Spirit First...a sanctuary for peace

Announcing 2020 Spirit First Meditation Poetry Contest

noreply@blogger.com (diana christine) — Tue, 21 Jan 2020 00:43:00 +0000

11^th Annual Spirit First Poetry Contest

Deadline: March 31, 2020
First Prize: $200
Second Prize: $150
Third Prize: $100

Complete Guidelines:

Spirit First is pleased to announce its 11th Annual Meditation Poetry Contest. Poetry submissions may be of any length and any style but must have a theme of Meditation or Mindfulness. Poems may reflect any discipline, any faith, or none. Poems must be previously unpublished. Poems not on the themes of meditation, mindfulness, stillness, or sacred silence will not be included in this meditation poetry event.

Enter up to three submissions. Poems beyond three submissions will not be considered.

Please submit your poems by email unless you do not have access to the Internet. Poems will be accepted by U.S. Postal Service for those who do not have access to sending through the Internet. All others are requested to be emailed. Poems sent by U.S. Postal Service will not be returned. Poems must be received by March 31, 2020.

Please submit your poems all in one file or inside the body of an email (rather than three poems in three separate files). Please do not send your poem(s) in a PDF (formatting and spacing are lost if your poem is sent in a PDF). Be sure to include the author's name, address, telephone number, and email address. There is no cost to enter this contest. Submissions must be received no later than March 31, 2020. Please note: We are sorry to say we are unable to provide personal evaluations/reviews of individual poems.

Winners will be announced on or around July 31, 2020. Winning poems will be published on the Spirit First website at www.spiritfirst.org, the Spirit First Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/thespiritfirstgroup, the Spirit First blog at http://spiritfirst.blogspot.com/, and in a Spirit First newsletter (authors retain full rights to their poems).

How to submit:

By email: send to meditate@spiritfirst.org.

By U.S. Postal Service (for those unable to send by email), send to the following address:
          Spirit First Poetry Contest
          PO Box 8076
          Langley Park, MD 20787

To all our participating poets, thank you for your beautiful words. We look forward to reading your poems!

Join us!

Facebook

Meetup

Our Website

2019 First-Place Winner Diana Poulos-Lutz

noreply@blogger.com (diana christine) — Tue, 21 Jan 2020 00:35:00 +0000

SEA GLASS

by Diana Poulos-Lutz

I found sea glass

at the shore,

washed up on the sand

with broken shells,

still wet,

sparkling and shining

green, brown,

and blue.

I picked up a piece

and ran my fingers softly

over the flat surface

and firmly

over the edges.

The glass did not

cut or hurt,

as it had been tumbled

and tossed in ocean waters

for some years—

how many I’m not sure.

I picked up some more

pieces and decided to walk

in the water

and on the sand

for miles and days and years.

I want the sand to do

the same to me.

I asked the ocean

to smooth my jaded mind,

so that I won’t

hurt,

as readily,

as broken

glass that has never met the sea.

-----------------------------------------------

Diana Poulos-Lutz started her journey of mindfulness and meditation as she began long walks along the beaches of Long Island, NY throughout the seasons. As a photographer, and an admirer of the natural world, she began writing poetry to express those moments of reflection and spiritual connection.

Diana has a B.A., M.A. in Political Science from Long Island University as well as an MPhil, Master of Philosophy in Politics, from the New School for Social Research. She has taught Political Science courses for several years at Long Island University. Some of her areas of interest are women's rights, civil rights, democratic theory, and civic engagement. Diana is an active citizen and currently works at a public high school.

Diana’s poems have recently been featured on literary and media sites such as New Verse News and Pantsuit Nation. She has performed as a featured poet at various venues on Long Island and she is the winner of the 2019 Nassau County Poet Laureate Society poetry contest. Diana's poetry is inspired by her deep connection to the natural world, along with her desire to promote equality, peace, mindfulness, and empowerment. You can find more of her poetry as well as her nature photography at: https://www.facebook.com/dpouloslutz

2019 Second-Place Winner James Crews

noreply@blogger.com (diana christine) — Mon, 01 Jul 2019 23:30:00 +0000

WINTER MORNING

by James Crews

When I can no longer say thank you

for this new day and the waking into it,

for the cold scrape of the kitchen chair

and the ticking of the space heater glowing

orange as it warms the floor near my feet,

I know it is because I've been fooled again

by the selfish, unruly man who lives in me

and believes he deserves only safety

and comfort. But if I pause as I do now,

and watch the streetlights outside winking

off one by one like old men closing their

cloudy eyes, if I listen to my tired neighbors

slamming car doors hard against the morning

and see the steaming coffee in their mugs

kissing their chapped lips as they sip and

exhale each of their worries white into

the icy air around their faces—then I can

remember this one life is a gift each of us

was handed and told to open: Untie the bow

and tear off the paper, look inside

and be grateful for whatever you find

even if it is only the scent of a tangerine

that lingers on the fingers long after you've finished eating it.

