Lake Ridge Drive by Jennifer Dorner Sometimes when I pull into the drive and look up at the brown gable over the garage and see the shades closed against the exterior light and the dirt patch we mean to plant, and the two wiry red shrubs (what are they?) in the corner, I fall into […]
2019 Spring Contest Winner: 1st Place, Members Only Read More »
Categories Limit: one entry per category. 1) Poet’s Choice: Limit 80 lines, any subject, any form. Judge: Carl Adamshick. 2) Members Only: Limit 20 lines, any subject, any form. Entrant must be a current OPA member. Judge: Leah Stenson. 3) New Poets: Limit 30 lines, any subject, any form. A new poet is someone with
Fall 2019 Poetry Contest Deadline: September 1, 2019 Read More »
Birding by Carol Lantz We expect them to be there in all the right places, just as they were last spring, just as they’ve always been— finches, warblers, wrens… teasing us with wing bars streaked breasts eye rings. But do we stop to ponder how far the birds have flown, the hazards they’ve encountered
2019 Spring Contest Winner: 2nd Place, Members Only Read More »
Roadtrip, Interstate 65 by Sallie Ehrman On the cusp of forty, I’m dating a man who starts his day with a cigarette and coffee. Outside the laundry room, Motel 6, Louisville, Kentucky, I can hear him laugh out loud watching Cheers. How many Pete’s Summer Ales will he drink tonight? It’s hot and he’s been
2019 Spring Contest Winner: 3rd Place, Members Only Read More »
Honorable mentions: 1st Honorable Mention: “Jill Reaches Maturity” by Ann Magill, Ashland, OR 2nd Honorable Mention: “Once” by Sherri Levine, Portland, OR 3rd Honorable Mention: “Killjoy” by Lucy Cotter, Portland, OR Judge’s comments One of the things I continue to admire about the Oregon poetry community is its range in personal narratives, technique, and style.
2019 Spring Contest, Members Only: Honorable Mentions and Judge’s Comments Read More »
Maps by Jennifer Dorner Halfway across the bridge, where cranes punctuate the air, I regard the skyline I’ve been taught to believe in. I’m holding on to the smell of the rain; I mean I left the city and keep leaving, apologizing for what I’ve done,
2019 Spring Contest Winner: 1st Place, Poet’s Choice Read More »
passing by Deborah Akers we are little more than strands of memory made flesh nerve coils murmuring well-worn code through wiry core stance, temperament color of eye all echo, bound by cells recounting ancient arcs sure as moon path and passing stars less certain what
2019 Spring Contest Winner: 2nd Place, Poet’s Choice Read More »
Observing the Arsonist by Colette Jonopulos Long sigh of a summer worn thin from brush fires you’ve conjured for the camera. You’ve devoured the hillsides, left wretched smell of pulp and water, remnants of people’s trash. —you know even after you turn away, they are talking about you Your work appears
2019 Spring Contest Winner: 3rd Place, Poet’s Choice Read More »
Judge’s comments Given the wealth of incredible poems submitted to Poet’s Choice this year, selecting only six was a struggle. So many more deserve to be honored. Naturally, we all carry personal preferences in terms of themes and structures. Given the subjectivity of how one mind experiences a text, we often tend toward a
2019 Spring Contest: Poet’s Choice, Judge’s Comments and Honorable Mentions Read More »
OPA congratulates all the winners below, and thanks them and all the poets who entered for sharing their work. Watch for individual poems to appear in Poet’s Spotlight over the coming weeks. Poet’s Choice — John Sibley Williams, Judge 1st Place: “Maps” by Jennifer Dorner, Klamath Falls, OR 2nd Place: “passing” by Deborah Akers, Portland,
Oregon Poetry Association Spring 2019 Contest Winners Read More »
