Live Poets Society of NJ
P O Box 8841
Turnersville, NJ 08012
info
WINTER
19 - 20
“BEST of ISSUE” WINNER
($500 SCHOLARSHIP PRIZE)
To Unlove
you spoke so sweetly that
my veins craved your voice—
citrus laughter & apricot whispers
in a quiet classroom.
on the days you chose to be
serious (seldom & stone cold),
your forehead creased when you spoke,
like a paper swan birthed by rusty thumbs.
rain kisses dissolved you,
stillborn bird. peck at damp seeds,
fetuses of soft papaya, wish
you had a skull.
sky licks the wounds of broken road.
I am on my way to the ocean, praying
that it does not match your eyes.
a road worker, chartreuse-vested,
waves me on through a crying windshield.
I tickle the brakes to spare
his fluorescent heart,
but the gravel still churns to dust.
Macy Perrine, WI, Marshfield High School
EDITOR’S CHOICE SELECTION
($100 SCHOLARSHIP PRIZE)
Morning Mist
The flaxen light is brightly cast
And glimmers through the water beads
Upon the green and bending mast -
New scanty sprouts this dew doth feed
Like little eggs cupped in its nest
Or pearls clutched with mollusk's might
The tiny drops do happily rest
Between the frond's embrace so tight
When waves are high and gusts are tense
The ship and sails are shaken so
And little droplets pool, condense
Till hull and deck have sunken low
The oars have brushed the sandy floor
The dew released and finally free
To drift downhill, secure no more,
And sink into the mossy sea
Kayleigh Lin, NJ, Freehold Township High School
ALL OTHER 'CERITFIED' NATIONAL WINNERS
First - Irene Hwang, NJ, Bergen County Academies
Sonnet for the Nervous System - Heather Jensen, AZ, Red Mountain High School
Skywriting - Chloe Shader, MD, Atholton High School
Baby Blue - Madelyn Dawson, NY, Staten Island Academy
I am - Patrick Wang, GA, Northview High School
raw - Sadie Zeiner-Morrish, NJ, Kent Place School
Playground Realities - Samara Huezo, TX, Madison High School
The Riddler - Yejin Suh, NJ, Glen Rock High School
Performance of Womanhood - Isabella Petrie, TX, Transmountain Early College High School
Behold the Dead Poets - Jocelyn Hittle, PA, Twin Valley High School
such beautioful creastures are we - Jordan Watt, NC, Fuquay-Varina High School
Mother Knows Best - April Wang, CA, Beckman High School
nostalgia - Amadis Davis, KY, The Gatton Acdademy of Mathematics and Science
First They Sold the House - David Egan, CA, Flintridge Preparatory School
Of Two Minds - Lara Katz, CT, Pierrepont School
Copyright 2020 JUST POETRY. All rights reserved.
Live Poets Society of NJ
P O Box 8841
Turnersville, NJ 08012
info