-------------------------------------

James Crews lives on part of an organic farm with his husband in Vermont. He is the author of two collections of poetry, The Book of What Stays (Prairie Schooner Prize, 2011) and Telling My Father (Cowles Prize, 2017), and his work has appeared in Ploughshares, Raleigh Review, Crab Orchard Review and The New Republic, among other journals. Crews also recently edited the anthology, Healing the Divide: Poems of Kindness and Connection (Green Writers Press, 2019). He teaches creative writing at SUNY-Albany.

2019 Third-Place Winner Joanne Esser

noreply@blogger.com (diana christine) — Mon, 01 Jul 2019 23:26:00 +0000

PRAYER TO BECOME SOIL

by Joanne Esser

Even after the storm that rips leaves

From the trees, even as branches crack

And fall, through the empty limbs

The sky remains. Under it, I stand

Empty-handed. I pray: Make me

Into something solid that will last.

Crumble me into soil beneath that sky,

Dark, thick, moist. Composed of

What has fallen apart. Humble

Enough to embrace the smallest seed.

Help me be modest, quiet, patient

So new roots might push in.

No longer do I want to be the plant,

The flower or fruit. Now is my time

Of stillness, to be the black ground

From which brighter things emerge.

As my blossoming ends, may I become

That which holds what is about to begin.

-------------------------------

Joanne Esser writes poetry and nonfiction in Minneapolis, Minnesota. She has also been a teacher of young children for over thirty years. She earned an MFA in Creative Writing from Hamline University and published a chapbook of poems, I Have Always Wanted Lightning, with Finishing Line Press in 2012. Her full-length collection of poetry, Humming At The Dinner Table” will be published in October 2019 by Finishing Line Press. Other recent work appears in Common Ground Review, Nostos, Welter, Gyroscope Review, Miramar and Passager, among other journals.

2019 Editor's Choice Award Winner Ann Glumac

noreply@blogger.com (diana christine) — Mon, 01 Jul 2019 23:06:00 +0000

MATINS

by Ann Glumac

I worship in the early dawn,

an ecumenical affair.

The muezzin is a warbler of some kind,

his call a whisper that darts and weaves

through the soft green leaves of June.

The water is temple,

chapel, mosque; a holy,

holy place

where I am supplicant.

I breathe in the Holy Spirit,

incense of lilacs, apple blossoms,

Balm-o-Gileads,

the clean smell of fish.

I give thanks. For the bindi

of the red-winged blackbird.

For the tapers of river grass

lit by the rising sun.

For the pollen dusted like blessing ash

in quiet bays and inlets.

I am infused with grace,

so grateful for this moment

I thank them all:

God, Allah, the Creator, Yahweh.

Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.

One cannot be agnostic in this boat.

-------------------------------

Ann Glumac lives on the banks of the St. Louis River in Duluth, Minnesota, where she is inspired every time she looks out the window. A writer and a poet, a trainer and a consultant, she currently is at work on her second collection. Ann also edits poetry manuscripts and conducts poetry workshops.

She writes to capture moments large and small, to make sense of them and to share them with others—creating, with her readers, a common experience, a place they go together. While composed of words, her poems owe their vitality to this interaction between writer and reader.

Her 2014 debut collection, A Skim of Ice on Still Water, was a finalist for a Northeastern Minnesota Book Award.

2019 Editor's Choice Award Winner Derek Hanebury

noreply@blogger.com (diana christine) — Mon, 01 Jul 2019 23:01:00 +0000

BANGKOK JEWEL

by Derek Hanebury

Taking a break from the sun and the great souvenir search, I unzip and stand

facing the urinal leaking two Thai teas I downed an hour ago

with a platter of khao phat Amerikan

when something shifts in the edge of my eye;

remembering the green viper I watched yesterday

scale the plaster wall and coil into a hole above the door, I am relieved

to recognize a woman spidered onto the floor, spread out like an opened lotus,

her thin arm washing the polished cement with wide-circling swipes of a wet rag.

She keeps her head bowed to her work just as I keep my eyes forward now, observing

stippled plaster and wondering if she’ll wait for this white guy to finish his whizz before

she finishes her floor. I push a little harder when I see she is circling in my direction,

angling under the row of urinals, but those Thai teas were tall and my poor tourist’s bladder is

still stretched like a water balloon full to bursting. What can I do, but pretend she isn’t there on

the floor, halfway closer to me now that I can see the strands of grey in her dark hair,

the thin ropes of muscle braided through her tawny arm?

Mother? Grandmother? The dutiful Thai wife doomed to clean the floors of public bathrooms

while her husband hunkers down at the bar?

