A huge thank you to all who entered our 16th Annual Poetry Contest! We had more than 450 poems to choose from.

First Place Winner: Joyful Marinara by Jim Reid
Second Place Winner: Splitting Logs in Summer by Preston Woodruff
Third Place Winner: New Year by Lewis Chambliss

Honorable Mentions:
Year End by Lenore Coberly
When He Wore Red by Michael Osorio
False Winter by Jeanette Reid

1st Place Poem

Joyful Marinara

Mythic marinara actually. So they tell me.
Maybe they’re right. Or just polite.
Friends.

They wait while I prepare.
Nibbling formaggio; cupping hands around vino.
Chianti, of course. And,
Asiago, gorgonzola? No,
Parmigiano reggiano.

Three vessels.

A sauce simmers. Tomatoes and paste and puree.
Simple.

The spices brown in a pan with oil.
Not any pan and any oil.
Iron that is cast and oil that is olive.
Peppers, green and red.
Basil, fennel.
And great, gorgeous garlic.

All on a bed of . . . what?
Linguine, mostaccioli, penne, rigatoni?
Any. All. Al dente.

And ciabatta.

We laugh. We love.
We nap.
We get up — for gelato.

Happiness

~ By Jim Reid

Read more 2013 Poetry: 2nd & 3rd Place, Honorable Mentions >>