Photo by Lois Nantais
Uproar invites writers of all genres to submit their works written in consideration of our seasonal theme. Three times annually, moderators will select the best submissions and publish them here. Each spring, we will hold the Carmen Ziolkowski Poetry Prize (click here for details Carmen Ziolkowski Poetry Prize). See “About Us” for general submission criteria About
For the fourth annual Carmen Ziolkowski Poetry Prize, First prize, $500, donated by Carmen’s family, was awarded to Don Narkevic, a poet from Buckhannon, West Virginia.
Narkevic’s compelling poem on craftsmanship and ancestry in “Emerging Stone” resonated with the judges. Jim Ziolkowski remarked, “I think this would bring my mother back to Italy and the family farm. My mom would also think about the rough stones carved by men in Italy. I like this poem.”
Second prize, $250, was awarded to Sarnia poet Najah Shuqair for the careful detail and natural rhythm in “The Garden’s Quiet Song,” and third prize, $100, was awarded to Burlington poet Karen Kerekes for the emergent images and ideas in “When Irises Bloom.”
Honourable Mentions were awarded to Josie Di Sciasio-Andrews, of Oakville, for the captivating perspectives on time and place in “Flowers in Blue Vase,” and to Mary Anne Griffiths, of Ingersoll, for “Looking at the Bed in Candlelight” and its sharp depictions of inheritance and transition.
This year over seventy poems were submitted from across Canada and abroad, and the winners were selected by Carmen’s friends and fellow writers Ryan Gibbs, Rhonda Melanson, and Lois Nantais, as well as Carmen’s son Jim Ziolkowski.
Carmen Ziolkowski was a beloved Sarnia poet born near Naples, Italy. In her spirit, The Lawrence House Literary Arts Committee sought well-crafted poetry that was heartfelt, nature-based, and hopeful for this fourth annual Poetry Prize in her honour.
Carmen immigrated to Canada in 1955, and she studied journalism at Port Huron Junior College and taught creative writing at Lambton College. Her books of poetry include Roses Bloom at Dusk (Vesta Publications), World of Dreams (River City Press), and The Moon Before the Sun (Beret Days Press).
She and her husband Bruno had two sons, Robin and Jim, and three grandchildren, Alexandra, Nicholas, and Samantha. She loved her family, nature, travel, and literature. A vibrant member of the Sarnia-Lambton writing community, Carmen passed away on December 26, 2018, at the age of 94.
Like Father’s unfinished life, the half-dressed donated stone stands in the farm’s front yard true as an oak. A traveling mason settles for pasta and peas at the family cemetery. The youngest daughter whispers Father’s name in his hairy ear like a sad girlhood secret, her tears pooling like stars in his chip-pitted cheek. Later,
In the quiet of the morning, I dig my hands into the earth, lettuce leaves stretch to the sun, garlic bulbs whisper beneath the soil. Onions peek through, a humble promise, Roma tomatoes blush with summer heat, cucumbers curl, hidden in the green. Basil stretches its arms toward the sky, while thyme and oregano weave
in springtime, the earth rumbles and the sun-kissed soil begins to stir slender leaves suddenly begin wriggling their way to the surface, eager to drink misty raindrops and bask in the balmy air and I wait, with anticipation for the sturdy stems that will rise in the days to come, sprouting their bearded petals of
This blue vase So rough to the touch Beneath my fingertips The leaves are velvet tongues Still life of zinnias Daffodils and marigolds Arrange the view On blue linen tablecloth Outside Behind the window pane Dreamscapes glisten The earth beckons Beyond the cultivated fields To chance our way Through groves of thickest darkness See the
brittle snow countless needles dropping today I knit up sad and black into a sweater would not stay folded in the drawer how can a body stitched with bone fit in this? stretched, bed’s length all night weedy symbols root in the mind in the dirt outside under snow broken nails, pins are growing into
