Winter 2011

Top Winners

(1^ST PLACE from the Winter issue, as selected by our readers)

These two poems will be entered into the final selection process for

the Easterday Poetry Award, which will take place at the end of the school year.   

“BEST OF ISSUE” WINNER

WINTER 2011

 ($500 SCHOLARSHIP PRIZE)

Desire

My desperate battle cry; a solitary voice; bitter agony beckons; hither.
Fighting for my soul, I wage war with desire; desire, yes, I fall slowly.
Desire drags me on.

My frozen memory, a haunting, my specter; a lonesome shadow cold in the
Moonlight pale; remember me when the dawn breaks.
When the night has diminished I shall delight in the sun simply to spite you;                                                                                              in acrid spite, yes.
Desire me, sweet, that my vengeance might flourish.

My childish alibi; you laugh; so small a felony, so; so strong.
Unfathomable power, desire wields,
But I shall betray you, betray you, my love; I will disclose our secret.
I bare my soul of living desire; desire, I am striving,
I shall purge me of you.

My hands of scarlet flame; rubies alight.
Victory through surrender, love.
Shall you miss me, dear desire; shall you miss me?
Pine for me once I’ve gone.
Will I yearn for you? Perhaps; yet you shall dance alone.
Fade with my scars of crimson and cobalt; desire, you will wither, yes.
Victory through surrender, love.
Victory is won.
Victoria Stewart, CA, Xi'an International School

EDITOR’S CHOICE SELECTION

($100 Scholarship Prize)

Cantu Hominum (The Song of Men)

I do not remember how I came hence, into this pitted earth—entrenched

And caked in dust revered as bones, enwreathed in matted undertones,

Repeating, since embryo, since fetal light—repeating a mantra to rosy nights:

Look at me, an eye for an eye—look at me, your limbs for mine.

O Cantu hominum, Alleluia, sing!

I, the daughter of whirring lines, as much I, the daughter of sanded time

Of rajas and buddhas and bishops and tramps

Of jailers, murderers, the Common Man,

Made from the ash of the primordial flame, I do not remember from whence I came.

Cantu hominum, abide with me!

Repeating, in unison, the hymn resounds—repeating, the chorus of dust profound:

Look at me, an eye for an eye—look at me, your limbs for mine.

And do not weigh this tune I sing—I know no fallacy in melodies

Intoned, galvanizing, beneath the shades—of the elm, sanctified, of the cross elite

Parched in Indian ink sublime, and raw-scratched in sinews, iron-cast

In the salivating pulse of the aortic valve

Of Adam, of Eve, and now—we process

Repeating, till hunched, till fatal light—repeating a mantra to ulcered nights:

Look at me, an eye for an eye—look at me, your limbs for mine.

O Cantu hominum, how sweet the sound!

*Translation: Cantu hominum--the song of men (Latin) 

Joan Wang, NY, Syosset Senior High School

ALL OTHER NATIONAL WINNERS

Burning Erebus - Allister Nelson, VA, Jefferson HS for Science Technology      

Sunday Tea Party - Natalie Warner, VA, Harrisonburg High School

Sonnet to the Wind of Change - Scott Hoelsema, MI, Zion Christian School

Corinth's Caveat - Tara-Rose Saxon, FL, DeLand High School

My Living Mona Lisa - Jessica Meadows, VA, Turnstall High School

Symphony in the Key of Snowboarding - Bowen Lu, NJ, Holmdel High School

With Every Page and Season - Kyra Babcock, ID, Blackfoot High School

Into this World - Shalini Ramanan, WA, Hanford High School

For Thy Sun - Steven Rahbany, TX, Alvin High School

Take one, Pass it down - Yuxi Liu, OH, Solon High School

Hands of a Murderer - Obada Ejoh, MI, Lansing High School

cardiovascular symphony - Hope Tiffany, FL, homeschooled

Holy Water - Monica Hannush, PA, The Lawrenceville School

Festival Of Youth - Ella Sanandaji, NY, LaGuardia HS of Music & Arts

Flood - Josephine Kovacs, OR, Grant High School

Phantasma - Ritshy Vital, FL, Blanche Ely High School

Running with My Dignity - Caroline Palcic, OH, St. Ursula Academy

Fe is for Iron (II) - Kateland Harris, NM, Bloomfield High School