Poetry Contests
20th Annual (2021) GCC Student Poetry Contest Winners
Thank you to The Office of Student Engagement and Inclusion for generously providing prizes. Winners were announced at the virtual college-wide student awards ceremony on Thursday, April 29. Congratulations to this year's winners! Special thank you to the Judging Committee: Loy Gross, Jessica Hibbard, Nicki Lerczak, and Mary-Clare Tasber.
Awards:
Best Body of Work: Kaine D’Eredita for Fear of the Mirror, Holiday Sale, and Mourning What’s Not Seen
First Prize: Uriah Howard Allis for Fireflies
Second Prize: Harley Pinto for A Wallflower's Tale
Director's Choice: Morgan Kittle for Eyes Lurking from the Corridors
Fear of the Mirror, Holiday Sale, and Mourning What's Not Seen by Kaine D'Eredita
The lights shine bright delving into the new age, yet my reflection remains quite dark.
Following me are voice tormenting on a peaceful walk through the park.
Stepping out of the shower I see nothing in the mirror but, I still am empty like a vampire’s victim.
There is only one person to which I’d strike with a melee, yet paradoxes and bruises are its only reward.
An hourglass with pitch-black sands counting towards the cremation of the one turning it.
Screaming inside to fend off the remains of an empty vision’s taunt,
I realize the one way to end this grotesque self-inflicted haunt.
I must reach out my empty hand for someone close to catch and wait for a friend to tag in this match.
These Bonds of Steel that banish my devils my own blood has not brought,
And these at one time strangers are the ones who gave me the strength for this battle long fought.
Friends guide my blade, but it is my turn to finalize this battle against my own black heart.
Once there was a man who was old,
Whom sells ale aged in barrels of gold.
In soon time his profits massively shrunk.
People did not want to be getting drunk -
From beer that’s priced hundred-fold.
Mourning what’s not seen,
Standing numb in the driveway –
Burnt by winter winds.
Kaine D'Eredita
fireflies by Uriah Howard Allis
to catch pieces of you
i must first presume
to set aside the metal lid
to which i cling
for fear i would otherwise shatter
for if the confines of my mind
are displaced
they may make space
for the only things that matter
allowing you to enter:
firefly in a glass jar
Uriah Howard Allis
A Wallflower's Taleby Harley Pinto
A Wallflower's Tale
I make mixtapes of memories
Playlists and notes
Cassettes contemplating
the stories I've wrote
Crumbling bricks
and thick thorny vines
border the world
in which I am defined
I watch as the garden
flourishes and grows
but remain as a wallflower
on cracked cobblestones
Perhaps one day
I’ll stray from the ivy,
float down to the ground,
let the wind currents guide me
But for now, at least,
I am content in the shadows,
to watch and to ponder,
as I craft my life’s Logos
I may be in the background
but I’ve blossomed on the vines
and I hope to tell my story through
the thoughts I’ve left behind.
12-13/10/20
Eyes Lurking from the Corridorsby Morgan Kittle
Eyes Lurking from the Corridors
Eyes wander around the tower
With silence reigning in the halls,
Doors wide open to reveal fangs
That glisten in the candlelight.
Do I remember the eyes?
Those that saw through me,
Knew who I am,
Hated every bit of me?
Yes.
With curtains hiding deities
Every corner held a beast.
With hands that reached out of the corridors
Threatening to take you with them.
Shadows prowling amongst the grounds.
The eyes are still there
Lurking within the memories
Never able to shake them away.
Get up on your feet!
Run!
Make the dust fly!
Never go back to the false light,
Never return from whence you came
The monsters that roam the halls will hate and plot,
But you will be okay.
Morgan Kittle