Last week IBPC judge Majid Naficy announced his selection of the winning poems in the November InterBoard Poetry Competition—none of which came from our Poetry Forum:
- In first place, he chose “Certain in my Immortality - 1947” by Alice Folkart, a “beautiful and meaningful poem” that plays on the association of polio and water and evokes the child’s innate assumption of invulnerability in the face of danger.
- In second place, he selected “String Theory (Schrodinger’s Coffin)” by Jessica Haynes, a “touching and whimsical poem” that meditates on words and the emotional ties that can reach through the border between life and death when a loved one has crossed over.
- Majicy awarded third place to “Clothespin” by Sarah J. Sloat, a “Rorschach of the laundry sack” in which the poet spins out the metaphorical implications of a homely object.
- He also made honorable mention without comment of “‘Appy ‘Our,” an English-accented vignette by Stuart Ryder.
Poems for the December competition went to the judge this week, and we’re proud to announce the three poems entered from our Poetry Forum:
- “Night Sepia” by Tim J. Brennan (68degrees), a deft and delicate evocation of the poet’s dream visitors in the night “time when the strange bird / sings its own dark song.”
- “Education of Our Condemned” by Robin Taylor (bitoftruth), a poem that twists familiar nursery rhymes to recreate the horrors of the contemporary urban classroom.
- “Tree Planting” by Christine J. Schiff (cumin), a sweet, direct and natural elegy.
We sent these poems in with all good wishes, and will be back to report just as soon as the judge has made his choices. In the meantime, please remember to keep your nominations coming in—post the best poems you see on our Forum in the InterBoard Poetry Competition folder and be sure to address your post to the poet whose work you are nominating, so that the poet will be notified and can post the required permission and information before Poetry Guide Margy Snyder selects the next month’s three entries.
More on the IBPC:
General information
Requirements for IBPC nominees
Anthology of the monthly IBPC winning poems
Archive of poems entered in the IBPC from our Poetry Forum
Background information and reading links for October - December IBPC judge Majid Naficy
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