The Alfred C.
O’Connell Library Proudly Announces
The Fifth Annual GCC Student Poetry Contest Winners
First Prize - Brendan Cockman,
Fine Arts Major
the june-bug hum
planted on the concrete curbs
sneaker's laces ensnare a lady bug
red licorice,
candy cigarettes,
sun worship without a name.
wheat fields filled me,
tree roots in my chest
the earth is to rest.
the grass between train tracks
to run too fast through
and the gravel to slide down.
sneakers rough and
painted with earth,
a gift of fleeting endlessness.
blowing down the dandelion feathers,
a gift from me to bumble bees.
I laugh in tune
with the june-bug hum,
and blow entangled into
the maple leaves.
my recollection,
a stifled ease.
Second
Prize - Ashley Versaggi, General Studies/Chemistry Major
Obsolete
I can hear, shrill,
a high-pitched abhorr'd
wailing whine
of current in my heart
that is neither
alternating nor direct
in it's consummation of
my very being.
Electric lips of
silicon and copper
widen in a silent scream
that tells the story of
our binary love in 0's
and 1's; streaming
forever green on an old,
abandoned monitor screen.
Whatever happened to
our perfect power source;
our union of plug
and socket? Swept away
in ever changing
technological advances
making our love,
the day after, obsolete.
Third
Prize - Laura Huff, Fine Arts Major
in this frothy water
thin, elusive metaphors
slither past our alcohol-soiled lips
dripping with bromide and sweet humidity
so as I twist my emotions into complicated knots
the volume knobbed turned all the way up in my head,
my fingers are as round and thin as lightning bolts
just like your lies
but clear as day and black as midnight
dropping knees
dents in the carpet
maybe the blacktop, covered in ice
late night sweets
this is reality
moonlit fan blades
foggy windows
sexy, steamy glances on Sunday afternoons
make excuses
be (stay) transparent
sing me to sleep
sing me to sleep
Math
Poem - Tenneal Cline, Health Studies Major
Empirical Rule
When a set of data has symmetry
A bell shaped distribution it will be.
Sometimes called a normal curve
One should make sure their data does not swerve.
However, when the data runs amuck
You will not have any luck.
But if you use the Empirical Rule
The data will play it oh so cool.
So what percentage falls in this so called rule?
68% lie within 1 standard deviation of the mean
95% lie within 2 standard deviations of the mean
99.7% lie within 3 standard deviations of the mean
Now, hopefully your data will be clearly seen.
Honorable
Mention - Brendan Cockman, Fine Arts Major
explanation #17
I'm sheets of green paper,
and with an august broom
up into pine trees.
I'm
tracing paper for
western new york
vernacular.
A storage room for quarters.
Four quarters for mood change.
Honorable
Mention - John Fiske, General Studies Major
Ear Grey
Make melody a remedy
notes written on teabags.
Submerge in the boil
Words do float.
Sink these songs
that catch in the throat
Make them sour; or sweet
That I may stand on two feet.
Honorable
Mention - Hameed Sharifi, Criminal Justice Major
Where I'm From
I'm from the land of blood.
From ashy land and smoky air.
I'm from red river of kabul.
From my township's ash,
and townsmen's cry of scared young children
searching for their families' bodies.
I'm from scorched houses and black sky.
From the dirt streets of kabul,
bloody streets and burned bodies,
it smells like the fish market.
I'm from too many weapons,
in burned tanks and black grass,
from my school's ash.
I'm from the policeman's word, wisely resounding,
"boro ba khana en ja astada na show."
(Go home don't stay here.)
I'm from cold weather and dark nights.
from my country's smoke,
and dark days in my township.
I'm from those times.
