Judge E. Ethelbert Miller’s comments: “I like how innocence is thrown against the landscape in ‘Afterglow.’ So much said in the third line— ‘the transmission leaking oil.’ Already we known this marriage can’t go far. The reference to ‘Sweet Tarts’ seems to capture the tension and arguments within the relationship. When was the last time you saw a reference to Sweet Tarts in a poem? I think I was addicted to them when I was young. I remember I didn’t want to share... Even ‘beauty’ disappears by the end of ‘Afterglow.’ It’s a reminder of what you can’t escape and perhaps an indication of the weight of it all.”