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2021 Writing Contest Winners

Adult Poetry

 First Place:  Let the Big Man Dance
Ellen Dugan

Second Place:  A Lone Blade
Lylium Walsh

Feet of feathers
shoes of air
completely unaware
of a round, beach-ball body
turning, dipping, swirling
spinning, whirling
barely touching
the newly-polished floor  
on a Friday night
at the Knights
of Columbus Hall

The crowd gathers round
still as static, stiff as starch
waiting and watching  
as three hundred plump
polyester pounds
of girthful grace
suddenly appear
like mountainous magic
right before their eyes

An optical illusion
or delusion, delicate,
dainty? Floating
above the dance floor
Gliding, . . . easy as breathing

He is drinking in
a fluid song of liquid air
swallowing it whole
without a care
A river
flowing freely  
streaming sweetly
completely
outside himself
smooth and
unencumbered
by inhibition
or ego

A fluent journey

no seat belts buckled
signs obeyed
or maps consulted

Which then resulted

In a sight
   some would say
sent to challenge gravity
straightaway
“to the max,” but in fact

He is now

A Dancer
flush with meaningful
mastery of musical motion
 
He has banished the
awkwardness of
being shy to the
outer edge of introspection;
relegated all doubt to
the rhythmless
ranks of wistfully waiting
wallflowers – musical
weeds really – discordant
notes wailing woefully
as they grow along
the spectator sidelines
haphazardly
like tone-deaf dandelions
in a perfect field of
delicately dancing daisies

“Just look at him!”
the weeds exclaim
in unified disdain
“He’s going to have
a heart attack and
fall flat back
upon his partner”


But the big man cannot
see himself.  He is lost
in sound, doesn’t hear
a word of what they’re saying.
How could he?
He is far, far away
removed from time and space
and, yes, this place
of wilting weeds
and infant seeds
of envy

Transported to
an invisible place
Private
His and his alone
A zone that has no
walls or windows,
mirrors, microscopes
or memory  

A fantasy place
that flows,
comes and goes
in song
Like a filmy psychedelic fog
it wraps itself in magic but
doesn’t linger long

The music is playing
faster now

Louder too

Each beat shouts, yells,  
elbows its way deep inside
the swirling heated fever filling
his veins, flooding them
with sound and feeling,
rushing, reeling
for the night or
just one song, it doesn’t
matter much – all bets
are good – it is understood
the explosiveness
of Now is somehow
all that matters
anyhow

Glorious Now!
forever ready
to take its bow

Piercing, pulsing,
ear-shattering
coursing through him like
fire raging, burning
yearning to surf
huge crested waves
of passion and sweat
crashing over one
another while   
swirling strands
                 of uncombed, tangled
seaweed hair
declare he has
no care, no
none at all
to enthrall

but, the crowd is
hypnotized
obsessed
dizzy with deafness,
cheering and clapping its hands
in collective compliment and awe,

“Look!” they marvel
“How light he is!”
“How well he moves!”


But the big man
cannot hear them
cannot see them
doesn’t even know they’re there

He hears only the sweet,
sweet promise of Escape
utter, complete
beautiful, alluring
and replete
with hope
A temptress
beckoning him
boldly
A mesmerizing
musical mistress
crooking her finger
and calling his name
urgently,  
before morning
comes and she
must leave

*       *       *
They say to hone thyself
To be sharp in defense of your home
To help fell the trees, or spear
the fish or carve up the deer

Hone thyself
for the use of others
Be distracted with nostalgia dreams--
void of reality

No, hone thyself blunt and flat
Help thresh the nettles
and turn flax into linen.
No, hone thyself thin and spindly
barely a needle to fillet that fish
or pierce this maple, or shatter that ice

Everyone speaks of machetes
of buck knives or sabers
Dream of being the sewing needle
or glazier point or hatpin
Useful instead of threatening

Be the little paring knife,
or for the butter—surrounded
by company and plentiful for it
Common too

No one regulates the pins that prick
yet they sting deeply
No one is wary of the kitchen knives
though they are quite deadly
No one dreads the fence posts
though they cause the most boundaries

Everyone whispers and glances
at the weapons of war,
of violence and cruelty
and contrived uses

Those blades are the ones
that silence crowds
That everyone claims they envy

But it is the rest of us, dull and small
and specialized for the mundane
that are sharpened every day
while those war-full blades
are left to rust
as they sit discarded
and on display

Honorable Mention

Farm House
​Vicki Hone Smith

long gone
did you cry out         
when your walls
were consumed in flames
and turned to ash?
 
When the stories
and voices
of farm life
went up in smoke
did they disappear
into the ether?
 
Or does your spirit
still linger?
 
Are heavy feet heard
returning home at dusk
where once stood
well-worn steps?
 
Can the welcoming glow
of lamplight be seen
through the distant curtain of trees?
 
Can the sound
of children’s laughter
the cackling of hens
the barking of a dog
be heard on the wind?
 
Do the smells
of farmhouse life
still linger -
tangy
sweet
berries
bubbling hot
in a pie crust,
bacon
sizzling in a pan
or the fresh scent
of clean laundry
hanging on the line?
 
Perhaps.
 
Or perhaps now,
where once
within your walls
a family thrived,
your spirit is one
with the wildflowers
song birds, deer
and gentle breezes
on this land
now a meadow
above a bird marsh.
​

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EPIC Group Writers is an Edmonds-based 501(c)(3) non-profit organization offering resources to writers since 2012. The purpose of EPIC Group Writers is to create and sustain a community of writers of all levels and backgrounds who share, encourage and nurture the literary and other creative arts for the benefit of the community at large. EPIC Group Writers will seek to develop and maintain cooperative relationships with other artistic and cultural entities.
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  • Home
    • About
  • Membership
    • Membership Registration Form
    • EPIC Monthly Newsletters
    • Membership Directory
    • Bylaws
  • Writing Groups
    • Writing Groups >
      • Poetry Corner
  • Professional Resources
  • EPIC Writing Contest
    • Writing Contest Rules
    • 2022 Student Poetry Winners
    • 2022 Adult Poetry Winners
    • 2022 Adult Prose Winners
    • 2022 Student Prose Winners
    • 2022 Celebration Photos
  • EPIC Events
    • Book Events & Signings
  • EPIC Youth Programs