Third Place Winner, February 2004 InterBoard Poetry Competition

Poetry

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Poetry

InterBoard Poetry Competition

Third Place Winner, February 2004

WINTER
Adam Joshua Liszkiewicz
(Enter the Muse)

There is a little pond in my backyard.
A fish of some kind lives there

alone. During the summer months
the pond fills the air with stink,
the surface is clouded with greens
and grays, with things living

and dead. I do not feed the fish.
He seems to live off nothing at all.
I think of this while my coffee
cooks slowly on the stove.

The heat went out last night
and I could barely stand it, shuddering
all night with nothing for comfort
save my blankets and a second pillow.
I rub a little grime from the window,
turn on the water in the sink.

Steam rises from my hands.

Judge John Poch’s comment: “This poem is like the pond it describes. Simple, cold, but there’s some strange life swimming around in it. Very nice. Lovely restraint in that last line.”