A lover waiting for her man to be pulled out of a mine shaft, knowing she will lose him once he’s safe; a jazz devotee lost in a reverie induced by memories and music; a girl with a crush desperately trying to prevent the sky from disappearing over her head: these are some of the characters whose shoes you will step into when reading this year’s the Top Five Poems of the Week. When you’re done it may take you a minute to recall who you are—and isn’t that a wonder of all great poetry, its transcending power?
The Poem of the Week series for 2014–2015 starts on October 20. If you would like to send a poem for consideration as a Poem of the Week, please see our Guidelines. Each October the top five Poems of the Week are selected for special notice.
Congratulations to the winners. Each receives a $200 award.
Malachi Black
Poem in the Contemporary Manner
Happiness just means not thinking too much.
Sarah Crossland
Everything All the Time
We tried to tie the sky down with bungee cord.
Daria-Ann Martineau
Mine
I thought of you caught in the limbo of earth’s womb.
Ben Purkert
The Past Is the Present Only Colder
Even a river feels its way through the woods.
James Richardson
Solo
Hard to tell the laughter from the ice in the glasses.
