Margaret Reid Poetry Contest for Traditional Verse 2007
Congratulations to the winners of the 2007 Margaret Reid Poetry Contest for Traditional Verse!
Honorable Mention $100
- Cynthia Rausch Allar, Risking the Road
- Helen Bar-Lev, Night in the North
- Brian Bentley, The Winter of Our Discontent
- Noble Collins, Charles Plays the Ukulele
- Noble Collins, Madame Sosostris
- Noble Collins, Old Stones
- Gretchen Fletcher, A Crown of Sonnets on the Euphronios Krater
- Rollin Lasseter, Winterscape
- Johnmichael Simon, Lollipop Lullaby
- Joseph A. Soldati, To This Coy Universe
Highly Commended ($70 each)
Brian Bentley, "If You Had Seen Me in the Spring"
Tom Berman, "Hill" and "Galilee Spring"
Louise Burrelli, "The Camel Rider"
Phyllis Jean Green, "Jumping in Puddles"
Ginny Kaczmarek, "Embarcadero"
Rollin Lasseter, "Piggyback"
Peter Moltoni, "Akeldama"
Rod Nichols, "On the Road to Santa Fe"
Laurence Thomas, "Holding to Seasons"
Commended ($50 each)
Melissa Altenderfer, "Ballad of Eve Arden"
Tom Berman, "Questions"
Jane D. Carpenter, "Colorado Boulevard, Late On A Rainy Saturday Night"
Theresa Cocolin, "Come At Dusk"
Dayna Collins, "Childhood Memories (A Reflection of New Orleans Life)"
Noble Collins, "Thaddeus Amos Inebriated Brown"
Jaime Courtney, "The Fiddler of Kumsong"
Deana David, "The Kites of the Poet"
Pat Earnshaw, "Doing Joined-Up" and "Puppet Without Strings"
James Facos, "The Argosies"
Ruth Fogelman, "Rachel's Eulogy for Her Grandmother"
Paul Gorski, "Becoming Joey"
Jeff Howe, "She Swish and Sway" and "Nowhere Passed"
Page Hudson, "Celtic Harp"
Graham Vivian Lancaster, "Maiden Voyage"
Christina Lovin, "Clear Cut"
John Manesis, "Agamemnon"
Joe McDonald, "The Window"
Joyce Meyers, "The Sound of Yellow"
Peter Moltoni, "The Burden and the Grail"
Tim Napier, "In His Own Voice"
M.B. Powell, "Mothering Shirley"
Aliene Pylant, "Flowers"
Meryl Raw, "African Sunbeat"
Frank Salvidio, "After Radiation" and "His Study"
Robert M. Shelby, "Lonely Young Forester Chasing All Night"
Joseph Sherman, "Eight Haiku"
Short Listed
Brenda Ackerman, "The Other Side of This Fire"
Linda Lee Albert, "A Certain Joy"
Nina Bayer, "Seasons"
Linda J. Browne, "One Word"
Jane D. Carpenter, "Commacide"
John W. Crawford, "The One Less Traveled By"
Kon Desmond, "deus ex machina: about turns"
Pat Earnshaw, "Darken Our Lightness"
Cristina Ferrari-Logan, "Interior Design"
Edilson Afonso Ferreira, "Witness of the Past"
Nat Forcier, "Landscape"
Judith Goldhaber, "The Curse"
James Gray, "The Hammock"
Michael Howard, "The Divine Game"
Carol Kanter, "Marigolds"
Thomas E. Kennedy, "Amber Hunting"
Fred Kruger, "Watching War Veterans in the March of Time" and "Facing Alzheimer's"
Elizabeth Kuzara, "Circa 1902"
Joyce La Mers, "Secrets of Abayas"
Jacquelyn W. Lansing, "The Trouble With Life"
Lauen Lee, "Six haiku"
Cynthia Lelos, "Sweet Parsley"
Arthur Leung, "Left Eye"
Darrell Lindsey, "Eight haiku"
Christina Lovin, "Event Horizon" and "Monet's Diary"
Termaine A. Lytle, "Faith"
John Manesis, "The Wrong Song" Robert Russell Marquardt, "Hitler, Freud and Jesus" and "What If"
Eric Martin, "Sardanapalus"
Juanita J. Martin, "Eight haiku"
John McBride, "I Praise All Vacuum Cleaners"
Bessie Michael, "Wintry Fashion"
Cheryl Nance, "Jewel"
Tim Napier, "Mr Collins Gets Pissy About Modern Poetry"
Juanita Paulino, "Spatial"
E. Shaun Russell, "The Sculptor"
Lynn Sadler, "All the Rage"
Mike Scheidemann, "The Waif and Stray in All of Us"
Art Schwartz, "Oregon Morning"
Robert M. Shelby, "The Motionless Priest of Shaolin"
Lucille Gang Skulklapper, "Janna Marlow" and "Cease Fire"
Ian Thornley, "The Ten Commandments"
Mary Travis, "Stormchild"
Anthony Russell White, "For the Last One"
Ginna Wilkerson, "All That Remains Is To Sign the Papers"
Mikaela Raquel Williams, "Monster Wears a Crown"
Carl Winderl, "Sonnets 1-5"
Kaimana Wolff, "White Lotus"
First Prize - $1,000 - Johnmichael Simon
"On the Border"
