Guidelines

Guidelines: (1) Include your name, the title of your original poem, and a brief comment about yourself; (2) Poems may be in any language (please include an English translation); (3) Poems may not violate Nicolet's Social Media Guidelines; (4) Original poems may be submitted anonymously; (5) Submit poems to Ocie Kilgus (okilgus@nicoletcollege.edu). Students who submit original poems are eligible for the Best Original Poem contest. The student with the best poem will be awarded the Ron Parkinson Poetry Matters Student Scholarship Award in the amount of $300. The community member with the best poem will receive dinner for two at Church Street Inn, Hazelhurst. Upon the closing of the Poetry Project, a faculty committee will select the winning poems. The winners of the contest will be recognized at Nicolet College's Award Ceremonies on May 10.

Sunday, April 13, 2014

April 13, 2014

"Unexpected"
By Jessica Jacobson


Blaring music flowing through the wind
Crunch of the tires against the ground as if smashing bone
Clicking steering wheel, like a ticking time bomb, that just won’t turn
A pop loud enough to be a gun as the tire comes off the rim
Screeching of the rims on the blacktop
Shattering of glass against the mailbox
Metal collapsing in, on top and underneath, just like crushing a soda can
Screaming at the top of your lungs
Sniffling as if congested while trying not to cry
Sirens searing the air, heard all over the town
Clanking metal, almost as if washing the silverware at home
Happy endings turn unhappy fast by one gun popping sound


[See April 11's posting for a brief statement about Jessica Jacobson.]


* * * * * * * * * *


“Meals on Wheels: Lillian”
by Ron Parkinson

Nine days after the blizzard,
not a footprint in the drifts
lapping at Lillian’s life.
She’s dragged her bed to the kitchen,
abandoned the rest of the house,
open oven door holding back the frost,
her final fortification.
Clutches her cotton housecoat at the cleavage,
proudly shows me a picture,
her thirteen children,
nine hulking men,
pressed slacks, sport coats,
none of them holding a shovel.


[See April 6's posting for a brief statement about Ron Parkinson.]