3rd Place in the Margo LaGattuta Memorial Award Category in the 2021 PSM Poetry Contest by Dr. Emory Jones of Iuka, MS.

A hidden yellowjacket nest,
an ankle-twisting curb, those
hungry mosquitoes lurking
in the shade of the maple tree,
a practical joke at your expense,
that word that always used to be
at your fingertips – a threat
in every corner, except in bed
with the covers pulled up. Once
you’ve brushed away the spiders.
Steve Williams/ Munith, Michigan
Category 1: Margo LaGattuta Memorial Award: Judge: Joy Gaines-Friedler
1st I’d Have Painted Him in Altenburg,… Lynn Pattison, Kalamazoo, MI
2nd Antinomy Thom Porter, Woodhaven, MI
3rd Reverie at Slack Time Dr. Emory Jones, Iuka MS
HM Premonition Lori Zurvalec, Grosse Pointe, MI
Category 2: Chancellor’s Prize: Judge: Eric Torgersen
1st How Will I Find Absolution Diana Hart, Kalamazoo, MI
2nd Current Resume Art Curtis, Bellaire, MI
3rd You Don’t Know Colleen Alles, Grand Rapids, MI
HM The Girl with a Green and a Brown Eye Nadia Ibrashi, Troy, MI
Category 3: Founder’s Prize: Judge: Russell Thorburn
1st Michigan State Fair 1960’s Roberta Brown , Royal Oak, MI
2nd Skinny Dipping at Cranbrook Janice Zerfas, Eau Claire, MI
3rd Leaving Tawas, July 3rd Christian Belz, Pontiac, MI
HM New Buffalo Cassandra Caverhill, Ann Arbor, MI
Category 4: Barbara Sykes Memorial Humor Poem: Judge: Elizabeth Kerlikowske
1st You Probably Are One Too Laura Sweeney, Bloomington, IL
2nd Learning to Sit Ann Weil, Ann Arbor, MI
3rd Shifting Gears Milton Bates, Marquette, MI
HM Not Yet Robotic Robert Erlandson, Birmingham, MI
Category 5: George Dila Memorial Prose Poem: Judge: Robert Fanning
1st Toad Dawn McDuffie, Detroit, MI
2nd Home Visit Patricia Barnes, Wyandotte, MI
3rd Churned Terry Jude Miller, Richmond, TX
HM Sea of Stars Simon A. Thalmann, Kalamazoo, MI
Category 6: Nature: Judge: Alinda Wasner
1st Wingbound II: Elegy Shy of Lamentation Barbara Saunier, Marne, MI
2nd Call Winter Home Patricia Barnes, Wyandotte, MI
3rd Swarm Warning Iris Underwood, Leonard, MI
HM Japanese Maple Diana Dinverno, Troy, MI
Category 7: Love: Judge: Sue William Silverman
1st The World Will Always Welcome Lovers Barbara Saunier, Marne, MI
2nd What Her Eyes Did Randy K. Schwartz, Ann Arbor, MI
3rd Bringing Late Lorraine Jeffery, Orem, UT
HM A Sort of Love Poem John Jeffire, Macomb, MI
Category 8: Music: Judge: M. L. Liebler
1st Song and Dance Nadia Ibrashi, Troy, MI
2nd Music Ellen Lord, Charlevoix, MI
3rd The House That Jack Built Sold On Jazz, Diana Cornell, Spring Lake, MI
HM Player of Player Pianos, a Love Poem, Sophia Rivkin, Southfield, MI
Category 9: Loss: Judge: Zilka Joseph
1st New Widow Ellen Lord, Charlevoix, MI
2nd Mothers Claire Scott, Oakland, CA
3rd Noise Trek Janice Zerfas, Eau Claire, MI
HM there, then David Fitch, Lathrup Village, MI
Category 10: Women and Science: Judge: Diane DeCillis
1st Fluids Leak Like Rivers Nadia Ibrashi, Troy, MI
2nd I Am a Standard Candle Janice Zerfas, Eau Claire, MI
3rd Brushstrokes and Stars Carla Dodd, Waterford Township, MI
HM Peggy Whitson Patricia Barnes, Wyandotte, MI
Congrtulations winners and thank you to all who entered!
GREAT LAKE
We know it’s there
beyond the fringe of trees
We hear it lap the shore
lick grains of sand erasing
our footprints
Wracks pile against rocks
white with gull guano
Each wave rinses clean
each bird replenishes
Mary Jo Stich / Denmark, Wisconsin
Today I”m going to jot a poem down without a lot of thinking. I’m going to choose one word (probably something nature but for sure a noun) and use it as much as seems prudent in the poem. Then I’m going to the dictionary like Harryette Mullen and look up my noun. When I find out, I’m going to count 7-10 nouns away in either direction and find a substitute for the chosen noun. I’ll go back to my poem, substitute it and see if there are any interesting lines or phrases that work. Perhaps it changes everything for the better. Perhaps it’s stupid. You won’t know til you try.