Just under the whish of my pissing, I hear it then, a whispering sound subtle and soothing

as water over sand, the words indistinguishable at first beneath the flowing water but growing

now that I tune in, her every outbreath singing it to herself:

Om Mani Padme Hum, Om Mani Padme Hum, Om Mani Padme Hum.

A Buddhist then, polishing the floor while chanting a mantra to scrub the illusions from her eyes,

not just cleaning a floor but scraping the sticky samskara off the Buddha self,

using every breath to find the jewel in the lotus. And I wonder how real I am to her now, or if I

even exist as she handmops the floor in slow circles; like ripples in a koi pond, she moves

towards my feet, my face flushing in the steaming Bangkok heat as the waves of her washing

edge the dust from one side of my sandals, the next pass skewing slightly to leave me marooned

on a small island of dry concrete,

surrounded by a tide of Om Mani Padme Hum, Om Mani Padme Hum;

not sure if my eyes are open or closed then, my exposed self awash in the mantra and the energy

of this bird-boned woman serving her Lord, turning the room into an ocean, into a temple,

with her Om Mani Padme Hum, Om Mani Padme Hum, until she is somewhere behind me, and

with a shudder and a shake,

I’m finally empty.

---------------------------

Derek Hanebury is a Canadian writer of poetry, fiction, and creative non-fiction. His first book of poetry, Nocturnal Tonglen (Ekstasis), was released in 2006, and his second volume, Songs for Aging Children, will be forthcoming soon. His poems have also been published in numerous magazines and broadcasted on CBC radio. He has a Master’s Degree in Creative Writing from UBC and taught writing at North Island College on Vancouver Island until his retirement in 2017.

2019 Micro Poetry Award Winner Charles Rossiter

noreply@blogger.com (diana christine) — Mon, 01 Jul 2019 22:49:00 +0000

THAT PLACE

by Charles Rossiter

Doing perfectly nothing,
doing nothing perfectly.

Either way

is a good way to be.
---------------------------------------

Charles Rossiter, National Endowment for the Arts Fellowship Recipient, hosts the twice-monthly podcast series at www.PoetrySpokenHere.com . His work has been featured on NPR, at the Chicago Blues Festival and the Dodge Festival in NJ. Recent books include: All Over America: Road Poems; Winter Poems; Cold Mountain 2000: Han Shan in the City, Lakeside Poems and the just-released Green Mountain Meditations, all from FootHills publishing.

noreply@blogger.com (diana christine) — Mon, 01 Jul 2019 22:46:00 +0000

We are pleased to announce the winning entries for our tenth annual Spirit First Meditation Poetry Contest. This year we received 1,347 poems from 48 states in the U.S. and from 41 foreign nations, including Argentina, Australia, Belgium, Botswana, Bulgaria, Canada, Denmark, England, Germany, Ghana, India, Indonesia, Iraq, Ireland (Republic of Ireland), Japan, Kenya, Lagos, Malawi, Malta, Myanmar, Nigeria, Northern Ireland, Pakistan, Peru, Philippines, Poland, Qatar, Scotland, South Africa, Southern Cameroons, Spain, Sri Lanka, Syria, Taiwan, Tanzania, The Netherlands, Trinidad and Tobago, Tunisia, Turkey, Ukraine, and Zimbabwe (we also received numerous poems without location indicated).

We are always thrilled—and amazed—to have the participation of so many meditation and mindfulness poets from all over the world, and we are honored by your presence from home and abroad. This poetry event is such a great joy for all of us at Spirit First, and especially for our devoted judging committee (a group that grows every year!).

This year we again present a Micro Poetry Award. Our micro poetry category includes poems up to about 20 words, encompassing short forms such as haiku, tanka, and senryu but also including short poems without fixed rules. Every poem received is considered in our main contest, but we then also set aside short forms for a special category award. This year we selected two poems for our Editor’s Choice Award.

Thank you to all the many beautiful poets who participated—please know that we deeply appreciate every poem, every word. Your writing on the themes of meditation and mindfulness is important to the world, and what a great work it was to select winners from so many exquisite, meaningful poems (incredibly difficult work). Thank you for being part of who we are. We hope you will join us for our 2020 Spirit First Meditation Poetry Contest—we look forward to reading your words and being touched by your spiritual journey.

Thank you to our judging committee for your thoughtful, dedicated work.

Congratulations to all our winners!

Announcing 10th Annual Spirit First Poetry Contest

noreply@blogger.com (diana christine) — Mon, 31 Dec 2018 17:48:00 +0000

10^th Annual Spirit First Poetry Contest

Deadline: February 28, 2019 (midnight)
First Prize: $200
Second Prize: $150
Third Prize: $100

Complete Guidelines:

Spirit First is pleased to announce its 10th Annual Meditation Poetry Contest. Poetry submissions may be of any length and any style but must have a theme of Meditation or Mindfulness. Poems may reflect any discipline, any faith, or none. Poems must be previously unpublished. Poems not on the themes of meditation, mindfulness, stillness, or sacred silence will not be included in this meditation poetry event.

