Ekphrastic Poetry Contest Winners

July Adult

ADULT WINNER

"My Koi Teachers" By Paula Schroeder

Swimming mightily against

the current of the Yellow River,

and cresting the top of the waterfall;

Koi, no longer just carp,

propel across the pond,

with the slightest wave of a fin.

Undulating  

above,

below,

and around

each other;

whispering the Japanese

homophone for love,

they gracefully evolve

into dragons that carry

me and my burdens,

to the tranquil waters edge.

July Youth

YOUTH WINNER

"Rings of Light" By Mila Nanes

I’ve always seen the sky

the way I see trees—

each one telling a story

etched in rings and leaves.

Every tree bears marks of time,

its rings whispering

storms weathered,

seasons passed,

and the quiet strength of growth.

And in the sky,

these swirling rings of starlight

echo the same.

Each arc—a moment,

a memory,

a step forward.

The night paints our journey in circles,

layer upon glowing layer.

Each loop in the sky

mirrors the paths we’ve walked—

the joy, the ache,

the wonder, the change.

Just like trees,

we grow ring by ring.

And under skies like this,

we are reminded:

we are always becoming.

June Adult

ADULT WINNER

"Shore" By Michele Mekel

Lines deeply etched

into stone, her forehead

from sun, surge, searching, sobriety.

Tides, time pass,

but memories remain

of bare feet, brisk waters, breaking waves.

Thirty-seven years,

she has returned

always comfortingly familiar, always curiously new.

HONORABLE MENTION

"Epiphany" By Dennis Heitzmann

Set adrift in this stormy sea—

Lost, rudderless, beaten asunder

Life drained in unending swells.

Sliding, diving, gasping, airless

Down, down, down

This-life-I-lead.

But lo, rising above the swell

A stark, unspoken clarity

Beckons on the horizon:

As if a terminal bud rising from the breach,

Hard-etched, stony-rippled, bleached and rounded.

This too the confluence of interminable agitation?

A rising, contoured version of who-I-am:

The roiling seas of challenge and change

The beneficent sculptor of a true life.

Scars removed, edges smoothed,

Lustrous, earned beauty restored.

Raw art, now the alternate view.

A hovering image rises from the breach,

And begins its restorative journey,

gravitating now in calm, deliberate stroke.

June Youth

YOUTH WINNER

"Everything Together" By Stella Brannen

After Through it, by Ariel Oki

It begins like a memory...

a memory I'm not sure is mine

fragments build landscapes:

velvet-stitched hills, candy-pink skies,

a tree that leans but never falls.

Each petal feels intentional,

blooming in colors too soft to shout,

yet insistent on being seen.

There's strength in their stillness

not fragile, just quiet.

The water flows like thought,

layered, slow, circular.

It doesn't rush anywhere,

yet it carries everything.

The sky is stitched from fabric

the kind of fabric you wear for beauty.

Stripes of old wallpaper,

a grandmother's tablecloth,

memories laid out flat and bright,

There is no single center,

no beginning, no end.

It rests in quiet certainty

not demanding to be solved,

only seen.

In a place where color remembers,

softness holds everything together.

HONORABLE MENTION

"Our Painted Tree" By Mila Nanes

All trees are special—

Their trunks reach high into the sky,

And their leaves dance with the wind.

But our tree was different,

Because it was ours.

Our tree sheltered us from summer rain,

As laughter bubbled up while we ran beneath its shade.

Our tree became our jungle gym,

Where we’d gaze out on perfect summer nights,

Counting stars that twinkled like scattered brushstrokes,

Painted across the velvet canvas of the sky.

Our tree held shade for the books we read,

Each page opening a brand-new world.

Our tree whispered stories in the breeze,

Its branches swaying in rhythms like abstract waves,

Colors blending softly like watercolor dreams,

A place where patterns danced with light and shadow,

Where time moved slowly all day long.

Our tree caught snowflakes in the winter chill,

A frosty crown reflecting shards of icy blues and whites,

We built our forts beside its roots,

Wrapped in the quiet textures of a winter palette.

