Judged by Lynn Otto
1st Honorable Mention: “Missing” by Suzanne Sigafoos, Portland, OR
2nd Honorable Mention: “Women’s Day at Sauna” by Michelle Williams, Portland, OR
3rd Honorable Mention: “Facing Backward on the Train” by Dan Kaufman, Central Point, OR
Thank you to all who submitted poems. Reading them while practicing social distancing to prevent the spread of COVID-19, I felt connected to humanity in all corners of Oregon and beyond.
From “Missing”: “Look: the helmsman is waving. / Look: the vessel, framed in the Golden Gate / Look: it’s turning. / Look: it’s gone.” From “Women’s Day at the Sauna”: “We are shadows on vacation / from our forms / relieved when one vents // for us all, a vapor / answer of mutual calm.” From “Facing Backward on the Train”: “which I’ve remembered too, a rhythm trains repeat, / lup-dup, lup-dup, as if these tracks were stretching back.”