Enter up to three submissions. Poems beyond three submissions will not be considered.

Please submit your poems all in one file or inside the body of an email (rather than three poems in three separate files). Please do not send your poem(s) in a PDF (formatting and spacing are lost if your poem is sent in a PDF). Be sure to include the author's name, address, telephone number, and email address. There is no cost to enter this contest. Submissions must be received no later than February 28, 2019. Please note: We are sorry to say we are unable to provide personal evaluations/reviews of individual poems.

Winners will be announced on or around June 30, 2019. Winning poems will be published on the Spirit First website at www.spiritfirst.org, the Spirit First Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/thespiritfirstgroup, the Spirit First blog at http://spiritfirst.blogspot.com/, and in a Spirit First newsletter (authors retain full rights to their poems).

How to submit:

By email: send to meditate@spiritfirst.org.

Join us!

Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/thespiritfirstgroup?ref=hl

Meetup at http://www.meetup.com/Spirit-First-Meditations/

Our website: www.SpiritFirst.org

2018 1st-Place Winner G.G. Silverman

noreply@blogger.com (diana christine) — Mon, 02 Jul 2018 16:44:00 +0000

Meditation at the Waterfall of the Gods

by G.G. Silverman

We wondered how it would change us,

   the roar of an ancient river
as it hurtled from a cliff’s edge
        and raged into the mist.
           We stood there for mere
                moments, snapped a
            photo we’ll forget later,
        because eternity
             cannot be captured.

We cannot fathom

how this precipice was
        graven by aeons, how
    this river’s cold bed
         cradled its

child for

seven thousand years,
what motes we
are under the sky.

                Gods were once brought here
             to drown, and so we
        brought our sorrows,
            made paper boats
                 of grocery lists and death
        notices and overdue
                bills, then
            set them free on the river.

The waters hummed
        the secret
                 to everything,

                   surrender,
       surrender,
                 surrender.

G.G. Silverman practices walking meditation in wild or natural settings as frequently as she can. Her favorite place to experience nature’s raw power is the Pacific Northwest coast. G.G.'s writing was most recently nominated for the Best Small Fictions anthology, among other honors, and has appeared in Corvid Queen, So to Speak feminism + language + art, The Journal of Compressed Creative Arts, The Iron Horse Literary Review, The Seventh Wave, Iconoclast, Ellipsis Literature & Art, and more. She is currently at work on a short story collection as well as her third novel. She is also a visual artist and practices improvisational theater, which she believes is another form of connecting more deeply to one’s inner truth. To learn more, please go to www.ggsilverman.com.

2018 2nd-Place Winner Levi Andrew Noe

noreply@blogger.com (diana christine) — Mon, 02 Jul 2018 16:41:00 +0000

A Long Journey By Sea

by Levi Noe

From the helm

of this pitching ship

I cry to Poseidon and

Yahweh, Jesus,

Buddha, Krishna, Kali

Allah, Vishnu, Anu, Gaia,

anyone! who’s listening:

How far

have I to go?

How much

have I to give?

Until You

will let me in.

I have all the charts,

I followed the stars, I’ve read

all the Words about the journey.

I should be There by now,

but still the Undying Land eludes me.

Could You send me a sign?

A dove,

like You did for Noah.

A dream,

like You gave Gilgamesh.

It seems all You’ve given me

are these questions.

Is it learning or

unlearning

that will stop the storm?

Is it praying ceaselessly

or pure silence

that will bring peace

to these waves?

I assumed the deathless

was my destiny, but

I haven’t received an invitation.

Supplies are nearly dry.

A storm is coming and I’m still waiting.

I am the only voice I hear.

I’ve tried everything

apart from drowning.

Is that how this separation ends?

By breathing the ocean in.

Levi Andrew Noe was born and raised in Denver, Colorado. He is a writer, wanderer, yogi, entrepreneur, and amateur oneironaut. His flash fiction collection Rain Check was published in August 2016 from Truth Serum Press. His flash fiction, short stories, creative non-fiction and poetry can be found in Connotation Press, Boston Literary Magazine, Bartleby Snopes, and Literary Orphans, among many others. Levi is the editor in chief and founder of the podcast Rocky Mountain Revival Audio Art Journal.
Twitter: @LeviAndrewNoe,
@RockyMtnRevival
Website: http://leviandrewnoe.com

2018 3rd-Place Winner (Tied) Mike Joachin

noreply@blogger.com (diana christine) — Mon, 02 Jul 2018 16:37:00 +0000

Only This

By Mike Joachin

Live the actual moment.

