Poetry Contest Winners

Anne Marie Rooney was selected by Li-Young Lee as the winner of the 2009 Iowa Review Award for Poetry, and her work is included in Best New Poets 2008. Born and raised in New York City, she is an MFA candidate at Cornell University.



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SECOND PLACE WINNER



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After It

by Anne Marie Rooney

The Hudson dark      like a rock.

The Hudson      rocking this boat.
There is no      light coming from it.
There is a boat moving blackly
through the night. He holds out
his hand.

I sit next to a man I never loved but let

kiss me wetly for two months.

Jersey twinkles in      and out of this.

When will I turn back

to a cold,      gold thing? After

the year the river      still presses
with a kiln’s glowing shade.
Knots of burnt rubber
unlace      the air.
They were not bodies      because bodies
travel faster.
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