And the Winners Are..... Poem: Saying Goodbye to Sarah Lynn

Deadline for entries to the Montgomery County Community College was Feb. 28. It took six weeks to judge all the entries.

The judges? Students.

Knowing that, I entered a love poem - Straying - which years ago Sarah said was really beautiful - and also a short story from the point of view of a cat.

The cat story lost, but luckily Straying won second prize and $75.

The really amazing thing about the contest is that I encouraged everyone in our Saturday Coffeeshop Writers' Group to enter, and everyone who entered, won!



Linda Barrett won third prize for Mr Cat's Revenge and Martha won fourth place for I Wasn't Ready.

Allan Heller, not shown, won fourth place for his short story Serpent. 

Here's Professor Pat Nestler's email, which was titled:

URGENT: You're a Winner in the Fiction & Poetry Contest!!

II. Community Winners

Poetry
1st place:  “And I Am Born to the Sunlit World Again” by Nancy Priff 

2nd place: “Straying” by Ruth Deming 

3rd place:  “Space” by Beth Moulton 

4th place:  “I Wasn't Ready” by Martha Hunter
Honorable Mention:  “Lucifer Descending” by Miriam Parker  

Fiction
1st place:  “Water Walking at the YMCA” by Gunter David  

2nd place: “3rd Degree Circus” by Radnor Law

3rd place:  “Mr. Cat's Revenge” by Linda Barrett
4th place:  “Serpent” by Allan Heller 
Honorable Mention:  “City of Woe” by Nancy Priff

Cows used to graze where the college now stands. Moooo!

First-prize storywinner Gunter David, 84, lives in Weston, CT, with his wife Dalia. They moved there to be around their daughter and her family. Gunter is an outstanding writer, whose works have been widely published, including in Chicken Soup for the Soul.

Now, if you're me, you look up each of the authors to see their work. Beth Moulton is quite good. Read this about Ruby Red Grapefruit and Death. 


There are thousands of lit journals in the world and Beth has published in a few of them. ALWAYS look where people are published and add these journals to your list.


Scott was quite proud of me, of course, and asked if I wanted to go to Whole Foods. He had gift cards from Christmas.


Give me a couple of hours, I said. I wanted to finish up a grant to Beneficial Savings, which I did, then drove it over to the Bryn Athyn 19009 post office and mailed it off.

The bridge has been fixed now for 3 weeks, said Maria, the postmistress, so that's the closest post office. She said it's not really fixed, just temporarily repaired.

PLUNK!

What a marvelous dinner we had, courtesy of Whole Foods. Their renovation is complete and it's a beautiful store.

The large scallops had just arrived at Whole Foods. I cooked em with mushrooms, onion, garlic, and the last of some white wine.

Cindy, who works at the cheese bar and oversees the condiments such as olives, told me these green ones are the least salty.  And a salad.

When Sarah left yesterday, I knew I was gonna write a poem about her.

GOODBYE SARAH LYNN

That musical voice on the phone

“Hi Mom!”

my Sarah Lynn

coming home for a visit

her stays as short as a

robin splashing in the

bird bath out front

Her plane got in this morning

Amsterdam

she and Ethan

spent a romantic seven days

in Tulip Land

I’d never ask, “Did you smoke pot?”

but sitting here on the red couch

she said guests smoke in

coffeeshops, rolling

their own joints,

the smell of dark coffee

and pot making it nearly

impossible to leave

My Sarah looks lovely and thin

muscled arms, at forty,

neck silky smooth

a longer one than mine

How we rightfully treasure

the vitality of youth

the lack of mordant disease:

the detestable families of

cancer, hepatitis, arthritis

and, oh, the marathon race

of the bludgeoned four-

chambered heart

the last sound

we hear

I see her watching my face

and think, “Am I aging, my dear?”

“I’m in no hurry today, Mom,” she says

a voice that rivals the soprano’s lullaby

we sit and talk and munch on

Puccini Bonbons at Gram’s

that flew with her across the wide Atlantic

excited to be part of the great

munching tradition of the Greenwold-

Demings

I pull up my shirt

not to nurse

but to inject

insulin,

the buttercrunch outer

layer on the chocolate-

filled caramels is

my favorite,

Is it worth complications

-going blind or

losing your sweet

curling toes?

I excuse myself, get on the exercise bike

in the living room, to lower my glucose,

marveling at my keen eyesight as

I genuflected before the yellow daffodils

in my back yard

poking their heads from the frozen earth

-the patience of the daffodil –

until the bugle sounded

and their heads appeared

-pleated-

like the skirts of

Catholic schoolgirls

armed with beauty

to delight the passersby

and God

or no-God

We were together from when the

sun came up until it began shutting

down and I left her at her brother’s

with his family and children.

Driving home with my ancient mother

whose cane was in the front seat

and a sister who eats no gluten

I realized this is the best way to

say Goodbye. Have others present.

When I awoke in the morning

in the bed where Sarah slept

the night before, I didn’t smell

the coffee she’d made, or

felt pleased by the granola bar

she helped herself to,

but forgot she had gone

until the white-throated

sparrow began its love cry

in the cold light of dawn.