Only this actual moment is life.

– Thích Nhất Hạnh

Only this actual moment

is warm air on the hairs

of our neck, swaying

each like grass in a

summer breeze.

Only this actual moment

tugs at skin like a hungry

child, craving nothing more

than acknowledgement.

The chance to walk hand

and hand with our thoughts,

follow the map of the

heartbeat, breathe in what

we breathe.

What else deserves to

swallow us whole?

Other than what wakes

the senses. Gives life.

Is life. This actual

moment.

Mike Joachin currently resides in Miami, Florida, with his wife and two young children. Poetry has always been the natural way Mike expresses himself and tells stories. He is of Caribbean descent, where the art of storytelling is deep-rooted in the culture—this, perhaps, has a lot to do with his passion for poetry. Spirit First is honored to be the first major publication of Mike Joachin’s poetry.

2018 3rd-Place Winner (Tied) Jeanie Greensfelder

noreply@blogger.com (diana christine) — Mon, 02 Jul 2018 16:34:00 +0000

Walking Meditation

by Jeanie Greensfelder

I leave the world and my worries,

walk the wood-mulch trail that shifts

to sand. Buddhist Thich Nhat Hanh

said we’re just one step from the

kingdom of heaven. I say his mantra:

Oui, Oui, Oui, Merci, Merci, Merci.

Yes to going slow, feeling the breeze.

Thanks to eucalyptus trees

where migrant monarchs hang

one from another like beads on a string.

A kingfisher calls and circles her pond.

At the bridge I inhale rain-fresh air

and note mallards, heads tucked.

A snowy egret lands, fans her wings,

and steps into the pond. Perfect stillness.

Time stretches. My mind quiets.

The egret ignores her ruffled feathers.

Focused, she waits for food to near.

Her pointed beak strikes, catches a fish.

And me?

I got what I came for.

Jeanie Greensfelder feels honored to have won Spirit First third place this year and in 2015. Her work has been published at American Life in Poetry, and Writers’ Almanac; in anthologies: Paris, Etc., Pushing the Envelope: Epistolary Poems, and Corners of the Mouth; and in journals: Miramar, Thema, Askew, Kaleidoscope, Persimmon Tree, Solo Novo, If&When, and others. She is the author of Biting the Apple, Marriage and Other Leaps of Faith, and I Got What I Came For. Jeanie serves as the San Luis Obispo County Poet Laureate, 2017/2018. A psychologist, she seeks to understand herself and others on this shared journey, filled, as Joseph Campbell wrote, with sorrowful joys and joyful sorrows. She lives on the central coast of California with her husband Andy. More poems can be seen at jeaniegreensfelder.com.

2018 Editor's Choice Award Matt Nagin

noreply@blogger.com (diana christine) — Mon, 02 Jul 2018 16:28:00 +0000

If We Are Doomed

by Matt Nagin

if we are doomed

i say embrace it

marry it

let it carry you

into verandas of

bliss.

if we are doomed

fall into it

this gentle blanket

array of fireworks

the hot night soaking

your shirt.

if this is the end

let the bullets cascade

and the bombs echo

but embrace it with

what you have

left to give.

Matt Nagin has been writing poetry since age sixteen—where poetry became a bit of a spiritual practice. Matt has always enjoyed the non-linear nature of poetry and believes in what Rimbaud called “a derangement of the senses” to obtain the unknown. In recent years, Matt’s poetry has been published in Antigonish Review, Dash Literary Journal, The Charles Carter, and Grain Magazine, among other markets. His first poetry book, Butterflies Lost Within The Crooked Moonlight, was released in 2017 to very strong critical and reader reviews. Matt is also an award-winning filmmaker, comedian, and actor. More info at mattnagin.com.

2018 Special Category Award Winner David Monteith

noreply@blogger.com (diana christine) — Mon, 02 Jul 2018 16:21:00 +0000

Balloons: a haiku

by David Monteith

Like children holding

balloons on strings, we cling to

thoughts better set free

David Monteith stole a library book once in his life (but only once), a collection of poetry by Robert Graves. He hopes you'll forgive him. In his defense, it was pre-Internet, and he was desperate for poetry. In addition to Robert Graves, some of David’s other heroes include Mary Oliver, Wendell Berry, Brian Andreas, Rumi, and the classical haiku master, Issa. He draws on his experiences as a middle- and high-school teacher for inspiration and is currently working on his first children's book. When he's not writing, he loves taking care of other people's dogs, making earrings from comic book word bubbles, and doing Iyengar yoga.

