It's Been a While
by Kara Astrouski

 

Words Like Clay

Lonely Painting
by Monica Barrameda

 

Rachel Jones

The Price You Pay
by Clayton Beach

 
The Tale of the Queen of Endor
by Clayton Beach

  Your words shouldn’t drip out
from your fingertips
like watershed
on a windshield
to be easily wiped away.

They shouldn’t be thrown
down in a fury,
forming a crater
where the foundation
used to lay.

Or tossed like a stone
into a pond,
skipping on the surface
only to be lost in the depths
of oblivion.

Don’t treat your words
like school children,
scolding them
as they walk through the front door,
forcing them to stand
in a corner
until they behave.

Rather, hold each word
in the palm of your hand.
Feel its warmth
as it molds to your skin.
Notice how its color
changes in the light.

Get your fingers dirty!
Your words are not feathers,
floating, fleeting,
difficult to grasp,
or anvils,
dark, black, portentous,
too heavy to pick up
in the first place.

Your words are malleable,
elastic, flexible, lissome,
transparent, translucent,
opaque.

You are the sculptor
of meaning.
Take your time
before you let it dry.

Wintersong
by Clayton Beach
 
Mad Dogs Bite
by Janet Berend

 
Desert Firefly
by Taen Bounthapanya
Third Place Winner, Poetry
 
Virtual Reality
by Taen Bounthapanya

 
Early morning staring at an ugly fountain by Breelyn Burns
 
Ten Year Old Militia
by Breelyn Burns
Editor's Choice Award, Poetry
 
Arrogance Unplugged
by Rachel Busnardo

 
Goodbye My Best Friend
by Rachel Busnardo

 
At a Small-Town Club
by Jessica Conaway

 
Red Stiletto Heels
by Jessica Conaway

 
Naked and Perfect
T.C. Cook

Second Place Winner, Poetry

 
Too Far
by T.C. Cook

 
Someday
by Jermane Cooper

 
The Girl Who Wrote This Stands at
5’ 2” (on a Good Day)
by Shayna Coplan
 
Pontificating Drunks
by Dennis Dorsey
 
The Symptom
by Dennis Dorsey
 
Saturday Night Pick-Up
by Tanya Duer

 
Lost in a Moment
by Jamie Dykstra

 
Denizens of Brilliance
by Holland Elder
 
Between His Futon and the Bedroom Wall by Rachel Jones
 
Getting Lost in National City Trying to Find Acapulco
by Rachel Jones

Angelo Carli Poetry Prize
 
Having to Hide
by Rachel Jones

 
I Used To Take My Anger Out On Plants by Rachel Jones  
The Piano
by Rachel Jones
 
Words Like Clay
by Rachel Jones
 
Begetting Tragedy
by Chris Joy

 
My First Last
by Chris Joy
 
There's No Problem Officer
by Brittney Krier

 

No More Rainbows
by Emit Levart

 
Ernest Hemingway (My Cat):
A Villanelle
by Melanie Maheu
 
The Small Beauties of Marriage
by Melanie Maheu
 
Do The Punks Still Raise Their High Pumping Fists in the Air?
by Brendan Mitchell
 
Love
by Natalie Parker
 

Three Sides of the Fence
by Natalie Parker

 
Watching TV While Having Sex
by Jessee Pugliese

 

freedom
by Ruth Rice

 
partner
by Ruth Rice
 

six weeks
by Ruth Rice

 
Blood
by Rachelle Shull
 
Fall
by Jacob Triffo
 
Time Served
by Matt Tweedie
 
Romance to Reality
by Aga-Marie Wehrly
 
Solicitude
by Matt Whitney
 
Why We Write
by Karen Wooton