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1st Place
The Name Game
with inspiration from the Hays, KS 2007 Telephone Directory
The phone book is fun, without a doubt,
I’ve found APEL, BERRY, CORN, & TROUT
And also there are folks named BEAN
Then come BROWN, BLACK, WHITE, & GREEN.
There are FOXES & BAIRS & BIRDS & BEES.
We have a WOLFE, then, if you please,
There’s a BARBER, a BISHOP, a BALL, & a BOOR,
There is even BATMAN – wanta hear more??
We’ve a BUTCHER, a BAKER, a BELL, & a CARR
A FORD and a BRAKE – so there you are.
We have COUSINS & CASTLES, a COBB, & a CHEW
And I must tell you – we even have PUGH!
And then there’s a HOUSE and also a KEY
Plus there is a KITCHEN and, so you see,
You can have a BURGER – but there’s no Roast
And we have BACONRIND, but not any Toast.
We have HILL & DALE, ELDER & YOUNG
A REED & a HARP for a song to be sung,
You’ll even find a PRINCE and a KING
And some more folks whose name is WING.
O, there’s LOOK & HOOK & STONE & WOOD,
Yes, I would stop this if only I could,
But it’s time to pause and then to PRAY
That we all find JOY at the end of the DAY!
- Janet Hays
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2nd Place
The Atheist's Fear of Death
In darkness, I imagine I believe in heaven.
I pretend to feel confidence in my ultimate fate.
Temper the thought of losing my children,
with faith that I will see them in an afterlife.
I’ve never been much of an actress to an audience of myself.
And the skeptic that dwells – no – barricades herself, in my psyche,
laughs, not a bit cruelly, at my exercise.
But I have to believe in something – I have to or I’ll go crazy –
unless I am already there.
Don’t think I haven’t entertained that notion.
So what shall it be if I can’t believe in heaven?
I shall believe in love. I will.
The strongest kind of love, however, only returns me to despair,
because I don’t want my children to die, and return to the earth.
I wish there were a heaven,
So my little boy and girl could go there someday.
If I could create a paradise by believing in it,
Oh, I would. I would.
If I could create a paradise by willingly giving up my own place in it
for my children . . .
Oh I would. I would.
- Valerie Brown |
