2018 Fall Contest, New Poets, 1st Place Winner

soddo ethiopia 1
by Brad Canfield

the sun disintegrates in a ditch a pile of clothes that are no longer any real color the sound of wind in metal wash tubs the sound of the sun on yellow jugs lined up at the well the sound of painted soccer balls swinging in a net from the coffee shop porch the sound of red termites flitting over piles of bananas in wooden carts the sound of river water washing the small blue taxis the sound of diesel fumes that shimmer through the sunlight disintegrating in the ditch and then rise to you on your seat of colors

 

 

Judge’s comments
I love this first-place poem—the accumulation of details, the surprise, the wonderful ending. How can this be a new poet?
—Colette Tennant

Brad Canfield lives in Philomath, at the foot Mary’s Peak, and has been writing poetry for 18 years. He recently spent two years living in southern Ethiopia with his wife, their two sons and the family dog, at the foot of Mount Demota. His experience in Africa deeply impacted his approach to poetry and has pushed him to write poems focused on the metaphysical aspects of living in Oregon as compared to living in Ethiopia.

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