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2022 Writing Contest Winners

Adult Poetry

 First Place:  Halloween 1997
by Darren Nordle

Second Place:  Erosion
by Dan Gilchrist

Auburn and golden leaves fall to the pavement,
just like you did walking
to the car for a doctor’s appointment.
My strong uncle dead lifted your bone frame
like a giant sack of sweet potatoes,
you gasping for air like an orange koi on dry land.
 
In the hospital after school,
I tried to be “cool,” smiled confidently
wanting to believe you would beat cancer
as I leaned in to hug your pale neck.
 
Halloween. I struggle
to breathe through rubber mask
like you did in your last days.
I stroll streets with skeletons
while your skeletal body lay tomb-still.
 
At the end, as though possessed,
you jerked upright from your coma,
looked around the room,
were you looking for me?
Your family pleaded,
even your abuser husband,
“It is ok to go."
 
Slowly, back to bed you fall
Eyes shut
Heart doors shut
ECG line falls
Tears fall.
 
How many bags of candy
I would trade to have been there,
to see and be seen by your spirit's
fall and rise up to the heavens,
above ghouls and ghosts
parading Halloween night.
It’s finally starting to show
If you look close
The sheen has diminished
Tiny cracks
Specks of rust
Faint squeaking sounds
 
The door latch sticks
The rug keeps wandering
The dishwasher has a new noise
We used to clean under there
It’s been awhile
Who’s going to notice
 
Opening up things takes more effort
 
It’s in our tone of voice
Our conversation
Or lack thereof
Do the cracks let the light in
Or just reveal the weathering
 
This unusual time
Is wearing us down
We knew we could weather it
But it wears us more
More than we thought
 
But we are not freaking out
I SAID WE ARE NOT FREAKING OUT
Mostly just tired
Wishing back to “normal”
Tired of something else to fix
 
Still, the next morning
We get up
Thankful for our
Somewhat eroded life
And get out the toolbox

Honorable Mention

Storm Blown Bird
by Katherine Derbyshire

Maple, oak, birch;
Brick, timber, stone;
Snow and North Atlantic wind.
 
A storm-blown bird finds an alien shore.
 
Strange ships on the horizon sparkle and clank;
Wind-pushed hellfire jumps from tree to tree;
Egret hunts in a salt-rimmed creek.
 
Lean, limber branches, blue-gray trunk, smell of menthol;
Dark green hedge, needles guard sweet blossoms;
Spring hillside explodes in flowers.
 
Smoke and ash, petroleum seeps;
Gray fog, white adobe, red tile;
Eucalyptus, Osage orange, California poppy.

​

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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 Student Prose Winners
    • 2022 Celebration Photos
  • EPIC Events
    • Book Events & Signings
  • EPIC Youth Programs