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Contests : War Poetry Contest : Past Winners : 2003 : Mark Mansfield
PAST LIBERTY
So calm in this neon-lit room, the first slow
descents of twilight bathe the Hudson as a ship's
horn echoes out past Liberty. Each glance
now feels like a stock refrain: watching the glowing
reds then blues crossing your parted lips,
I think how much that we love of life seems chance.
Bizarre world, teeming with fears each of us bears,
where every hour some new terror arms,
luckless stiffs, death's holdings only grow,
as all or what little else we might have shared
comes over me, wondering where you are,
still in my arms, whom I may never know.
This poem was a finalist in the 2003 War Poetry Contest sponsored by Winning Writers. Copyright is reserved to the author.
About Mark Mansfield
Mark Mansfield is a document analyst and musician living in Arlington, Virginia. He received his M.A. in Writing from Johns Hopkins. His work has recently appeared (or is forthcoming) in Antietam Review, California Quarterly, Confluence (second place in 2003 contest), The Evansville Review, Front Range, Good Foot, The Ledge, Laughing Frank, Magma, The New Writer, Poetry Depth Quarterly, Poetry Nottingham International, Potomac Review, Staple, Tulane Review and Windhover. He was Feature Poet in this year's spring issue of Poetry Nottingham International.
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