1^st Place

Soar

By Kaitlin R. Duchene

It is an odd sort of thing, to feel breath on your wings,

To soar to places, which others dare not know.

You are different they say, a creature of flight

And the curiosity of every child down below.

How they watch, how they wonder,

So intensely does it linger,

The rapt attention guaranteed

By the flick of your forefinger.

You hold them tightly, gripping hard,

Watching their wide eyes grow fast.

Full of wonder and amazement,

Never dimming as years pass.

You hear it softly, like a whisper,

Calling to you from purest dreams:

All the wonder and amazement,

Turned to longing of far away things.

Thoughts of flight and ever traveling,

Through the clouds and on to dawn,

Over seas of sparkling wine,

Into lands, so far beyond.

Seemingly innocent, precious thought,

Yet inescapable of the truth –

That it is not travel they wish for,

But rather to flee from land of youth. 

Wondrous, they call it, absolutely wondrous,

To hold ability of freedom that age grants. To flee from all your rotten troubles,

To finally hold the cards of chance.

But you wonder if they know,

If they ever dared to think, of all the misconceptions,

That freedom ever brings.

You are never free completely,

Lifted of that heavy resting weight,

For you now hold a crushing other:

The colorless path of fate.

2^nd Place

Shadow

By Shae Powers

When the wind blows I never move

But I will if you do my dear

I’m your shape no matter what

But my features aren’t always clear

Sometimes I will leave you

But never for a day

I will come out sooner or later

Maybe just to play

I’m mysterious and creepy

But I really don’t mean to

So please don’t run when you see me

Because I’ll just keep following you

I’m your clone, I’m your twin

Please don’t wrap me in a bow

I’m just something you can call

Your all time greatest shadow