Proudly Presenting Perspectives Poetry Contest Winners…
When one begins something new, there’s no way to know how successful it might be or how it will end. In the case of the Perspectives Poetry Contest, “it” has exceeded my highest expectations and ended with a stunningly beautiful winning poem by Gwyndolyn Parker, and with inspiring second and third place poems by Lindsay Schaefer and Donna Fleetwood.
As a writer myself, I understand the courage it takes to open your innermost private thoughts to the scrutiny of others. Many thanks to all of you who submitted your work for consideration: (In the order they were received) Gloria Domina, Valerie Kovacs King, Cindy Schneider, Natasha Serrano, Carol Minski, David Drescher, Carrie Ward, Robin Zmoda.
My goal for the contest was to encourage people, especially those who do not write professionally, to tap in to their creativity, let their thoughts flow, and be willing to share the product of that process. The outcome was an amazing display of talent.
Special gratitude goes to our three judges, Bathsheba Monk, Kae Tienstra, and Carolyn Potser. So many wonderful poems were submitted that they really had their work cut out for them: The final round of voting, based on a points and grid system, found several of the top tier poems separated from each other by a margin of only a half percent.
It is with great pleasure that I present to you the top three winning poems…
First Place: Shaping My Life by Gwyndolyn Parker of Douglasville, Georgia
Gwyndolyn Parker
Gwyndolyn is retired from Dun and Bradstreet where she served as Director, Supplier Diversity & Socio-Economic Business Solutions. Before moving to Georgia, Gwydolyn was very active in her Lehigh Valley, PA, community, serving on the City of Allentown, Human Relations Commissions, as well as the Board of Directors of the Lehigh County Conference of Churches and Hispanic American League of Artists.
Her passion for fairness, justice, and diversity has inspired her worldwide travels and her authorship of six self-published books.
Shaping My Life
There are some women,
Who have shaped my life
Nina Simone
With her songs
Maya Angelou
With her poetry
Faith Ringgold
With her art
Barbara Jordan
With her political stance
Shirley Chisholm
With her run for president
Oprah Winfrey’s
Climb to the top
Harriet Tubman’s
Fight for our freedom
Sojourner Truth’s
Ain’t I A woman?
These women
Have shaped my thoughts
Prepared my way
With their life
The way they lived it
The way they saw it
I want to change something
By being in it
I want to know
My thoughts also made a difference
My feet left prints
My stones made ripples in the ocean of life
I want to know that the world
Has been forever altered
Because I lived
I know the world
Will not remember
Me like a
Nina or a Maya
But if
Someone
Somewhere
Remembers something I said
Or something I wrote
It will be enough
For me to rest my head
Knowing I too made a difference
By being in it
Gwyndolyn Parker
*****
Second Place: Once a Dancer, Always a Dancer by Lindsay Schaefer of Bethlehem, PA
Lindsay Schaefer is the artistic director of Artists in Unity, a multi-disciplinary arts company, and creator of Movement for You, a way-of-life practice that is a fusion of Yoga, Pilates and dance. Lindsay’s career has taken her throughout the US as a performer, choreographer, and teacher in the world of dance and movement practices. Her creative spirit led her to form Artists in Unity five years ago after moving from NYC to the Lehigh Valley. In her “spare” time, she is a wife and a mother to two children ages nine and seven.
Once a Dancer, Always a Dancer
The Dance-
It slips away
Then runs back
As if…..
It never left
Once a dancer
I say
Always a dancer
Our bodies may change
Our ability to do everything may change
But, our hearts and deep love
For the dance
Never changes
We are always one with the Dance
A beautiful image
I carry
Of dancers
At 60, 70, 80
Maybe 90
White loose fabric blowing in the breeze
With hair long and free as the neck releases
The body twirls
As if
I am
Visiting years past
But, present today
The maturity
Grounds the body
Places me in my pure reality
The confidence
Eases the body
Into lightness and flow
My movement
The body has aged
Beautifully, I may say
I still see the dance
I still feel the dance
For I am still the dance
I am Always a Dancer
Lindsay Schaefer
****
Third Place: Beloved Babies by Donna Fleetwood of Mechanicsburg, PA
Donna Fleetwood
Donna Fleetwood is a full time Real Estate agent in the greater Harrisburg market. She also coaches other Real Estate agents and writes a professional blog, “Sell with Meaning”. Donna enjoys the meditative quality of reading and writing poetry, and has attended writing workshops in New Mexico and Utah. She often incorporates her poetry into visual journaling, layering paint and words. In addition to her business and creative pursuits, Donna serves on the executive committee of an international non-profit and works diligently in behalf of their constituents in Rwanda and Central America.
Beloved Babies
Rwanda was a slaughterhouse.
Woke up this morning thinking
About that blood soaked school
Of death and torture
Graduating class, April 1994.
Anitha tells of her cousin,
Delicate heel sliced with machete.
She falls, no place to hide.
Tall tree lasts a week,
Chopped down piece by piece.
Turn your head now,
“Don’t tell me more!”
In the land of safety, these things don’t happen.
In the land of plenty, this is not our human experience.
Only savages do that.
Flash forward July 2012.
Bloody theater Aurora, Colorado.
Orange headed clown with gun and grin,
Once known as Beloved Baby, soft and pink,
Now he goes by darker names.
From outside in
We blame object-
Gun, Parent, Media, Government.
We still can’t see inside
Where fetid madness starts.
The heart of darkness is not a place
With borders and directions.
No geography really.
That map walks around on two legs.
Proudly Presenting Perspectives Poetry Contest Winners… Read More »
