Poetry Gardens of Fame

Welcome to Garden 1008 in
ARTELLA'S POETRY GARDENS OF FAME!

Click the links below to read the winning poems for September/October, 2008.

Poetry Gardens of Fame Index

First Place
Second Place
Third Place
Fourth Place

FIRST PLACE WINNER

Devon Prevost

Devon Prevost is an artist and poet from Boston, Massachusetts. She composed her first poem when she was just 15 years old. She has met and read with many open mic poetry venues in the Boston area and has featured for Stone Soup in Cambridge, MA. She has been included in a number of poetry anthologies, but this is her first poetry contest win. Devon graduated from Lesley University/Art Institute of Boston and holds a degree in Art Therapy. She is currently pursuing a certificate in professional massage therapy so she can further develop her repertoire of the healing arts.

Atop Her Cresting Wave
by Devon Prevost

She sits on the crest of a wave
waiting for the sun to shine
in just the right way,
waiting for the wind to twist
he sails
toward the direction in
which her hair blows.

Her backbone is strong
and she reminds her lover
of the rooted tree,
who loves the land
and who communes silently
in the forest.

Her eyes are ablaze
with the fires of hope,
yet keep the freedom and the
boundless limits of the bluest skies.

She waits patiently
atop her cresting wave,
holding love in her bottomless heart,
giggling from the speeding belly-tickle
of the ride
and holding hope in a palm full of sand.

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SECOND PLACE WINNER

Peter
by Ritah Rae Chumdermpadetsuk

They said it was a story,
Told by a young woman about a boy she couldn't recall,
But could not quite forget.
The tale of a lovely boy,
Clad in skeleton leaves.

She said he smells like hidden desires,
Long cherished dreams that linger,
On the border of youth.
She said he fights pirates,
Amid turbulent storms and dances with fairies,
In the dead of night.

She said he laughs like a child,
Cries like one.
And touches your heart like one.
She said his smile is like the fresh morning's dew.

I've seen him fly with a flock of birds,
Outside my bedroom window.
She said he's tougher than the ogres beneath my bed,
Kinder than rules and punishments.
Smarter than adults in their worries.

But summers come and summers go,
And one summer, he disappears.
Like many splendid moons as they faded from the sky,
Like many splendid suns as they fell beneath the horizon.
Peter Pan laughs as clumsily, I search for him.
'And now,' he says,
'You are trapped. The gates of Neverland are sealed.'
She said all children grow up,

Except one.

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THIRD PLACE WINNER

Spring in the Fall
by Jan'ice Rogers

The newness of spring
Dancing in the lightness of fall
Cool nights give way to warm noons
Vivid eyescapes everywhere
A wish for every fallen leaf
Like a pondering on every shooting star
A love for every gift received
The spring, disguised in the Fall

FOURTH PLACE WINNER

Without a Doubt
by Steve Watts

It aint the way the wind blows
or whats left when its gone
and it ain't in the bank roll
money never tastes that strong
and its not in the flowers
that you send her when shes gone
it aint what happens to you
its the way you carry on.

A life can bring you trouble
it can pull the other way
and love can beat you double
till you dont know what to say
it aint what you do or dont do
that will help you win the day
and it aint what you carry
its what you lose along the way.

Your chains are much too heavy
theyll drag you to the ground
it aint the way you talk to many
its the words your leaving out.

You cant climb a mountain
with your head up in the clouds
but you can swim the ocean
without the water moving out
its not the way you tell it
when your stories at the end
its the way that you receive it
when you make another friend

These weights are old and heavy
theyll drag and bury me
if it aint the way you want it
its the way its meant to be
it aint the way the wind blows
or the sandstorm or the drought
its the way that we perceive it
i know this without a doubt.

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