Announcing Our 9th Annual Spirit First Poetry Contest

noreply@blogger.com (diana christine) — Mon, 27 Nov 2017 21:43:00 +0000

Annual Spirit First Poetry Contest

Deadline: February 28, 2018 (midnight)
First Prize: $200
Second Prize: $150
Third Prize: $100

Complete Guidelines:

Spirit First is pleased to announce its 9th Annual Meditation Poetry Contest. Poetry submissions may be of any length and any style but must have a theme of Meditation or Mindfulness. Poems may reflect any discipline, any faith, or none. Poems must be previously unpublished. Poems not on the themes of meditation, mindfulness, stillness, or sacred silence will not be included in this meditation poetry event.

Enter up to three submissions. Poems beyond three submissions will not be considered. Please submit your poems by email unless you do not have access to the Internet. Poems will be accepted by U.S. Postal Service for those who do not have access to sending through the Internet. All others are requested to be emailed. Poems sent by U.S. Postal Service will not be returned. Poems must be received by February 28, 2018.

Please submit your poems all in one file or inside the body of an email (rather than three poems in three separate files). Please do not send your poem(s) in a PDF (formatting and spacing are lost if your poem is sent in a PDF). Be sure to include the author's name, address, telephone number, and email address. There is no cost to enter this contest. Submissions must be received no later than February 28, 2018. Please note: We are sorry to say we are unable to provide personal evaluations/reviews of individual poems.

Winners will be announced on or before June 30, 2018, on the Spirit First website at www.spiritfirst.org. Winning poems will be published on the Spirit First website, the Spirit First Facebook page, the Spirit First blog, and in a Spirit First newsletter (authors retain full rights to their poems).

How to submit:

By email: send to meditate@spiritfirst.org.

Join us!

Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/thespiritfirstgroup?ref=hl

Meetup at http://www.meetup.com/Spirit-First-Meditations/
Our website: www.SpiritFirst.org

2017 First-Place Winner--Jennifer L. Freed

noreply@blogger.com (diana christine) — Fri, 30 Jun 2017 21:45:00 +0000

Our 2017 First Place Winner is Jennifer L. Freed for her poem "At the Middle School Concert."

Jennifer L. Freed’s work has appeared or is forthcoming in literary journals and anthologies including Amsterdam Quarterly, the Common Ground Review, The Worcester Review, and Forgotten Women: A Tribute in Poetry; in the medical journals JAMA and Chest; and in a chapbook, These Hands Still Holding, a finalist for the 2013 New Woman’s
Voices prize. Years ago (before husband, before children), she taught English in China and in then-Czechoslovakia. She now lives with husband and children in Massachusetts. Her website is jfreed.weebly.com.

At the Middle School Concert

by Jennifer L. Freed

The seventh grade band squeaks

through its festive repertoire,

and the harried day is still wound tight

along my spine.

I am checking the time,

thinking about the sixth grade chorus

and the eighth grade strings

still waiting to play,

thinking about the list of To-Do

I have not yet done,

when, from the stage,

or the air, or the whisper

of another mother passing near,

comes the sense

of being

here.

All at once I see

how the small boy beating the drums

is wagging his red head, beaming.

How the boy on trombone wears neon

green socks beneath his khaki slacks.

How the girl with gold satin shoes

and sparkling pink tulle

waves as she raises her flute.

Another girl clicks her high heels like Dorothy.

The band teacher waves his baton

and bounces with verve.

Every note is brimming

with gorgeous imperfection.

We are held, all

of us, in the light

of this

fragile

night.

2017 Second-Place Winner--Lawrence Kessenich

noreply@blogger.com (diana christine) — Fri, 30 Jun 2017 21:30:00 +0000

This year's Second Place Winner goes to Lawrence Kessenich for his poem "Healing."

Lawrence Kessenich
Photo by Joseph A. Cohen

Lawrence Kessenich, who has practiced Transcendental Meditation almost continuously since 1971, won the Strokestown International Poetry Prize in 2010. His poetry has been published in Sewanee Review, Atlanta Review, Poetry Ireland Review, and many other magazines. He has a poetry chapbook, Strange News, and two full-length poetry books, Before Whose Glory and Age of Wonders. Kessenich has also published essays; he had short plays produced at festivals in Boston, New York and Durango, Colorado; and his first novel, Cinnamon Girl, was published in September 2016. His website is www.lawrence-writer.com.

Healing

by Lawrence Kessenich

Tasting stillness and knowing that it was medicine.

- Roshi Joan Halifax

What we call stillness may be composed of
sea bird calls, waves shushing across sand,
the almost audible sparks of light dancing
on water. Even in the deepest stillness,
the heart beats, blood whooshes through the ears,
joints click as the limbs make small movements.

The still are steady as the earth on its axis,
their stillness a way of being, of interacting
with the world. Like a gyroscope balanced

on a string, a dervish spinning on a mountaintop,
an angel dancing on the head of a pin.

