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Contests : Tom Howard/John H. Reid Poetry Contest : Past Winners : 2009 : High Distinction
A WALK
gravel crunches
under our shoes
we walk holding hands
not speaking
along a road that turns
out of sight ahead of us
through a stand of tulip trees
waving golden in the cold air
dark clouds coalesce above us
the waning sunshine bright
under the black billows
running tangential to the earth
throwing our shadows long
up past the bend
she doesn't want to talk
she just wants to walk
to walk away from a long year
to hear of it no more
to leave it where it is
part of a past
she doesn't have to look at
if she doesn't want
at first I can only watch her
with the corner of my eye
though after a while
I am brave enough
to turn full face
and see her profile complete
she does not notice
her soft yellow hair
moving gently in the chill breeze
collar high against it
and the soft blush of her cheeks
sensuous lips held without emotion
sparkling blue eyes straight and blind
"I miss them"
"me too"
"they were so little
...so new"
"why both?"
"because He doesn't care...
I guess?"
"care?!
I would feel much better
If it were just that"
"what?"
"it's not about caring...
It's about being
...we are so...so alone here...
I know it
and you know it...too
so...please!
we need to stop
kidding ourselves
I've come to a place now
where it's harder
if I kid myself"
voices trail off empty
into the rising shadows
her eyes harden
squinting against tears
that do not come
her lips purse and grow pale
her whole face turning ghostly
her hand wilts in mine
slipping gently away
she puts it in her coat pocket
stops walking with a sudden
crunch of gravel
turns without acknowledgment
and walks back into a dying sun
smothering itself
with an unforgiving horizon
I stand frozen
watching her lonely silhouette recede
as the first snowflake of an old year
strikes my face
melts slowly
running down my cheek
This poem won a High Distinction award in the 2009 Tom
Howard/John H. Reid Poetry Contest sponsored by Tom Howard Books. Author Joseph Gorman received a $200 award. Winning Writers assists this contest. Copyright is reserved to the author.
SOFT SUMMER RAIN
a little boy
sits alone
on a stone wall
in a soft summer rain
humming a tune
his father used to sing
him to sleep with
while rocking
in the glider chair
between his little bed
and the wall
from his father's arms
he could look
all the way down the hall
past his brothers'
and sister's rooms
to where his beautiful mom
lay less every night
wanting to lay with her
as he had always done
in happier times
beginning before
his memory
not understanding
exactly why he couldn't
only vaguely aware
of being displaced
by something evil
taking her away...
away in pieces
slowly and painfully
turning his face
from the light
at the end of the hallway
toward a darkening sky
focusing only
on the rain drops
and the last words
of the song:
"...and I shall sleep
in peace
until you come
to me"
humming them
over and over again
rocking back and forth
alone
in a soft summer rain
This poem won a Highly Commended award in the 2009 Tom
Howard/John H. Reid Poetry Contest sponsored by Tom Howard Books. Author Joseph Gorman received a $100 award. Winning Writers assists this contest. Copyright is reserved to the author.
About Joseph Gorman
Joe Gorman is a surgeon and cardiovascular scientist at the University of Pennsylvania. He lives in a suburb of Philadelphia with his wife Patti and their five children. The family enjoys the beach in summer and skiing/snowboarding in winter. He writes poetry as a hobby.
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