My fingers
look like chewed up corks
and
apple cores from fallen trees.
Our
tantamount tarantula,
the
velvet crime of growing old.
Youth
begins as waterfalls
and
ends in yellowed,
blood-stained
sheets.
Woolen
blankets of our flesh--
tails
of pepperoni slices
wearing
drafts of too much air.
Arms
and legs are crooked carrots
sitting
in the bin of time.
Salvation’s
element is you.
Ways
you waltz us toward our graves
as
gently bent geraniums.
Janet I. Buck
I do
not ask for rainbows;
just
a filter made
for bending
pain's
rude-edged,
diseased
design.
Do not
give me time
wrapped
up in
champagne foil. . .
I cannot
drink such lies.
All
I ask is mornings
where
death must
answer life,
then
flee because
it fell
upon
impenetrable scaffolds
of
ruthless
light.
Anne
Bryant-Hamon
©
March 15, 1999
1) Anyone may enter this contest (except the family members of the judges).
2) All poems must be your original work.
3) Poems may be any length (please refrain from sending huge, novel-length poems). Poems may be any style, e.g. rhyming forms, haiku, free-verse, etc. . . and each poem MUST have 'TIME' as a theme running through it in some way.
4)
You may enter up to three poems.
5)
Put the two words, 'POETRY CONTEST' in the subject space of your
email entries.
(PLEASE FOLLOW THESE INSTRUCTIONS!)
6) Deadline for entering this contest is December 31, 1999 at 12:00 o'clock- Mid-Night (EST).
7) Winners will be annnounced by the end of January, 2000 . Winners agree to allow their winning poems to be displayed on a 'Winners Page' at POETIC PEACHES & DREAMS for an indeterminable period of time (probably not beyond the end of the year 2000).
8) The judges of this poetry contest shall be Anne Bryant-Hamon and Janet I. Buck.
9)
The judges' decisions are final and should be treated with respect.
10) Mail poem/s to (Anne),hamon@digitalexp.com AND to (Janet), JBuck22874@aol.com (Send two copies of each poem, one copy to each of the two email addresses listed above, please). For example: if you submit three poems, you will need to send six separate email entries. Repeating this another way: if you are submitting more than one poem, please submit each poem separately to both Anne and Janet rather than two or three in a single email. The reason for this is that it is helpful in determining the total number of poems entered and assures that each poem gets a fresh, unencumbered, and individual assessment.
*** All entries will be acknowledged
via email (please allow us a little
TIME for the email acknowledgements). Good
luck, poets!!!
POETIC PEACHES & DREAMS/POETRY FUND
1535 Belmont Blvd.
Lynn Haven, FL 32444