And what is healing but the restoration
of balance, that which is out of sorts sorting
itself out? When one tastes stillness, like warm
sweet milk settling the stomach, all that has
been troubling, disturbing, all that has made
one feel sick gently dissipates, and all

that’s left is being.

2017 Third-Place Winner--Pat Wadsorth

noreply@blogger.com (diana christine) — Fri, 30 Jun 2017 21:25:00 +0000

Our 2017 Third-Place Winner is Pat Wadsorth for her poem "If."

Pat Wadsworth has been writing poems and stories, and keeping journals, since she learned to read and write. Writing about the joy, sorrow, beauty, and wonder of life is her way of staying balanced in good times and sane in bad ones. After retiring from a twenty-four year career working with high-risk youth and their families, Pat enrolled in writing classes at her local community college. Encouraged by teachers, friends, and family members to submit her work for publication, she took the plunge. Her poetry has appeared in Mind Magazine, The Voices Project, The Blue Heron Review, and Sliver of Stone.

by Pat Wadsworth

if we look closely

into each other’s eyes

we will see tiny magic mirrors

if we listen closely to other voices

with open hearts

we will hear echoes

and, if we reach out

with loving hands

we will touch ourselves

with holiness

2017 Special Category Award: Haiku--David Monteith

noreply@blogger.com (diana christine) — Fri, 30 Jun 2017 21:21:00 +0000

This year's Haiku Award goes to David Monteigh for his poem "paper lanterns."

David Monteith is a former high school teacher—he lived and taught in San Antonio for nearly 20 years. Now he lives in Little Rock, Arkansas, where he is a journalist, a dog sitter, a facilitator, an Iyengar yoga practitioner, and a writer. He also runs an Etsy shop (Ex Libris Novum) where he sells earrings he makes out of comic book word bubbles. He loves playing with words. He's written three children's stories that haven't yet found a home. Last year he won a Banned Book Week writing contest with a story written in the style of 1001 Arabian Nights. “Paper Lanterns” is his first published poem.

paper lanterns

a haiku by David Monteith

Breathe, then place your thoughts

like paper lanterns on the

river of your breath

2017 Editor's Choice Award--Liz Dolan

noreply@blogger.com (diana christine) — Fri, 30 Jun 2017 21:16:00 +0000

This year's Editor's Choice Award goes to Liz Dolan for her poem "The Humble Do Not Fear Failure."

Liz Dolan’s first poetry collection, They Abide, was nominated for The Robert McGovern Prize, Ashland University. Her second, A Secret of Long Life, nominated for a Pushcart, has been published by Cave Moon Press. A nine-time Pushcart nominee and winner of Best of the Web, she was a finalist for Best of the Net 2014. She won The Nassau Prize for Nonfiction, 2011, and the same prize for fiction, 2015.

The Humble Do Not Fear Failure

by Liz Dolan

March

and I'm still

waiting for the amaryllis

on the sill to bloom

as it did last winter.

Another slender green stem

sprouts. Lovely so!

But not the golden goblet

of last year's frosty gloom.

I've sprinkled stardust,

chanted psalms,

danced fandangos.

I've entreated

trees,

stones,

whoever/whatever will listen.

I've even worshiped turtles, frogs, lit candles to tarantulas.

But the red-winged seraphs guffaw

clutch their sides

laugh at my pleas. “Stay on your knees,” they say.

What I force always fails.

Too late I've learned

to wait.

Announcing Spirit First Poetry Contest 2017

noreply@blogger.com (diana christine) — Tue, 04 Oct 2016 00:55:00 +0000

Annual Spirit First Poetry Contest

Deadline: January 31, 2017(midnight)
First Prize: $200
Second Prize: $150
Third Prize: $100

Complete Guidelines:

Spirit First is pleased to announce its 8th Annual Meditation Poetry Contest. Poetry submissions may be of any length and any style but must have a theme of Meditation or Mindfulness. Poems may reflect any discipline, any faith, or none. Poems must be previously unpublished. Poems not on the themes of meditation, mindfulness, stillness, or sacred silence will be disqualified in the first round.

Enter up to three submissions. Poems beyond three submissions will not be considered.

Please submit your poems all in one file or inside the body of an email (rather than three poems in three separate files). Be sure to include the author's name, address, telephone number, and email address. There is no cost to enter this contest. Submissions must be received no later than January 31, 2017. Please note: We are sorry to say we are unable to provide personal evaluations/reviews of individual poems.

Winners will be announced on or before June 30, 2017, on the Spirit First website at www.spiritfirst.org. Winning poems will be published on the Spirit First website, the Spirit First Facebook page, the Spirit First blog, and in a Spirit First newsletter (authors retain full rights to their poems).

How to submit:

By email: send to meditate@spiritfirst.org.

