Second Place Winner, June 2003 InterBoard Poetry Competition

Poetry

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Poetry

InterBoard Poetry Competition

Second Place Winner, June 2003

LETTER TO MY SISTER
T. E. Ballard
(Wild Poetry Forum)

In my dream I wore two pockets around my neck.
The first opened to a daughter made of clear petals.

She was air floating through our fingers.
I named her yours and we were happy
and if we shaped our hands around her head
as a cradle we almost felt the soft spot on her skin.

The other pocket broke into two sons
the first healthy, screaming like a man
the second, his mouth stuffed with blood
like a child born when I was awake
and there was no way to close my eyes.

But in this dream, he is mine
and I remove the dark mucus from his mouth.
He breathes, a small fish begging for air.

I desire to give these children to your body
like rain to dry land. Yet in this place
I know what is yours and what is not.

I nurse two boys on the tips of my breasts
while you rock the air with a child
who bears no weight.

Judge Claire Hero’s comment: “Too often these days we find poems that substitute irony for sincerity, flash for feeling. This poem seems to strike a balance among these different qualities, and while the ending may hint toward an easy closure, I find that the images of the poem up to this point earn the ending.”