Our tree watched seasons come and go,

From bursting blooms like splashes of vibrant paint,

To autumn’s swirling golds and crimsons,

Through every change, it stood with us,

A constant brushstroke in the masterpiece of our lives.

May Adult

ADULT WINNER

"Passage"

I.

midway through the forest dark
I heard accordion
inoutinoutinoutinout
the accordion was me
frenzied, breathless
the trees gnarled above and beside
and I said no
I am the accordion
in out in out
in with the light ahead
out with the hot wind
it strips the branches bare
but it is out
in
out

II.

midway through the forest bright
I heard again accordion
saw blooms on branches
still gnarled
in out in out in out
a lovely tune at least,
I thought, for everyone but me
yet I said no, I said
in with spring vigor life
out with winters I survived
in
out

III.

and the tangled branches
were my thoughts
bare or blooming
always twisted,
overgrown,
impassable
if I look in
if I look out
but I don’t
I look before me
I pass beneath

May Youth

YOUTH WINNER

"Have We Praised False Beings" By: Evan Passante

Strength failed to harness my eyelids, to close them. They were being

unsealed like an open dam, draining purpose from its past as water pierces through

the mouth. I attempted to scream, but a hushed tone was all that could escape. I

only understood what was happening when the sound that came out of my body

did not belong to me, instead, it was a woman’s voice. A whisper with such

resonance that seemed to tilt and shake the ebony sky above. She was laughing. A

cold, meaningless laugh that impaled my body like an arrowhead. In a split second

of silent struggle my mind went limp, as it had been covered by the veil of the

night.

This was punishment. This was possession. This was a gift.

I am nocturnal, meaning I wake and I hunt during dusk. Normally I eat mice,

rats, or other small animals. She does not like the taste of mice. She craves man.

So we take off together under the crescent moon, I contrast its shape with

my wings. We can barely feel the detached breeze through our feathers as we

glide. She interrupts our intimacy with her sharp gaze, I softly wander until we

meet the same prey. Our victim is a boy, savoring his last night alone below the

trees. “Is he the one you want?” I ask. She gives no reply. I feel light-headed. My

body falls towards the boy's figure as she consumes my desires.

I watch in horror as my talons embrace the boy’s throat. Knife-like nails

retract from his skin, only to unforgivingly plunge in again. One must be patient as

she reaps his heart and harvests his lungs mercilessly. The gore is unsettling, she

admires it, and I feel it. I feel his veins bending and snapping in half, which gives

us a rush of adrenaline. I feel his blood strangeling me which jerks my head away

from the body.

We separate, and I am at an empty state of peace. Laying in the pool of

senseless blood, admiring the pale maiden cloaked behind motionless clouds.

Closing my eyes, I exhale. “Thank you for sharing your wisdom, Artemis”. Do I

dare to open them and let the world flood back into my absence?

Before I hear the boy’s last breath, I gain strength to harness my eyelids

once again, lifting them and watching as her fingers dig into his contorted body
like heroin needles.

HONORABLE MENTION

"Creatures of the Night" By: Lakeesha Rodriguez Santiago

In the amidst of silence, there is not a single peep,

Those who sleep are in the midst of dreaming.

Beyond the pale blue current and into the moon light

With the Essence of the night, those who bear wings take flight.

It’s a hoot and wonder, if you listen close you can almost hear it in the distance

Hoo, hoo, hoo

In the night sky the owls fly in silence, quiet and watching

Waiting for their prey to make a sound.

Talons are so sharp they can cut through anything.

When perched on a tree they are as still as can be.

Tall and mighty like a porcelain stone.

Eyes so mesmerising, you can never look away,

Wings are so magnificent you have to stay and admire,

Many different types owls there are,

Barn owl, Snowy owl, Great horned owl, Great grey owl.

hidden in plain sight,

You can’t see them, but they can see you.

People fear them because they don’t understand them.

The way they move, the way they stare, the way they sound.

Owls are gorgeous creatures.

Within the dark night owls are creatures of the night.

