Congratulations to all our November/December 2019 winners! Click here to enter the January/February 2020 contest!
1st Place
“Parallel Universes”
by Larry E. Black
Asheville, NC
Somewhere, someone is kissing a lover
that should’ve been mine.
Somewhere, someone is rocking a baby
descended from my line.
Somewhere, someone’s regretting the past
and shedding my tear.
Somewhere, someone is saying the same
as I am saying here.
Parallel universes,
equal luck, equal curses.
Lives in line with some design
too intricate to see.
Should they intersect the force could reflect
the way things ought to be.
Somewhere, someone is filming the life
that I’ll never see.
Somewhere, someone is sculpting a bust
that looks just like me.
Somewhere, someone is singing my song
and using my voice.
Somewhere, someone’s deciding the future
by taking my choice.
Parallel universes,
equal luck, equal curses.
Lives in line with some design
too intricate to see.
Should they intersect the force could reflect
the way things ought to be.
2nd Place
“Parts”
by Alicia Morgan
Wolfforth, TX
I am my mother’s only daughter
I am a girl without a father
I am a sister to my brother
I am a wife and I am a mother
I am a woman who’s old life forgot her
I am a writer with no new stories to tell
I am an actor who’s played role so well
I am a friend when I am needed
But only when it is convenient
I am a wild child who can no longer rebel
Oh I wish i could be
Everything you need
But I am more and I am less
At my worst and at my best
I guess we’ll see
If you can love all the parts of me
I am a singer who cannot find her song
I am a traveller who’s been stuck here far too long
I’ve been high and I’ve been low
And I’ve had no place left to go
And I’m still trying to find where I belong
I am a fool who has never really learned
How to let go of a love that’s not returned
I am hopelessly still full of hope
With no plans yet to let it go
I play with fire just looking to get burned
Oh I wish I could be
Everything you need
But I am more and I am less
At my worst and at my best
I guess we’ll see
If you can love all the parts of me
I have been wounded but I’m still breathing
My heart has been broken but it’s still beating
My imperfections make me perfect
I am difficult but worth it
I’ll give you my life however fleeting
Oh I wish I could be
Everything you need
But I am more and I am less
At my worst and at my best
I guess we’ll see
If you can love all the parts of me
3rd Place
“My Future Lies Behind Me Now”
by Big Joe Shelton
Columbus, MS
There was a song back in the day
Went ain’t it funny how time slips away
Seems it’s no joke because somehow
My future lies behind me now
I had no clue what those words meant
till my times now almost spent
A truth of time I’ve come to know
The less you have faster it goes
Been many trips around the sun
Since my journey first begun
Stumbling down life’s long highway
Old friends and lovers just fade away
I feel too young for where I’m at
Wasted time I can’t get back
It’s been a long, long row to plow
My future lies behind me now
My future lies behind me now
Time just slipped away somehow
I can’t say when I don’t know how
My future lies behind me now
Been many trips around the sun
Since my Journey first begun
Stumbling down life’s long highway
Old friends and lovers just fade away
Old friends and lovers just fade away
Old friends and lovers just fade away
4th Place
“Learn To Swim”
by Ross Western
Essex, UK
Was it worse than you imagined
When your lungs just couldn’t bare?
Cause when the waves started crashing
You couldn’t come up for air
You think you’re smart but I see through you
Your stale smile isn’t the same
Standing still but your mind is racing
Running round the spinning plates
In an empty room, your night light burnt out
And closed that box for good
Crawling through the sewage just to get out…
It’s the end of crying rivers
Cause there’s nothing left to do
Those floods may drown the roses
But the sun will watch them bloom
In an empty room, your night light burnt out
And closed that box for good
Crawling through the sewage just to get out
And run like you never could
Stormy seas shape strong sailors
Stormy seas shape strong sailors
Stormy seas shape strong sailors cause they learn to swim
Honorable Mention
Wallace Tallman
“Tom Hanks”
Chicago, IL
Tom DeMello
“I’m Getting Lost to Find Me”
North Providence, RI
Craig Hendricks
“Whiskey and Diamonds”
Mentone, AL
Hunting Wilde
“Kingdoms”
Nashville, TN
Ryan Miller
“Rollin’ Over Now”
Oxford, MS
Maxine Wallace
“Heartless”
Truro, NS Canada
Jason Baker
“Christmas Time Blues”
Burlington, VT
Mick Hickok
“Similarly Unique”
Mankato, MN
Monica Pasqual
“Feels Like Something”
Oakland, CA
Ryan Lloyd
“Red Sea”
Mesquite, TX
