and Yvonne Zipter.
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2021 Daily Poem Archive - July
Gary Beck, Daniel Cleary, Victoria Crawford, Jennifer Dotson, Maureen Flannery, Phil Flott, Mardelle Fortier, Dominique Galiano, John Grey, Paul Jamar, Richard V. Kaufman, Joan Leotta, Lennart Lundh, Bonnie Manion, William Marr, Jean McDonough, Silvia Morgan, Carl "Papa" Palmer, Marianne Peel, Marilyn Peretti, Jenene Ravesloot, Alice Marcus Solovy, Kay Thomas, Curt Vevang, and Lori Wall-Holloway.
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2020 Daily Poem Archive - September
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2009 Fall
Muses' Gallery Archive
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