By U.S. Postal Service (for those unable to send by email), send to the following address:

Spirit First Poetry Contest
PO Box 8076
Langley Park, MD 20787

To all our participating poets, thank you for your beautiful words. We look forward to reading your poems!

2016 First-Place Winning Poem

noreply@blogger.com (diana christine) — Thu, 30 Jun 2016 17:12:00 +0000

First-Place Winner: Building a Brace by Joe Cottonwood

Joe Cottonwood has worked as a carpenter, plumber, and electrician for most of his life. He is the author of nine published novels, a book of poetry, and a memoir. His novels for adults include Famous Potatoes (1978) and Clear Heart (2009). His novels for children and young adults include Quake! (1995) and The San Puerco Trilogy (1990-1996). Joe Cottonwood's 2013 memoir, 99 Jobs: Blood, Sweat, and Houses, based on his experiences as a contractor, carpenter, plumber, and electrician, is available electronically and in print—readers and reviewers have praised its humor and authenticity. Joe lives in La Honda, California, where he built a house and raised a family. More about Joe at http://www.joecottonwood.com/.

I am Building a Brace

by Joe Cottonwood

I’m a carpenter. There’s a mindfulness of craft—of any manual labor, actually—if you open yourself to it.

I am building a brace for the front porch

of my brother who is on the other side

of that door listening with headphones

to a recording of Chinese poetry

(in Mandarin, which he understands)

while he is dying, slowly,

brain cell by brilliant brain cell

in that rocking chair

whose joints are creaking,

coming undone.

He no longer remembers his phone number

or how to count change at the grocery store.

He is in denial of any problem

but the crack in the porch grows wider

millimeter by millimeter

so out here in the rain

I set four-by-fours upright as posts,

then I jerk four-by-eights as beams

lifting on my shoulder

held by my hands transferred through my spine

pushing with my legs

anchored by my feet

as the useless joists of the deck

drop termite shit onto my eyebrows

like taunts of children:

nya nya you can’t fix this.

But I can brace it for a while.

Long enough, at least

for my brother to forget ten languages.

I will repair that rocking chair.

I will change his sheets,

install grab bars in the shower

because he’s my brother.

I won’t let his porch collapse

out here in the rain.

I simply won’t.

Holding a baby is a window to meditation.

2016 Second-Place Winning Poem

noreply@blogger.com (diana christine) — Thu, 30 Jun 2016 17:08:00 +0000

Second-Place Winner Jacqueline Jules is the author of the poetry chapbooks Field Trip to the Museum (Finishing Line Press) and Stronger Than Cleopatra (ELJ publications). Her poetry has appeared in numerous publications including Inkwell, Quaker Life, St. Anthony Messenger, Christian Science Monitor, Soundings Review, The Innisfree Poetry Journal, Potomac Review, Imitation Fruit, Connecticut River Review, and Pirene's Fountain. Jacqueline Jules is also the author of 30 books for young readers including the Zapato Power series, Sarah Laughs, and Never Say a Mean Word Again. Visit her online at www.jacquelinejules.com. Jacqueline is a previous winner in our Spirit First annual poetry contest, winning first place in 2014 for her poem "To Be a Gold Droplet Floating."

Mirrored Light

by Jacqueline Jules

The moon’s light

is only an illusion,

a reflection of the sun,

shining beyond sight.

Yet each month,

I watch a slim crescent

wax to a brilliant orb

and consider

how luminous

my life would be,

if I could mirror light

from the heavens

like that.

2016 Third-Place Winning Poem

noreply@blogger.com (diana christine) — Thu, 30 Jun 2016 17:01:00 +0000

Our 2016 Poetry Contest Third-Place winner is Arlene Gay Levine for her poem "Marigolds."

Arlene Gay Levine, author of 39 Ways to Open Your Heart: An Illuminated Meditation (Conari Press) and Movie Life (Finishing Line Press), has had poetry and prose appear in many venues, including in The New York Times, in an off-Broadway show, and on radio. Her poetry is frequently anthologized. She lives with her husband in New York City where she tends a garden of words, roses, and herbs. Learn more at http://www.arlenegaylevine.com/.

Marigolds

by Arlene Gay Levine

There are days when nothing works.

Not forgiveness, not gratitude, not

even an excursion into the silence,

inside, which currently sports a

“Do Not Disturb” sign.

No, nothing works.

Quirks and quandaries cut

like knives while the dismal

drone of the daily quotidian

beats a bad rhythm

in your fragile heart

yearning to stay present,

accepting…well,

like I said –

it doesn’t work.

Yet amidst the sludge of such

dark sky thoughts, twirling your

life round to the ground like the

spiral of a falling feather, you

sense a nudge, happen to look up

and see that pot of marigolds,

you know, the ones you planted

in the hopes that the sun of

their faces would shine you

back to the bright side of now…

and it does.