March Adult

ADULT WINNER

"Midas’s First Touch" By Marianne Bowers

What were you thinking, ginger-haired boy,
When you reached out your hand and touched the leaf
Once green with spring’s first breath
now stained with Gold?
Did you know you had the power
To entomb the essence of a Living Presence
Forever in precious metal?
Was the temptation to touch too titillating?
And afterward,
Did you feel the dogged disappointment:
that Gold is, well, just gold?
Shiny or not,
Precious or not,
It’s still metal.
Dear child,
Is there despair in your luminescent eyes or
Regret in those pursed royal lips?
Did one Pandora’s moment unleash your future?
One that will never feel:
the crimson flush of a first kiss
the whisper of a child’s fingers pressed into yours or
the enveloping hug from friend or lover
Young prince,
Is that the reason you hold your hands
In your pockets, scrutinizing the leaf
Once green, now gold upon your touch?

March Youth

YOUTH WINNER

""Peace" " by Lakeesha Rodriguez -Santiago

When you need peace, where is your happy place?

Where does your mind take you?

When you take some time to breathe

 you let your mind wander, it takes the stress away.

◍

Do you imagine you're at the beach?

Can you smell the sea water, can you feel the sand between your toes?

Or perhaps you like listening to the sounds of waves, or do you just hear seagulls.

Can you imagine yourself collecting sea shells?

Or Maybe you don’t like the beach.

◍

Perhaps your mind takes you hiking

Do you hear the trees swaying and bushes rustling?

Maybe you hear a woodpecker in the distance.

Can you smell the fresh air?

Did you see those beautiful flowers, the blue and pink ones?

What about that butterfly?

Do you imagine yourself taking in the gorgeous view,

 all that nature, all that beauty.

◍

Maybe you don’t like the quiet peace comes with

Maybe your mind takes you to a shopping mall.

It’s exciting and thrilling,

You feel in your element shopping for things you love that make you happy.

Like that sweater that looks amazing on you.

Buying that book you’ve been waiting for to release.

Can you see all the people?

With their stories and adventures.

Do you smell the food court? Or that local bath and body works.

It feels nice to take a shopping trip.

◍

Maybe you changed your mind about peace

Maybe you like to read, so you need the quiet.

The whole world around you might be loud,

But when it comes to your book it’s all quiet.

Can you feel yourself immersed in your reading

Can you hear the characters talking? Can you see them?

Do you feel yourself turning the pages?

Can you feel the connection of what the authors are trying to tell you?

◍

Maybe you find your peace in bed,

All snuggled up maybe with your favorite stuff animal,

Or perhaps with your dog or cat, rabbit, or goat, ferret or parrot.

Everything is perfect, the soft blankets are just right.

The pillows are exactly how you like them.

The temperature is not too cold and hot.

Before going to bed you take one last look at the window..

What a perfect moon, bright and beautiful.

Then you start to drift..

◍

Where do you find your peace?

HONORABLE MENTION

""Glaze of Calm" " By Mila Nanes

A person, still and centered,

Observes the dance of yellow and blue.

A figure of warmth, bent into shape,

Like sunlight caught in the ocean's hue.

Birds fly in fractured lines,

Their wings soft against the quiet sky,

The observer stands, calm and serene,

Feeling the art breathe as time goes by.

February Adult

ADULT WINNER

"Harmonic Replica"

This intersection of connections
multiplies and intertwines,

creating mirror images
of life as we know it.

Shadows reflect themselves
in parallel: light and dark.

Each organism — a study in
symmetry; a song of agreement.

The uniform equilibrium
balances the proportionate

sides of each silhouette
to the end of itself.

HONORABLE MENTION

"Inverse/Converse" by Robina Rader

Almost opposites, nearly identical—
you and I are the picture
of opposites attracting.

You deal with

the nuts and bolts
of amps and volts,
and heavy laws
like gravity.

My reality
is much more
ambiguous
fluid
mystical.

We embrace our differences
and celebrate connections,
complementing and completing a whole.
We view the familiar through each other’s eyes
and see the world anew.