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 2, 2017

April 2, 2017

“Farewell, My Love”
By Carli Zimmerman

Now that you are gone
What am I to do
With these memories of you
Still wanting to be with you
I close my eyes
To imagine that you are here with me
I am wondering how to let go
To the love I used to know
Why were you taken away from me
After you promised not to leave
How do I say goodbye to the one
How to love, how to care
How to share
My life with you
The memories of the one that
I’ve held so dear to my heart
Hoping we would never have to part
But I know that you’re still with me
In my heart and in my dreams
But it’s time to say farewell, my love. 

“I’m in the Accounting program. I wrote this poem for my fiancé who passed away in January of 1999. I still read it when I think of him and of all the good times we had together.”

* * * * * * * * *

“To Rhyme or Not to Rhyme”
By Jim Jarvis 

I tried to write a poem without using rhyme
Cause free verse poetry allows more depth of feeling
But no matter how much I tried, I had a devil of a time
Old habits die hard and my struggles left me reeling

I put on my serious mask and let my emotions churn
Hoping words would appear to move readers to ponder
But you know how it is, some people never learn
And my brain has a mind of its own and soon it began to wander

Depressed at my failure, I'll never be a Bard
For whom accolades and renown will be won
But on myself I guess, I should not be too hard
Because with rhyming I'm sure having fun 

“I once read a poem about math. It had to do with the Fibonacci sequence and was quite clever. I am not nearly so clever so here is my feeble attempt.”