2018 Spring Contest Winner: 3rd Place, Members Only

The Steens

by Janna Roselund

 

The spirits of horses are alive in these mountains.

When the moon rises—just there

between the dark notch of hills

you can see them

satin, dappled

slowly moving behind the bare trunks of trees

their smooth necks bowing

among the branches.

 

The spirits of many horses are alive in these mountains.

As the night falls you can hear them

rustling softly in the dry ferns

their shining eyes round as coin

in the hollow of the rocks.

When the wind lifts

you will see their waving manes

in the tall silver grass.

 

Do not try to ride them—

easier to hold the falling rain in your hands

easier to catch the moonlight in your hat.

 

Judge’s comments

Each of the poems that I chose were poems that possess stickiness, haunting me, charming me, challenging me, making me reach back to them. They accomplish this attraction variously through diction, poise, topic, point of view and yes, voice.

The third-place poem entices the lover of open spaces and horses with spare elegance only to withdraw the spell in two final pivots not of closure but rather seasoned disclosure. And release.

—Tim Whitsel

 

Janna Roselund is a native Oregonian. She attended the University of Oregon, where she studied art and creative writing. Her love of nature and interest in folklore and mythology are evident throughout her work. She is currently writing poetry and painting in her studio in Oakland, Oregon.

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