Poetry reading and book signing

Two-time Sue Boynton Poetry Contest Walk Award winner (2006 and 2007) and current contest committee chair Luther Allen will read poems and sign copies of his new collection, The View from Lummi Island, on Saturday, September 4, 4:00pm, and Sunday, September 5, 1:00pm, at the Heritage Trust Resource Center, 3560 Sunrise Road, Lummi Island. Book sales will benefit the Lummi Island Heritage Trust and land conservation on Lummi Island. More at http://othermindpress.wordpress.com.

Desire*

2009 Merit Award
Desire*
By Kimberly Roe

Ride a palomino            across
an alluvial undulation.

Rest your cheek            between
the rolling shoulders,
(his withers sticky with pomegranate
and persimmon).

Into the angel ear          whisper
A mellifluous temptation:

Liberate me.

Beneath the porcelain     bones
a prickly heat.

Allure of phosphorus.

The dazed and luscious
cataclysm of flame.

*Copyright 2009 by Kimberly Roe. This poem is included in POETRY WALK: Sue C. Boynton Poetry Contest – The First Five Years. Info: Book! Placard design by Egress Studio.

Distance*

2006 Walk Award
Distance*
By Jeanne Yeasting

Ahead of me, two figures
walk the beach, their bodies graceful,
true to their shadows. It is easy
to regard them. I gather a stone;
a blue heron glides to a large rock.
How predictable the world seems, your backs
turned toward me, trusting, like friends.
In the distance people are shoveling
some type of clams. It hardly matters which,
the waves unfolding, at my feet.

*Copyright 2006 by Jeanne Yeasting. This poem is included in POETRY WALK: Sue C. Boynton Poetry Contest – The First Five Years. Info: Book! Placard design by Egress Studio.

the poet’s wisdom

“Writing a book of poetry is like dropping a rose petal down the Grand Canyon and waiting for the echo.” Don Marquis

Moon*

2008 Merit Award
Moon*
By Zachary Masterson, Third Grade

The
Moon floating like a big
Circle
Firework
Waiting for
Someone
To
Light the
Fuse but
It waits and waits

*Copyright 2008 by Zachary Masterson. This poem is included in POETRY WALK: Sue C. Boynton Poetry Contest – The First Five Years. Info: Book! Placard design by Egress Studio.

August Evening*

2007 Merit Award
August Evening*
By Jim Schmotzer

sitting next to Connie
old, hard, wooden stadium benches
red paint, chipped, gouged and peeling
he puts on her sweater
I put on my sweatshirt

band plays hits of some artist
we know little of and care less for
overbearing 80’s synthesizer
annoys me
she doesn’t seem to notice or care

beyond the stage I watch carnival rides
loop, spin and race into the evening
colored lights intensify
sky drifts to darkness

near full moon drifts above the trees
growing smaller as it brightens
yellow to orange to almost white

we come to the fair almost every year
it’s something we do
we learned this spring she has cancer
treatment, fear, hope shadow our days

we talk a bit, decide to leave
I am ready, but hesitate
how many more times we will go to the fair

*Copyright 2007 by Jim Schmotzer. This poem is included in POETRY WALK: Sue C. Boynton Poetry Contest – The First Five Years. Info: Book! Placard design by Egress Studio.

What I really like about making bread

Poem copyright 2010 by Sierra Golden. This poem is included in POETRY WALK: Sue C. Boynton Poetry Contest – The First Five Years. Info: Book! Placard design by Egress Studio.
Poem can also be read here.

Owl Song*

2006 Walk Award
Owl Song*
By Kate Miller

In the space between time and trees,
       broad wings glide silently
the name of this dance is grace.
Startled prey bolts for cover,
       owl’s swift plummet
a conversion of flesh to energy.
       Afterwards, what remains
owl pellets – brittle skeletons, tufts of fur, toenails –
bare bones of the world
       ground down and scattered
on the dank earth floor.
       Underneath it all
       a steady rhythm,
seeds pounded into dirt
       by generations of dancing feet,
an old song
of hunger and prayer,
       talons and teeth,
call and response of those who inhabit
that certain shade of twilight
               between two worlds.

*Copyright 2006 by Kate Miller. This poem is included in POETRY WALK: Sue C. Boynton Poetry Contest – The First Five Years. Info: Book! Placard design by Egress Studio.

I Build You a House of Whale Bones*

2009 Merit Award
I Build You a House of Whale Bones*
By Brenda Beehler

jailed on a beach in winter
lodged among lungs, left-over fish
we waited for the whale to spit us out
counting barnacles to pass time

handcuffed to the ribcage ‘longside you
I dreamed the day the whale would die
decay ‘round us
I’d find keys to the cuffs, unlatch your wrists

then swath the skeleton in rags from my dresses
we’d build balconies of sun-bleached bones
and gather feathers for our bed
plant roses near sea grasses
that they might twist their heads
inside the slats and brighten our quarters
but they would never
not in a garden of sand and saltwater

during this forever you’d twist your frame over
my skirts, bring me gifts of eggs and lavender
things not made on beaches

we’ve been waiting forty days
‘prisoned in the belly of this beluga
punishment for misters and mistresses
who dare to stare into the sun

*Copyright 2009 by Brenda Beehler. This poem is included in POETRY WALK: Sue C. Boynton Poetry Contest – The First Five Years. Info: Book!
Placard design by Egress Studio.

Bare Feet*

2009 Walk Award
Bare Feet*
By Tessa Haggerty, Third Grade

Bare feet squish squash
in the hot summer mud.

Bare feet flip flop
on a warm spring day.

Bare feet shake shake
on cold winter days.

Bare feet kick dry
leaves on windy fall days.

Bare feet are the
best kind of feet there are.

*Copyright 2009 by Tessa Haggerty. This poem appears in POETRY WALK: Sue C. Boynton Poetry Contest – The First Five Years. Info: Book!