The judges said, "It is difficult to make a political statement in a poem without appearing gauche, over-emphatic or unpardonably declamatory. Johnmichael Simon has risen to the challenge nobly. By writing three vividly visual impressions of life 'on the border' in poetic rather than newspaper-headline terms, he has captured the essence of a powerful plea for Middle East harmony. His lines sing with a passion for the innocent, caught in the middle of a conflict they neither favor nor understand. Whether overtly stated ('the children in the shelters huddle for a few last moments... until the light goes out') or dramatized in the image of a falcon ('talons extended'), the climate and atmosphere of border living are graphically invoked. The poet brilliantly utilizes every poetic device at his command with both subtlety and power." — John H. Reid
"Caught in a special poetic frame, 'On the Border' details life in a dangerous area of the world and poignantly provides a worded cachet to the difficulties of that time in that place. Yet humanity is not lost; this message rings out—highlighted by the switch for a short time to four-line verses that focus on various stages of growth or human wishes that flower even amidst danger. Hope raises its lonely head in one of the last lines of this intricately conceived poem, 'teaching each other.'" — Dee Konrad
Second Prize - $400 - Sally Odgers
"Spinning Pearls"
The judges said, "A beautifully crafted memoir, illusory and allusive, 'Spinning Pearls' paints a powerfully realistic yet mysteriously dreamlike picture of a woman who 'sits alone' spinning pearls of memory. The poet has cogently used imaginative imagery and compact yet picturesque language, rich with nostalgia, to conjure up a vividly evocative yet intriguingly shrouded portrait of this wistful, childlike old lady surrounded by her moonlit keepsakes and fanciful souvenirs." — John H. Reid
"'Spinning Pearls' is evocative of the old popular melody 'A String of Pearls.' Just as a necklace is strung to display beauty, so this poem notes gems of 'silent moments' and favored 'jewels' from other moments. Just as a necklace may break, so does the heroine of these 'beaded' recollections and thus leaves the special observer alone—an ending to which one can respond fully." — Dee Konrad
Third Prize - $200 - Cynthia Rausch Allar
"Uncovered"
The judges said, "'Uncovered' is a narrative poem which most astringently tells an engrossing story in just two stanzas of only 14 lines each. Although the poem is comparatively short, Allar packs her verses not only with deeply moving action and vivid characterization, but a most skilfully drawn background that also fully engages the reader's sympathy and attention. Using simple but compulsive and richly textured language, this is a poem of which it can be truly said, 'Not a word wasted!'" — John H. Reid
"'Uncovered' speaks a powerful lesson for a twelve-year-old who prays to a saint for assistance: here, to return a favored mantilla. Yet the answer does not always bring satisfaction as the poet notes in quite restrained words that cry 'too late.' A lesson has been absorbed. The human spirit persists, unvanquished, moves forward and develops strength as we read the last line, 'I wore the mantilla to her Last Mass.'" — Dee Konrad
Contest Judges
John Reid
John Howard Reid, founder of the Tom Howard/John H. Reid Fiction & Essay Contest and the Tom Howard/Margaret Reid Poetry Contest, won first prizes and other awards in prestigious literary events. A former journalist and magazine editor, he published several historical novels, a collection of poetry, a guide to winning literary contests, and over fifty books of film criticism and movie history. See his work at Lulu. He lived in Wyong, Australia, and passed away in 2018.
Contest Judges
Dee C. Konrad
A leading educator and published author, Mrs. Dee Konrad was Associate Professor in the English faculty of Barat College of DePaul University, and served as Dean of Liberal Arts and Sciences for the year 2000-2001.
