Callahan's 1997 Poetry Contest!

Honorable Mentions

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The following poems also won prizes simply because they are very good poems and we have the prizes available..) We hope you enjoy these as well:

Haiku From Dan - Haiku From Oky
Free Verse from Cameron - A Ballad by Nick
Rhymed Verse From Lady Cheron - And From Sydney

Diana - A Haiku

Diana rests on
An island now, serene in
Her death as in life

by Dan Culberson

Haiku

wingfoils toil their way
day in day on from nether
sunblown to nowhere

by Oky

Free Verse

Mist rolls down from a higher Mountain
Darkness Rules our better Half
Mist-weavers roam Un-countered

Starlight drifts down from a Plane
And turns the mist to Dew
The starry-eyed wanderer Watches

The Two Sing Un'companied
One Vibrant T'other Sultry
Dancers in a Twilit Realm
Reveling in the Shades of Grey

by Cameron

The Choice - A Ballad

The Choice

My heart is feeling empty, oh, what am I to do.
These tears that fall upon my cheeks, and yet I still love you.
My arms are cold and yearning, to hold you close to me,
And yet I know you have to leave, and so I set you free.

To never touch or feel you, to never hold your hand,
Oh, how I want to feel your kiss, and yet I understand.
You have a life apart from mine, a place where I can't be.
The times we shared are over now, our future I can't see.

The tears that fall are silent, I see you walk away.
I want to reach and stop you, the words I just can't say.
I love you more than I can say, I mourn that we must part.
I know I'll never let you go, not deep within my heart.

So now I stand alone once more, the pain is deep inside.
The tears I hold within my heart, so silently I cry.
I step towards the light, with a future cold and bare.
I hold my head up proud and high and act like I don't care.

Each day I think of what could've been, as I
dream of you. Oh, why I cry ever did you go.
I stand before a mirror, as a face looks back at me.
I see a lonely tear drop, for a love that could not be.

by Nick

Safety Net - A Woven Refrain

Weaving the cords, making a net

Over, under, around and through

Forming the strands, knotting it tight

Over, under, around and through

The net will catch and keep my soul

Over, under, around and through

Keep it safe from the darkness and cold.

Over, under, around and through

Each link is a touch, each knot a hug

Over, under, around and through

Smiles, laughter, shared joy and pain

Over, under, around and through

They keep me from falling into the dark

Over, under, around and through

Hold my soul till spring comes again.

Over, under, around and through

Weaving the cords, making a net

Over, under, around and through

Hold my soul in the world of light

Over, under, around and through

by Lady Cheron Fitzgerald
@1996, All rights reserved.

Survivor - A Rhymed Verse

Adrift upon a sea of memories
Disguised as salty tears
With neither port nor rocky shore
To distract me from my fears
Nor sun, nor moon, nor wind, nor rain
Nor swimming fish nor crying gull
I have my life, but at what price?
An empty world, lifeless and null
There is no longer dusk or dawn
Or either light or dark
The void inside has left my mind
And on the real world made its mark
Alone for weeks I've sheltered here
Ever since that cursed day
When came a flash of deadly light
At one touch burned my life away
Or can it be that I but dream?
A man who is a butterfly
To wake, like Alice, beneath a tree
Or did I really, that day, die?
My food is near gone; I cannot stay here
And yet I dread finally opening that door
To see what remains of Man's greatest folly
Perhaps I'll stay here just five minutes more...

by Sydney Ashcroft

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