| InterBoard Poetry Competition | |
WHITE CENTERS Terry Lucas (Bardone1) Caitlin Palo (MarieRavina) Vickie Bowman (Midustouch)
Three mountain cedars,
squatting by the roadside
(all huddled together).
The signs say they are out of work. Maybe
tourists from Oskaloosa or Cedar Rapids will stop in sport
utility vehicles, between Fort Sumner and Santa Rosa. This December
snowflakes fat as ticks will hold their breath
as they stick on the black, Yakima racks--their feather
leggings disappear first, then the white centers
burst.
The axe is pulled from the trunk
of the old one--limbs shivering with every bitter bite
the canyon spits back.
“It’s all wrong for the room,”
one of them says, “try that one
or that one.”
Both
fresh kills are dragged through junipers
offering their robin’s egg cones,
screeching blue in the snow, marking the trail.
Limbs hang over the tail lights, fanning the fog red.
Inside, the smell of evergreen and wool
mittens on heater vents.
The old cedar waves
pawing at the air, feeling
for the fresh, white centers.
EVOLUTION BLUES
Evolution is
Mountains falling into oceans
Throwing fish to the skies
Giving them wings.
Birds fly to the sun
Plummet like mountains into the sea
And become dolphins.
Gray mammals
Circle the sunset air with corkscrews
Turn the water into confetti
Turn the night into jazz
And twist their way
Into human form
So they can beat out sounds with their feet,
Beat out their heart songs.
Evolution is
Humans wishing they were
Winged plunging oceans
But only remembering enough
To make them dance the blues.
GEORGIA IN MY MIND
for Georgia O’Keefe
Corrugated hills
turn into serrated mountains
The pale ribbon of road
climbs in the moonlight
until it’s a skyway in the clouds.
Tomorrow, beneath a searing sun
I’ll paint my happiness on canvas.
I now understand the light play
that tempted Georgia to leave
a sheltered life for this
ancient pile of sun bleached bones
touched by lavender and silver
as the day draws to a silent close.
MORE ABOUT THE IBPC...
Most recent poems entered from About Poetry Forum
Poems entered from About Poetry Forum, 2002
Poems entered from About Poetry Forum, 2001
