Third Place Winner, June 2001 InterBoard Poetry Competition

Poetry

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Poetry

InterBoard Poetry Competition

Third Place Winner, June 2001

TAMBOURINE MAN
David Anthony
(Rabbit Hole)

His hair a thicket, voice a rasping saw
that cut through cant and conscience's decay--
my scruffy hero channeled youth's dismay
and changed the world in 1964.
His music called to me: I heard with awe
wild songs that wheeled and soared above the day
then, swooping, drove indifference away.
Glad to be young, I stood at heaven's door.

He calls again, and how could I resist
a ragged clown behind a reverie
still chasing wraiths within the day's grey mist?
It's darker now: I cannot sense or see
a way ahead, but I can dance. Hey! Mist-
er Tambourine man, play a song for me.

Judge Harvey Stanbrough’s comment: “I appreciated that the poet didn't force rhymes. The sonnet was tightly structured, turned on line 9, and wrapped up nicely.”