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2022 PSI Members-Only Annual Spring Fling Poetry Contest

Each year as part of our Spring Fling event, we offer our paid members the opportunity to compete in a members-only poetry contest, judged by our Premier Poet. The winners are announced during our annual Spring Fling event. 

Sarah E. Morin is the 2022 Premier Poet. 
The 2022 members-only contest was an Ekphrastic contest, and so included an Image submissions portion and then an Ekphrastic Poetry portion. Many of our PSI poet members submitted original artwork images as well as entering the poetry portion of the contest.

Congratulations to Nancy Simmonds, Winner of our
2022 PSI Members-Only Spring Fling Ekphrastic Contest 
Images Portion

Picture

Ekphrastic poems explore, engage with, and describe a painting, drawing, sculpture, or other form of visual art.

Nancy's piece was selected to inspire our members.
She wins $25 and her work will be published in our next edition
of Ink to Paper.

Congratulations to the Winners of the Poetry Portion
​of our Members-Only Spring Fling Contest!

1st Place - Alys Caviness-Gober (Fake News)
2nd Place - Mary A. Couch (Collage of Life)
3rd Place - Collaborative Poem by JAC, B. Monét & Z. Rose (Stuck)
HM1 - Rachel Wright (Alice)
HM2 - Morgan Galvan (Hunger for Adventure)
HM3 - Joe Ottinger (A Classic Lady)

Read the winning poems in full, below. 
All submissions were ekphrastic poems in response to Nancy Simmonds's image, D'une Femme au Chapeau.
First, second, and third place poems will be published in Ink to Paper, along with Nancy's winning image.
Many excellent images and poems were submitted. It was a joy to review them. CONGRATS to the winners!


1st Place - Alys Caviness-Gober (Fake News)

​
2nd Place - Mary A. Couch (Collage of Life)​

Fake News
 
Tissue-paper page from a spidery-handwritten journal
crinkles softly like a warm Summer breeze
scented by my garden’s parfum –
an extrait concentré infused by mushrooms and roses –
dabbled together with dulled remnants
of ancient yet ageless textiles
mingling with a sketch of an old camera
and obligatory typeset pithy feminista phrase
complementing a sepia photograph –
a soaring chapeau riddled with daisies
and a flamboyant ribbon (with a life of its own),
and worn by a woman with a Mona Lisa smile
that hints at the joke of it all,
as if she knows it’s a put-up job, fake news,
a Pinterest collage of contemporary scrappings
fabricated to craft a harmonious tale
as if from times of yore and faraway places,
echoing like a warm Summer breeze
drifting around on stickers of butterfly wings,
but those IKEA pillows give it away
before the punchline.
Collage of Life
 
That poster-board upon the wall
menagerie remains which sing
her collage tale to one and all
 
From birth to death, a bouncing ball,
each piece a butterfly with wing
that poster-board upon the wall
 
A ticket, and some cloth quite small
along with photo of her fling
her collage tale to one and all
 
It shows the journey of her fall
to rags from richest golden bling
that poster-board upon the wall
 
The deeds she did before the pall
shroud her, and left this memory thing
her collage tale to one and all
 
To those now left who get the call
remembrance is all it will bring
that poster-board upon the wall
her collage tale to one and all

3rd Place - Collaborative Poem by JAC, B. Monét & Z. Rose (Stuck)

HM1 - Rachel Wright (Alice)

Stuck
 
tossed in the corner, kept away in a bottle
crumpled corners, floating like thoughts in water
bones shift, joints begin to rattle
her voice, comfort in language
she meant no harm with the secret, flying off the page
 
lift your chin, plush beyond belief
scents soaked into sewn seams so carefully
lush beyond black and white film's novelty
surrounding those tender petaled wings, bloomy
glancing ahead, blinking beyond belief
 
while showing what's between
she kept her word, in youthful certainty bestow
frozen forever, gliding as memories grow
lay awake, dissipate slow
at least
 
speak with wisdom, smile
​Alice
by Rachel Wright
 
Where do I begin the story of Alice?
A pin, broken necklace, kerchief
She always wore a lace collar
 embroidered one
Tatted by Anah
 
The photo – so stern, so young
It labels strength
Not tenderness and forgiveness
Not a pageant queen or a debutante
Only Alice, just dear Alice,
 
Then a new face
The plague, devastation, shock
A scar pocked smallpox face
Weak, never the same
Someone to protect
 
Buttons and bows, yellowed scraps of history
Torn newspaper clippings
Flowers cut from the catalog
The camera, the black camera
She the preserver, not the progenitor
 
The Better Homes and Garden aunt
Children’s books by the dozen
My favorite book of the dolls hanging upside down
On the line by their cloth toes
Drying in the hot sun
 
Could she marry the divorced man with two children
who would make a home for her
 Mom and dad said no
not now, not in this home
not in these times
 
Fifty  years in the magazine factory
A watch engraved with her name
A promise chest for others
of sewn cloth,  cards, and words
She the preserver, not the progenitor
 
Will she be remembered?
Kind, good, gentle and true
She wanted to go to Paris
She wanted to be a travel and take pictures
Maybe in another time, another place

HM2 - Morgan Galvan (Hunger for Adventure)

​Hunger for Adventure
by Morgan Galvan
 
Adventure in her blood
Excitement in her steps
She pushes pillows
Of comfort away
Promising to return
And with hope in her veins
She sets out
On mystic waters
Deep, cerulean blue
Tumultuous waves
Spraying icy droplets
On her face
But even the longest storms
Don’t keep her at bay
Persevering with joy,
Reaching huddled humid trees
She tastes the forest’s treasures
Breathing in, the fullness
Of freedom her travels win
At last she pauses
Taking in
Mushroom scents
And rose petals huddled
In clusters among the trees
The sites taking the edge
Off her hunger for new
She musters the courage
To keep her word
And return
Home

​HM3 - Joe Ottinger (A Classic Lady)

​A Classic Lady
by Joe Ottinger
 
What is one to make of it,
This lovely collage,
That documents a life well lived?
 
The focal point a photograph--
A young woman tastefully attired,
Overall conservative except for a hat
Capturing Edwardian lavishness of the day.
Its ample brim supports a profusion
Of floral and ribboned excess
That is likely scented with
 Une touche de parfum français.
 
Her face a study of pleasant countenance,
The quiet lips; the steadfast eyes,
A lovely image of patient reserve.
 
And there a letter hard to decipher;
Its content one can only guess--
Perhaps a missive from a soldier lover
Who, sadly, would never be coming back.
 
One may surmise she had good taste
Possessing secrets of an abundant life,
Surrounded by resplendent fabrics
Used for furnishings and tapestries.
 
Two butterflies and a floral print,
Possible accents to her decor
Or maybe emblems of a flowering garden
Where her labors were of love.
 
The mystery of the pictured camera
And the phrase “She kept her word.”
A motto for her life perhaps,
Captured objectively through a lens.
 
And last, the print of gilded mushrooms.
One ponders what it means.
Might they arise each autumn season
To consecrate and adorn
A classic lady’s simple grave?


Congratulations to all the winners!


For information about our winners from past Spring Fling poetry contests, click here.
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