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Lustgarten Poetry Contest   First Prize Poem
 
Poem submitted by Stacey Lawrence of South Orange, New Jersey
 
Diagnosis
That first night
we sleep side by side
on a soft grey couch
television on
background noise
to distract us
 
Sweating, I wake
midway through a
dark night
to static and panic
I press bare knees
to my chest then
 
tiptoe to the kitchen
methodically
grab a bottle
uncork and sniff
search for a glass
and pour, hands shaking
 
dry floral hues tickle
my throat as I lean
on the cluttered counter
and try to ignore
that he suffers
in the next room
 
Aimless. I saunter
barefoot on linoleum
reading recipe cards
I yank open
 a drawer and stack
 pens in piles
 
alphabetize
the spice rack
Anise, Basil, Cloves
I scrub a burnt pot
until my fingers are raw
and take another gulp
 
The rooms are
hazy and quiet
But for a fizzle of
late night talking heads
saying nothing
I hang on anyway
 
to every useless word
 
                                                  Stacey Lawrence
 
 
 
 
 

Second Prize Winning Poem Poetry Contest to Benefit the Lustgarten Foundation Poem submitted by Joanne Pilgrim of East Hampton Refugee Field of blue lights, Cirrus, nimbus, anvil and dark A minefield map of maybes, goodbyes The jet climbs nose up in arrogant assumption while the public walking towards borders become traffic jammed into corners jammed onto muddy fields jammed and in the frame of the railway bed crossing the camp two lie on jagged gravel pulling the corners of wool blankets together so no more wind no more can get in and in the center of thin tents on stony ground an open flap frames two kissing, their static electricity left to touch Their faces together they scale the sheer tips of each stone’s pointed edge on hips on knees on necks on feet on each footprint and fragment of dreams they try together to trap And as the bundles are gathered, backs unbent, we warn, don't risk your hope under wires, jackboots, guns, you will lose what you have but the hum grows, and the barbed wire, tangled, catches the sun The guards shift from foot to booted foot, their weapon hands tighten and maybe one young man in the forward push hears the crack, sees the tear gas bloom and the children, eyes stinging, are anointed Spent shells in a row like sculpture, a line of stenographic words in a tongue we cannot hear We wake up in a time zone far away, We send doctors and boxes and trucks Some of us go to help because it is not something we can’t It can’t we can’t it can’t be but all we can do is pass out shirts and oranges while others try to protect the commonplace saying the carriers of the inconceivable cannot come here And I picture a Syrian girl’s dark curls, small wrists reaching from her unraveling sweater to hold her father’s hand and in his eyes— I would use words like steadfast, grateful, frustrated, strong, though his eyes are tight against those scenes he wants to wash from his daughter’s eyes But what do I know of him, what do I know Joanne Pilgrim
Third Prize Poem Poetry Contest to Benefit the Lustgarten Foundation Poem written by Cecilia Crittenden, O.P. (deceased), Submitted by her friends Barbara and Ray Bozzello of Hampton Bays Preface: It is with a grateful heart that I thank each of you for your continued prayers and support. I appreciate so much your cards, prayers, and Mass enrollments. As I live through those days I find myself writing about the experience of living with cancer and I would like to share with you the following: Intercession Prayers are falling out of the mouths of friends and strangers filling up the void between heaven and earth seeking miracles, healing of affliction, a remedy to save my life. Prayer surrounds me, a staff to lean upon for strength, a cloud to hide me from despair, a pillar of fire to guide me through the dark. Prayer lifts me out of my diminished self, carries me on subtle wings to resting on the arms of God. Cecilia Crittenden, O.P.







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