Poetry Corner: Blue

I could try to sound all nonchalant, but that’s just so not my nature. So, without further ado: I WON! I WON! Yaaaaaaaaaay! :-D   :-D   :-D

A few weeks ago, one of my students told me about a local poetry contest. I sifted through dozens of poems, found one that seemed designed to dazzle judges, and submitted it. Last Friday, I attended the poetry reading and listened for 100 or so amazing minutes as poets sang their literary songs. Finally, at the end of the night, the judges revealed the third, second, and first place winners.

I won first place! I barely managed not to squee like a schoolchild while accepting my certificate and small-but-precious monetary prize.

Should any of my three faithful readers desire to read it, below is the winning poem. I penned it in the autumn of 2011 after a brief, tumultuous romance and shortly before moving from California to South Dakota.

Hope you enjoy.

Blue

Beautiful, bountiful, bright blue

blossom.

In the salty nighttime,

Jupiter smirks a

path through the sunroof

while Van Gogh comets

swirl

in chunks of blue.

I remember the night,

stuffed with cottony fog,

when the moon

exploded from behind

indigo mountains,

a UFO intent on domination

and anal probes. We

laughed and

wondered when we could kiss.

And then we did and awakened in

a train station with

hot, blue-gray steam,

padded seats,

and destinations

beautiful in their fairy tale

familiarity.

I wanted.

I wanted to give you

the least carnationy

flower in the world.

I wanted to polish others’ eyes

into gleaming

mirrors that reflect the rolling roundness

of your wavy ocean belly.

I wanted to sip your azure thoughts

and

eat each fragrant breath.

The moon stains my arm –

blue, with hints of magenta.

The ocean is a sea

of bright blue tears

and I

learned to swim with fat mermaids.