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Welcome to Garden 0408 in
ARTELLA'S POETRY GARDENS OF FAME!

Click the links below to read the winning poems for April/May, 2008.

Poetry Gardens of Fame Index

First Place
Second Place
Third Place
Fourth Place




FIRST PLACE WINNER


Ritah Chumdermpadetsuk


Certain as the Sun
by Ritah Chumdermpadetsuk

The golden smear,
Like honey plastered across the blanketed sky,
Like the kaleidoscope eyes of an inquisitive child,
Illuminates the ancient beauty,
Until she glows like the violinist’s smile.

Regret dwells in the silhouette of trees,
As the sweet scent of yesterday,
Fills my nostrils like a bouquet of three dozen roses,
The fragrance of sunshine crosses the line between happiness and sorrow,
At the end of today and start of tomorrow.

Leaves rustle,
Like the soundless symphony of birds,
And the quiet chords of my guitar,
Like a lover’s whispered sonnets,
And pianissimo ballads sung by a father.

The swinging branches,
Like the pendulum of the tree’s arms,
Contort as they embrace me.
Its trunk feels coarse and unbalanced,
Like life on its harrowing journey.

A stolen moment of glory,
Arrives as the sun sets.
Shattered promises are fleetingly forgotten,
As sunlight makes a pledge
To return come daybreak.


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SECOND PLACE WINNER

A Yearning
by Tanu D. Sharma

Mounting sun lends a perfect contrast to scarlet sky.
Flapping their wings twittering auks glide high.
Chromate palms jive to the tunes of aquatic zephyr;
Quivering gently, they celebrate the notion of life.
Glaring bonfire flares up my passionate desires.
Cascading water mimics my dubiety, mocks at my discretion.
My fate makes me ponder, makes me question -
O my sweetheart! Where do you disappear?
Where do you lie hidden in this Elysium?
My solitary heart yearns for your presence,
whistling the chorus of divinity,
bidding earnestly to embrace you
in this moment of felicity.

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THIRD PLACE WINNER



Affirmation of Her Heart
by Kimberly Tilghman

My heart is tired.
Beleaguered by the passing of time.
She yearns for rest in peaceful solitude,

My spirit is angry.
A warrior, she rages against the assault on her life,
Guarding the precious repositories of her strength.

My faith is tattered.
Storms of chaos have left her gasping for air,
Scattering her center across a mournful plain of despair.

My soul is weeping.
Mourning the passing of dreams stripped naked by reality,
She holds a shimmering seed of hope within her hands.

I am strong.
I will grant my heart rest and solitude.
I will choose to face and quiet the rage.
I will seek out and rebuild my faith.
I will cleanse and comfort my soul.

In the fertile ground of my life I will plant the seed.
My spirit will provide the light.
My faith will provide the shelter.
My soul will provide the nourishment.

In the garden of my life,
Born from the seed of my hope,
Tended by the nature of who I am,
Love will grow abundant,
Bearing fruit for all who have a place within my heart,
And we will be at peace.



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FOURTH PLACE WINNER

From Violets to Violence
by Sheree Hucklebery

Faces and figures that only he can see.
Heartsounds emit from his friend, the radio.
The past and the present are entwining him
As a once-hopeful future is lost in the din.
Upon dawn’s early light and throughout his days, now,
He knows to bear witness to what they say now
From, "You are waste" and "Nobody wants you"
To, "Take your life now. I’ll even go with you!"

Shadowy forms on the ceiling and walls
Reach down to him: his tormentors’ calls
Where light is the dark and dark is the light;
Where night is the day and day is the night.
It’s a foregone conclusion, these garbled voices,
Bedlam’s intrusions interrupting his choices.
The velveteen violets too calmly revealed
Will soon be replaced by violence concealed.

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