2004 POETRY CONTEST FINALISTS!
Susan Fahncke
Aug 26, 2004



We are at long last finished judging the 2004 2TheHeart.com Poetry Contest! Whew! With over 3000 entries recieved, it was quite a job and I want each of you who entered to know how much we enjoyed your beautiful poetry and encourage you to continue to share your talents! I want to thank my Poetry Panel for their help in selecting the finalists and top four! I left this in their very competent (and kind!) hands and am very grateful! The top four poems are published below the list of ALL the finalists, and the entire poetry finalists and honorable mention poems will be posted on 2TheHeart.com this weekend. The link for this page is: www.2TheHeart.com/poetrycontest2004

Congratulations to all our poets below and to all who entered! We have some very talented people at 2TheHeart!


Now, on to the list of finalists.......



2004 2THEHEART.COM POETRY CONTEST FINALISTS AND PRIZES!



1st Place - $50, a 2TheHeart "Fun Pack" (T-Shirt, mug, bumper sticker and 2TheHeart candy bar), "2004 Poet's Market" book, award certificate, and publication on 2TheHeart.com. Awarded to....

Patricia A. Kellemeyer - "A Mother's Memories"


2nd Place - 2TheHeart "fun pack", award certificate and publication on 2TheHeart.com. Awarded to...

Linda E. Newman - "He Loved Us So!"


3rd Place - 2TheHeart T-Shirt, award certificate and publication on 2TheHeart.com. Awarded to...

Ginger Boda - "Awakenings"


4th Place - 2TheHeart mug, award certificate and publication on 2TheHeart.com. Awarded to...

Susan Turner - "The Quest For the Perfect Tree"



Finalists receive 2TheHeart bumper stickers and publication on 2TheHeart.com. Finalists are...

Billie Timmons - "Today"
Linda E. Newman - "When Tomorrow Comes"
Nancy Julien Kopp - "Mother's Day Visit"
Robert White - "The Rescuer, The Perfect Man"
Pamela R. Blaine - "The Wall"
Susan Turner - "Thank you"


Honorable Mentions will receive publication on 2TheHeart.com. Awarded to...

Patricia A. Kellemeyer - "Once Upon a Time"
Elizabeth Thompson - "Free the Child"
Michael Segal - "Miracles"
Pamela R. Blaine - "The Visitation"
Margaret Drysdale - "Last Days"
Julie Dyer - "Nowhere to Run"
Julie Dyer - "Rock the World"
Patricia A. Kellemeyer - "Familiarity...Breeds Love"
Nancy Julien Kopp - "Grasslands"
Nancy Julien Kopp - "Winter Night"
Rachel Symons - "Who Do You Say I Am?"
Linda E. Newman - "Vision Quest"
Donna Webster - "You Will Never Be Alone"
Mary-Ellen Grisham - "Grace Notes"
Mary-Ellen Grisham - "Hallowed Ground"
Jonathan Tun - "Ode to a Mighty Tree"
Susan Turner - "Masked in a Sea of Faceless People"
Susan Turner - "Daddy"


The 1st - 4th prize winning poems are below! Be sure to email their authors!



FIRST PLACE:
A MOTHER'S MEMORIES

 by Patricia A. Kellemeyer   pkellemeye@aol.com 



As the sound of Taps floats into the air,

I am transported back in time. Memories

flood my mind as I straighten the flag on

his grave. I silently pray, "Dear God, give me

strength. Steady my hand as You did when I

tended his nosebleeds when he was learning

how to stand. As steady as when I held a

greenish-bronze June bug, while he tied a

string around a prickly, jerking leg. He never

knew how I quaked inside.



Let me remember how proud he was of me

when I first baited a fishhook with a worm.

He was unaware of how I flinched when it

would lash and squirm.



As I kneel to place a wreath on his grave with

trembling hands, I silently plead, "Lord in heaven,

make me calm. So if he's watching from Your

bright blue skies, he'll still be proud he had me

as his Mom!"


(c) copyright



SECOND PLACE:
"He Loved Us So!"
by Linda E. Newman
GramLin99@aol.com


Upon a hillside long ago

My precious Savior's blood did flow

While heathen's jeered and laughed below;

He suffered so, he suffered so!

~~ * ~~
In smiling silence Satan stood

Unseen midst crowds demanding blood

And they chose evil over good;

He knew they would, He knew they would.

~~ * ~~
The murderer, he was set free,

But they beat Him unmercifully,

And then they nailed Him to a tree

For you and me, for you and me.

~~ * ~~
'Twas for our sins our Savior died,

They thrust a spear deep in his side,

Then skies grew dark, the men did hide,

And Mary cried, and Mary cried.

