Listed by Category
Category #1: Free Verse
Judge: LeRoy Sorenson
1st Place: Gail Denham, “Waiting in the Emergency Room”
2nd Place: Maggie Kennedy, “John Appleseed Speaks His Mind”
3rd Place: Lynda La Rocca, “When the Doors are Closed”
1st Honorable Mention: Kate Hutchinson, “Dad in the Rear View”
2nd Honorable Mention: Barbara Blanks, “So Long and Thanks for All the Riches”
3rd Honorable Mention: Lynn Aprill, “Heartache”
Category #2: Formal Verse
Judge: Susan Chambers
1st Place: Catherine Moran, “He leaves a touch of immortality”
2nd Place: Barbara Blanks, “The Disappearance”
3rd Place: Lynda La Rocca, “Perhaps It Is”
1st Honorable Mention: Lorraine Jeffery, “Hearing Loss”
2nd Honorable Mention: Beth Staas, “Tranquility”
3rd Honorable Mention: Noah Berlatsky, “Lullaby”
Category #3: Humorous
Judge: Joe Cavanaugh
1st Place: Maureen Tolman Flannery, “Cowboy Courts the Widow”
2nd Place: Nick Sweet, “Ruse de Cezanne”
3rd Place: Lynda La Rocca, “Howling at the Moon”
1st Honorable Mention: Tracy Davidson, “That’s Chemistry”
2nd Honorable Mention: Jennifer Dotson, “Winter in Highland Park”
3rd Honorable Mention: Cassandra McGovern, “Considerations of a Driven-Away Catholic”
Category #4: Miniature Poem
Judge: Lisken Van Pelt
1st Place: Dan Fitzgerald, “After the War”
2nd Place: Marianne Peel, “My Mother Was a Clothespin”
3rd Place: Camille A. Balla, “Autumn Takes the Lead”
1st Honorable Mention: Mark G. Hammerschick, “The Old Mexican”
2nd Honorable Mention: James Green, “So You Know”
3rd Honorable Mention: Karian Markos, “Hope”
Category #5: Nature
Judge: Sal Marici
1st Place: Dan Fitzgerald, “Temporary”
2nd Place: Nancy Cook, “The Natural Odor of Things”
3rd Place: James Green, “Catfish”
1st Honorable Mention: Lucia Walton Robinson, “Trees of Life”
2nd Honorable Mention: Charlotte Digregorio, “Autumn Peace”
3rd Honorable Mention: Beth Staas, “Winter’s Hush”
Category #6: Social Conscience
Judge: Barbara Blanks
1st Place: Marianne Peel, “Elegy for George Floyd”
2nd Place: Maureen Tolman Flannery, “Nuremberg Laws”
3rd Place: Charles Kouri, “a dream included me”
1st Honorable Mention: Lynn Aprill, “Transformation”
2nd Honorable Mention: Lorraine Jeffery, “On the Subway”
3rd Honorable Mention: Barbara Lydecker Crane, “Black Warrior”
Category #7: Ekphrastic
Judge: Carole Mertz
1st Place: Caroline Johnson, “Hades Plays the Fiddle”
2nd Place: Maureen Tolman Flannery, “Announcing the Approach of Grace”
3rd Place: Nancy Cook, “Meta-ekphrastic”
1st Honorable Mention: Catherine Moran, “Looking at David”
2nd Honorable Mention: Carol Kanter, “Chiaroscuro Impressions”
3rd Honorable Mention: Barbara Lydecker Crane, “The Poem I Tucked into the Frame”
Category #8: Ode to a Common Object
Judge: Eleanor Berry
1st Place: Caroline Johnson, “Ode to a Paper Clip”
2nd Place: James Green, “Ode to Old Baseball Equipment”
3rd Place: Nancy Cook, “In Praise of a Gift of Verse”
1st Honorable Mention: Tracy Davidson, “Ode to My Vacuum Cleaner”
2nd Honorable Mention: Catherine Moran, “Ode to My Pen”
3rd Honorable Mention: Melissa Huff, “Pomegranate”
Category #9: Inspired by a Poet
Judge: Lisha Garcia
1st Place: John Wolf, “All This is Nothing”
2nd Place: Kate Hutchinson, “Emily”
3rd Place: Nancy Cook, “Poet of True Aim”
1st Honorable Mention: Caroline Johnson, “Modlitwa”
2nd Honorable Mention: Catherine Moran, “Thoughts on My New Love”
3rd Honorable Mention: Marianne Peel, “Meditation After Holding Mary Oliver in My Hands”
Category #10: Re-worked Fairy Tales
Judge: Joan Leotta
1st Place: Lorraine Jeffery, “The Grasshopper and the Ants”
2nd Place: Kate Hutchinson, “Gretel Faces Questioning”
3rd Place: Jerri Hardesty, “Goldie Lox and the Bear Family”
1st Honorable Mention: Tracy Davidson, “The Foot Soldier”
2nd Honorable Mention: Cassandra McGovern, “Peaceful Calais”
3rd Honorable Mention: Tanya Whitney, “Snoring Beauty”
Category #11: Unforgettable
Judge: Cara Hagen
1st Place: Barbara Blanks, “Entranced by David Sanborn”
2nd Place: Marianne Peel, “Teach Me to Dance Because Bodies Never Lie”
3rd Place: Paul Buchheit, “A Son’s Passing”
1st Honorable Mention: Nick Sweet, “Victory Dance, 1945”
2nd Honorable Mention: Lynn Aprill, “54166”
3rd Honorable Mention: Jennifer Dotson, “Thanksgiving Eve in a Connecticut Farmhouse, 1971”
Category #12: Chicago
Judge: Barbara Blanks
1st Place: Cynthia Gallaher, “When Octavio Paz Spoke of Chicago, I Remembered”
2nd Place: Paul Buchheit, “Chicago, A Sonnet”
3rd Place: Dan Fitzgerald, “Yeah, Chicago”
1st Honorable Mention: E. J. Wade, “The Stoop”
2nd Honorable Mention: Carol Kanter, “Homeless”
3rd Honorable Mention: Maureen Tolman Flannery, “A Visitor’s Guide to Chicago Behavior”