Poetry Contest

Poems of Experience:
The Fifth Annual Common Good Books Poetry Contest

We’re are now accepting entries for “‘Poems of Experience: The Fifth Annual Common Good Books Poetry Contest.” Sharpen your pencil, and tell us what’s happened to you. Ten poets will receive prizes of $250 each for their poems of particular merit. Entries to “Poems of Experience” may be any poetic form. Mail your poem to Common Good Books, postmarked no later than April 15, 2017.

The rules at a glance:

• Entries must be mailed to Common Good Books (38 S Snelling Ave, St Paul MN 55105), postmarked no later than April 15, 2017.
• Please send two copies of your poem.
• Entries must be a single poem.
• The entries must be original work, previously unpublished, and the author must have full rights to the material.
• Only one entry per person is permitted.
• The contest is open to anyone living within the United States.

It's that time of year again.  Here's my poem for this year.

Step by Step

Before dawn
When the cardinal begins to sing
Before I lift my head from my pillow
I need help.
I'm fearful of all
Things beyond my control.

When I feel the warm water
Streaming down my neck and back
I lather, rinse, and repeat
And this helps me.

The minty taste of the toothpaste
Takes my morning breath away
And I part my hair in the same place.
This also helps me.

Quietly I descend the stairs tom the kitchen
Begin the Mr. Coffee brewing
And peel an orange, as always.
This helps me, too.

My Scotty's nose nudges my leg
So off we go on our morning walk.
He pulls me past the property line
Into the chaos of the fearful unknown.
I hope no one I love
Dies today.