Poet and Contest Judge Barbara Bloom reading from her collection On the Water Meridian.

My Friends

Natalya Shark always goes ahhhh --
Ryo Rat eats all the crumbs.
Joya Jaguar runs real fast and
Mama Turtle helps me reach
My stuffed animals up high.
Jessica Rabbit likes playing in
The playhouse a lot, while
Jordan Rooster likes ruffling his feathers.

Jacinda Chicken is an artist.
Bella Cow was partners with me today.
Madilyn Pig oinks a symphony and
Abby Cat likes going "Meow, Meow."
Daniel Dog barks at silly jokes,
And Daddy Duck feeds me healthy food.

Having all these friends
Makes me the happiest girl
In the animal kingdom!

Madilyn Strubing, runner up, Age 4-8

I learned to be tall
from my friend the tree

I learned to float lightly
from my friend the leaf

I learned to slug around
slowly in the forest
from my friend the banana slug

Katelyn Paulson, first place, Age 4-8

Together

You are the sun
I am the moon
You shine brightly
I glow in the dark
I am the shadow
You are the person
You stand tall
I hunch down
Your eyes are dry
Mine are wet.
But when we're together,
Both of us have our chins up.
Friends.

Jullea Anderson, runner up, Age 9-12

Everlasting

Love me, for me
And I'll love you, for you
Give me a chance
And I'll give you a hand
Laugh and enjoy life
And I'll enjoy it with you
Tell me your secrets
And I'll keep them
When the world seems to
be against you
I'll be by your side with
my white flag waving high
Have a lot on your mind?
Start talking
I have nothing but time
Little, random acts of kindness
Creates everlasting friends
And that's what I plan on being
Your everlasting friend

Emily G. Holmes, first place, Age 9-12.

Gone
The world is smaller,
My life is lonelier,
Now that you have gone.
You swore you'd always be here for me,
And I took your words with trust,
For you are my friend,
And I thought you'd never leave.
It seems I've known you for all time,
Though it was only a year.
With you I shared my life,
My sorrows and my fears.
With you I cried my tears,
My head upon your shoulder.
For you are my friend,
And I thought you'd never leave.
I close my eyes
And there you are,
Dancing beneath my lids.
I hear you laugh,
Though far from this place you have gone.
You are my friend,
And I know you'll never leave.

Joanna Coker, runner up, Age 13-17.

Wings (All That Is Safely Burning)

I said goodbye in the morning
Again in the afternoon
You whispered, Where are you going?
And I said, I cannot tell

I’ve seen you walking down the road
Where once I walked as your step
But I know you’ll find yourself down there
Safe enough from me

And though you are my past and I
I am the future, but still
I’ll warn you, stay, stay safe, my friend
Stay safe as you were for me

To hear you laughing is to hear high summer
To see you is to see clear smoke
And I live and am as to be like you
In this friendship that caught fire

So fly from that fire, stay safe from me
Don’t let me pull you here
For all I say, just turn away
And listen not to me

For I will catch you and I will break you
I will miss your lips in goodbye
And I will stop you and I will make you
I will tether you, keep you here

I still ache to keep you and I still long to see you
But I will not let myself
Now I have left you and now I have lost you
But you are safer
Safe from me

Hear me now and hear my song
Just hear these last few words
And hear my voice, that for all I say
You are all that I have left

Fly before your wings are clipped
And fly before your balance tips
Fly while you have the dreams to cherish
And fly while you still have a soul to perish

Fly, just fly, just go from here
It must be you or me
I will keep breathing and I must keep speaking
For though blinded I still see

The Earth is far behind me, heart
And now I’ve said this once before we part.

Caitllin Powell, first place, Age 13-17.

Grounded By your Death
The morning, brittle and pale
as ancient ivory against the trees,
inhaled just as you,
asleep in your lone bed,
stopped breathing.
It was not a fair exchange.
Had you waited,
we would have brushed your long and silvered hair,
unwound your mind from tangled sleep
and taken you to lunch.
We would have held you dear
and close against the chill of winter’s breath.
But you did not wait for us.
Instead we two stood
bordering your bed
like small bewildered birds
that cannot fly
while you took flight,
released and gone.

Nancy Hofman, honorable mention, adult category

Silver Laughing Ring

I only wear my silver earrings lately
Because my silver bracelet never leaves my wrist except to sleep.
I wrestle it over my clustered fingers each morning.
You gave it to me some years ago and it mostly lived in the drawer.
Until you got sick, and sicker and now sickest.
“ As soon as you make a thought, laugh at it” – engraved upon its ring.
You sent it when my marriage crumbled
And I was setting forth alone.
The impudent message shone from the box it came in.
I met you 40 years ago.
In a college dorm,
I said I have to go have dinner with my parents before they leave.
You, panting with freedom, were amazed I cared.
I was always the tallest girl in class.
You, barely five feet high, had the tiniest little boots.
Of course you’re a Taurus, look at those hooves, I said.
We had a food drawer in our room with salami, bread and chocolate,
We discovered yogurt together in 1967.
Starving students, though college-housed and fed,
We lay on our carpet and watched the sunlight sparkle from the tinsel mobile,
Listening to John Lennon and Big Pink.
We joked about having the same wallpaper on the inside of our heads.
I always brought each boyfriend by to pass your inspection.
If you didn’t like him, he must not be for real.
My last husband was not your favorite,
But you said I was illuminated, and you were glad for me.
We didn’t spend much time together for decades.
Now as you are working so hard to leave this body,
I’m with you always..
I read the bracelet as I put it on each day.
The canyon outside your window is in miraculous bloom this spring.
Green fur where the fires charred November hillsides.
Beautiful magic to keep you company on your quiet journey.

Beth Benjamin, runner up, adult category.

Friends

I remember skipping with you:
bouncing brown pigtails in pink cotton ribbons
two-toned Mary Janes cantering through ladybug pastures
your hand slipping from mine
… but then I reached for you.
Like now, I reach for the cradle
of the phone.
Pulling it toward me
wanting to feel connection, warm
as the endless sun beaming down
on our smile-freckle faces
racing up Dinosaur Hill.
The click of a hissing line
like the crackle of Pop Rocks
exploding on our
tongues
now aching to mouth the stories
of twenty years gone by.
The pulsing ring
notching through the years;
best friends watered down
to annual greeting cards.
Your voice comes first
Then a pause
Then sweet familiar laughter reaching for me,
a conspiracy of girlish giggling.
It's like nothing has changed.
Yet smooth plastic Barbies,
yellow chalked hopscotch on the driveway,
the blue tree house in your parent's old oak
have given way to
our own pigtailed children,
furrowed brows over employment listings,
the privileged servitude of a mortgage.
We talk for hours,
our voices intertwined
like pinkies linked at recess.
And it's like nothing has changed,
the spark of your laughter
the tender soft sigh of concern
the unfurling hem on our terry cloth jumpers.
For between us
this friendship is bigger
than the years.

Laurie Simpkinson, first place, adult category.