Listed by Category
Category #1: Single Parents
Judge: Susan Stevens Chambers, MN
1st Place: Daniel Fitzgerald, “Alone is Here, Too”
2nd Place: Rita Yager, “Side Hustle”
3rd Place: Nancy Cook, “Being Black”
1st Honorable Mention: Candace Armstrong, “My Mother’s Dress”
2nd Honorable Mention: Gail Denham, “Agreeable Irene”
3rd Honorable Mention: Caroline Johnson, “My Sister”
Category #2: Free Verse
Judge: Alan Harris, AZ
1st Place: Linda Banks, “Sanctity”
2nd Place: Maureen Flannery, “For the Children of My Uncles”
3rd Place: Charlotte Digregorio, “Capturing the Moment”
1st Honorable Mention: Beth Staas, “Playing Marbles”
2nd Honorable Mention: Marianne Forman, “Waiting in Line at the Piggly Wiggly”
3rd Honorable Mention: Terry Loncaric, “The Rhythm of Bourbon Street”
Category #3: Formal Verse
Judge: Carole Mertz, OH
1st Place: Catherine Moran, “Walking past the city streets”
2nd Place: Linda Banks, “Near and Far”
3rd Place: Jeffrey Santosuosso, “Fifteen Rounds”
1st Honorable Mention: Patrice Claeys, “Crossing the Chicago River at Wabash”
2nd Honorable Mention: Elise Kazanjian, “The Magic of Water”
3rd Honorable Mention: Lorelei Kay, “That Autumn Scent”
Category #4: Humorous Poem
Judge: Joe Cavanaugh, FL
1st Place: Jerri Hardesty, “Be Careful What You Wish For”
2nd Place: Lynda LaRocca, “The Anti-Rubayat”
3rd Place: Mark Hudson, “In Praise of Big Greek Women”
1st Honorable Mention: Linda Banks, “School-Girl Heart”
2nd Honorable Mention: Nick Sweet, “Ruse de Cezanne”
3rd Honorable Mention: Rita Yager, “Thursdays at the Rhapsody Café”
Category #5: Social Conscience
Judge: Jared Smith, CO
1st Place: Curt Vevang, “At the Library”
2nd Place: Lorelei Kay, “Stuck”
3rd Place: Gail Goepfert, “I heard them coming”
1st Honorable Mention: Sheila Elliott, “The Prayer That It’s Not Real”
2nd Honorable Mention: Lucia Robinson, “A Rant After Confession”
3rd Honorable Mention: Sara Gipson, “War Dragons”
Category #6: Miniature Poem
Judge: Lisken Van Pelt Dus, MA
1st Place: Maureen Flannery, “Less of the Excess”
2nd Place: Ann Clark, haiku
3rd Place: Bonnie J. Manion, “Anchor”
1st Honorable Mention: Becky Alexander, haiku
2nd Honorable Mention: Lynda LaRocca, “Beaded”
3rd Honorable Mention: Patrice Claeys, “Champagne Grapes”
Category #7: Nature
Judge: Peter Ludwin, WA
1st Place: Caroline Johnson, “Dance of the Adders”
2nd Place: Kate Hutchinson, “Labyrinth”
3rd Place: Camille Balla, “At the Window of My World during the Pandemic”
1st Honorable Mention: Mary L. Thompson, “Earthquake Seasons”
2nd Honorable Mention: Michael Escoubas, “Two Men in a Boat”
3rd Honorable Mention: Melissa Huff, “Sakura”
Category #8: Healthcare Workers
Judge: Lucy Tyrrell, WI
1st Place: Nancy Cook, “From the hundred poems as told by the nurse”
2nd Place: Wilda Morris, “Praise”
3rd Place: Tanya Whitney, “Angels of Mercy”
1st Honorable Mention: Sara Gipson, “They Followed the Troops”
2nd Honorable Mention: Barbara Blanks, “Somalia Survival”
3rd Honorable Mention: Linda Banks, “Certainty in a Time of Uncertainty”
Category #9: Telephones/Digital Communications
Judge: Salvatore Marici, IL/FL
1st Place: Linda Wallin, “#nolimits”
2nd Place: Ninetta DeBoni, “Spreading the Love”
3rd Place: Michael Escoubas, “No Service”
1st Honorable Mention: Maureen Flannery, “When Technology is All We Have”
2nd Honorable Mention: Kate Hutchinson, “My Mother Speaks to Me in a Dream”
3rd Honorable Mention: Patrice Claeys, “Phone Call”
Category #10: Historical Events
Judge: Russell Strauss, TN
1st Place: Kate Hutchinson, “Katherine Johnson”
2nd Place: Daniel Fitzgerald, “D-day Reunion”
3rd Place: Maureen Flannery, “Wakova’s Vision”
1st Honorable Mention: Barbara Blanks, “Battle of Verdun”
2nd Honorable Mention: Lynda LaRocca, “Trinity Site”
3rd Honorable Mention: Melvin Goldberg, “The Black Lawn Footman”
Category #11: Aches (Physical or Emotional)
Judge: Robin Scofield, TX
1st Place: Gail Goepfert, “I Wish I Had Gotten His Name”
2nd Place: Marianne Forman, “Midnight Novena in a Coal Mining Town”
3rd Place: Maureen Flannery, “Western Endurance”
1st Honorable Mention: Barbara Blanks, “At Close of Day”
2nd Honorable Mention: Nancy Cook, “Lost Summer”
3rd Honorable Mention: Nick Sweet, “Aunt Sue – Then/Now”
Category #12: Pets
Judge: Budd Mahan, TX
1st Place: Curt Vevang, “It’s Just Shep and Me”
2nd Place: Barbara Blanks, “For the Love of Baxter”
3rd Place: Lynda LaRocca, “(Dis)obedience School”
1st Honorable Mention: Patrice Claeys, “Vana”
2nd Honorable Mention: Melvin Goldberg, “The Cat Poem”
3rd Honorable Mention: Becky Alexander, “Beanie and Bud”
Category #13: Ekphrastic Poems
Judge: Steven Concert, PA
1st Place: Gail Goepfert, “Beached”
2nd Place: Marcia Pradzinski, “mother and child”
3rd Place: Gene Fendt, “Alexander Borodin, to his wife of thirty years (Quartet #2 in D)"
1st Honorable Mention: Melissa Huff, “Chasm”
2nd Honorable Mention: Patrice Claeys, “Fractal Forest”
3rd Honorable Mention: Caroline Johnson, “Hades Plays the Fiddle”
Category #14: Chicago Area Nature Trails (open to P & P members and poets near Chicago)
Judge: Barbara Blanks, TX
1st Place: Sheila Elliott, “Bearing Witness”
2nd Place: Maureen Flannery, “Without My Seeing It”
3rd Place: Marianne Forman, “Taking Old Eleanor Out for a Spin”
1st Honorable Mention: Wilda Morris, “Report from the Gateway Wetlands – Early April”
2nd Honorable Mention: Kate Hutchinson, “Busse Woods, 1970”
3rd Honorable Mention: Terry Loncaric, “On the Same Path”