First Place Winner, October 2009 InterBoard Poetry Competition

Poetry

InterBoard Poetry Competition

First Place Winner, October 2009

RAIN *Anna Yin* (Pen Shells) You don’t pray for rain in mountains. It comes and goes as if to home. The soil is forever soft to preserve its depth. Leaves unfold themselves to hold each drop. Sometimes rain wanders in clouds, others it runs into rising streams. At the end of each cycle, you always hear it singing all the way home, kissing leaves, tapping trees. Still, some drops stay longer on the tall branches until the sky clears. All of a sudden, a wind blows, they let go — A light shower surprises you sitting motionless under a phoenix tree. Comments by judge Majid Naficy: “When I read this poem, I immediately knew that it would be my first choice. That’s how beauty prevails itself. The poem begins with a strong statement that rain frequents the mountain as if the mountain is its home, and ends with an unexpected experience caused by the rain.”