~~ * ~~
His friends and family brought Him down

And gently laid Him on the ground

Heartbreaking sobs the only sound,

And truth was found, and truth was found.

~~ * ~~
Then Mary knelt and held Him tight,

She cleansed His wounds then, wrapped in white,

In tomb He spent two days, two nights,

Then there was light, then there was light.

~~ * ~~
Upon that hillside long ago

My precious Savior's blood did flow

So that eternal life we'd know;

He loved us so, He loved us so!


©March 29, 2004
Linda E. Newman
All rights reserved.



THIRD PLACE:
"Awakenings"
By Ginger Boda
Rhymerbabe@aol.com



I awaken to the call of my sweet children in the hall;

"No, I had it first, so give it to me now!"

I rub my tired eyes and hear my other boy reply,

"It is MINE and you can't have it anyhow!"

So I rise from my warm bed with a throbbing in my head,

to referee at seven in the morn.

I gruffly try to whisper, "You'll awaken baby sister"

"Put the book away!" But it too late ... it's torn.

Then there follows accusations as I feel my reservations

about rising from beneath my cozy covers.

As I stumble over toys and try to hush down all the noise,

in the kitchen, burning toast I do discover!

So commands for kids to dress and clean up all their mess,

are followed by my baby's morning cry.

I retrieve her from her crib, change her, then put on her bib;

hoping that she'll eat the eggs I'm going to fry.

Finally, off to school one goes as I wipe another's nose.

Laundry sorted and the beds are neatly made.

As I scoop up Cheerios from off the floor and 'neath my toes,

I sadly wonder, "Has my self worth been betrayed?"

When I'm startled by a scream of little fingers smashed, it seems,

but, as I dry the tears, the phone begins to ring ...

Then the dog runs through the door, knocks my plants upon the floor,

and I cry, "LORD! I just can't take this "parenting!"

But as I sink down to my knees, little arms around me squeeze,

and a small voice whispers, "Mommy, I love you."

I softly kiss each little face and all my anguish is erased

As I thank God for each NEW DAY He brings me too!



- Ginger Boda - © 1/13/1986



FOURTH PLACE:
"The Quest for the Perfect Tree" by susan turner simplysusan51@aol.com


She use to say to me

look at that magnificent tree

or look at those blossoming flowers

on our treacherous weekly walks.

I knew her manipulations...

what she was trying to have me do.

But I was far smarter then she knew.

My eyes stayed planted on the street

glaring at the asphalt beneath my feet.


I was never into nature anyway.

Trees, flowers, skies, mountains

were just a part of the world

that was to be rushed past

except for the menacing dry brown mountain

that I can see out my front window.

Each summer as the heat rises and

the hot winds whip up

I wait apprehensively for it to erupt into vivid flames

of red and orange as it did thirty years ago.


Last winter I saw the sky

especially before and after storms.

The startling blackness of the clouds

with the silver moon or radiant sun

attempting to break through embodied me.


For years the stormy darkness

frightened me with threats of

booming thunder and brilliant lightning.

Last winter I rushed out to catch

the dramatic sky...fear was forgotten.

The sky became a centering force...

a vast expense to focus my attention on

when there was a need within me.

I wondered if the winter sky had

always been so beautiful...


Last summer I saw the ocean

in its peaceful beauty and turbulent moods.

As each wave washed to the sand,

my mind was cleansed and

the grip I held so tightly on my body lessened.

For years the ocean was just a thing to lay near

as I scorched my skin dying for that golden tan.

Last summer my chilling childhood memories

of horrendous waves crashing into my tiny body,

enveloping me in black coldness

and the taste of putrid salt water in my mouth left me.

In the sea's serenity, I found my own... if only fleeting.

I wondered if the ocean had always been so healing...


Last fall I saw the trees with their leaves

pulsing vibrant hues

of red, orange, and golden yellow.

For years these trees stirred an uneasiness

within me as gusty winds caused them

to sway and bend.

Last fall I went on a quest for the perfect tree.

I parked my car on foreign streets and stopped

traffic to capture an autumn tree's beauty

before its fiery leaves fell to the waiting curb.

I was risking my "safety" as I ventured

through unfamiliar territories.

My quest for the perfect tree took the focus off of me.

I wondered if the fall trees had

always been so magnificent...


If she and I were still to take our weekly walks,

I would be drawing HER attention to

all of nature's wonders.

I would not be USING nature

as she once tried to have me do.

I am now in harmony with the trees,

skies, clouds, mountains, and flowers.

And I would want to share my awakening with her.

My eyes would never even notice

the gravelly asphalt beneath my feet.


And I would probably trip...



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