2026 Adult Poetry Writing Contest: Winner and runners-up

Winner: "Summer Memories" by Rika Simmons

Summer Memories

*Original submission written on a typewriter

Looking back across the years,

Perusing memories, laughter, tears;

A summer day, so carefree spent

Playing under a blanket tent.

Or reading books on a quilt-laid place

Dappled with sun-and-shadow lace,

Beneath our treasured apple tree – 

A favorite childhood place to be.

Riding bikes on dusty roads, 

Catching fireflies, chasing toads,

Wading barefoot in the brook,

Retracing our steps on the path we took

Through woods and meadows gold with hay–

A wonderful place to dream and play.

Riding horses with our friends,

Long summer days till the sunset ends.

Swimming and picnics down at the creek;

It seems there were more days than in a week.

Cousins and relatives always around, 

The excitement of making a trip into town:

New library books, and a trip to the park,

Errands completed, then home before dark.

Snacks at the drugstore, before leaving town,

On white wrought-iron chairs as the fans turned around.

Sundays with church and a big family meal,

Then a long afternoon with hours to fill,

Visiting family, or friends coming by,

Going up in the plane with our dad, to fly.

Those Bible School weeks of religion and crafts,

New friends, fun and stories, snacks, songs and laughs.

When rainy days came we were never dismayed;

We’d march through the puddles in umbrella parades.

Eating watermelon, sliced in a wedge,

Then getting hosed off at the porch's edge.

Warm summer nights, sitting out in the yard, 

Gazing up skyward, and looking so hard

To find all the patterns of stars in the night, 

Sitting next to our mother, hugging us tight.

Long summer days, spent so long ago….

Time marches on, but the memories don’t go.

The apple tree’s gone, but the creek is still there;

My kids wade there now, to explore, play and share.

On visits back home they’ve grown to know

The childhood places that I loved so.

Where parents and grandparents before us played

In sunny gold meadows or tree-dappled shade.

Where did the years go? How did they slip past?

I really don’t know… I’m glad memories last.

Second place: MI ENEMIGO by Violeta Elizalde Blancas

MI ENEMIGO

(Original version)

Yo tuve un enemigo,

que mis pasos seguía

y aunque parezca extraño

yo no lo conocía

Mis planes y mis metas

todo desbarataba

mis mejores deseos

por él no los lograba

Un día pude encontrarlo

reclamé su cinismo

le destape la cara

y me encontré a mí mismo

No le encontré constancia

valor ni compromiso

y eso me mantenía

tirada sobre el piso

Lo que si le encontré

fue el miedo y la tristeza

que eran los dos aliados

de mi total pereza

Estuve distraída

culpando a la gente

sin siquiera saber

que yo era mi oponente

Buscaba toda escusa

cubriendo mis temores

y lo que conseguí

perder a mis amores

Nunca quise aceptar

mis traumas de la infancia

creía sobrellevar

el tiempo en la distancia

Errores no tenía

siempre había un culpable

los otros eran malos

yo siempre era la amable

Que duro fue encontrarme

infeliz y egoísta

pues iba haciendo daño

sin tener una pista

Soberbia y prepotencia

coraje y amargura

todos los aprendemos

desde la primer cuna

Los traumas de la vida

todos los disfrazamos

y ante tantos tormentos

después los destapamos

Y así fue como pude

vencer a mi enemigo

yo me abrí ante él

me compartió su abrigo

Dejé ya de pensar

que los otros ME HACÍAN

asumí ser actor

de esas fantasías

Desde ese largo día

todo se transformó,

pues aquel enemigo

mi amigo se volvió

Mi antiguo inconsciente

que antes interfería

después me ayudaba

y mis deseos cumplía

Una vez que mis planes

a él yo le confiaba

casi sin darme cuenta

él solo los lograba

Hoy estamos de acuerdo

descubrí la verdad

todo ahora me es más fácil

todo puedo lograr

Puedo ayudar a otros

y no temo al destino

porque sólo soy yo

quien marca mi camino

Ahora que ya no existe

conflicto entre los dos

puedo llegar a todo

incluso hasta a DIOS.

MY ENEMY

(English version)

I once had an enemy

who followed my every step

and though it seems strange

I did not know him well

He dismantled my plans

and shattered my goals

my greatest desires

he made them unachievable

One day I found him

I challenged his cynicism

I uncovered his face

and found it was myself

I found no constancy

no valor or commitment

and that kept me

lying on the ground

But what I did find

was fear and sadness

the two allies

of my total laziness

I was distracted

blaming others

without even knowing

that I was my own opponent

I sought excuses

to hide my fears

and what I achieved

was losing my loves

I never wanted to accept

my childhood traumas

I thought I could bear them

they follow me through time and distance

I made no mistakes

there was always a culprit

others were bad

I was always the kind one

How hard it was to find

myself, unhappy and selfish

causing harm

without a clue

Arrogance and superiority

anger and bitterness

we all learn these

from the very cradle

The traumas of life

we all disguise

and through many storms

later we reveal them

And that’s how I managed

to defeat my enemy

I opened up to him

and he shared his cloak

I stopped thinking

that others MADE ME

I took on the role

in those fantasies

Since that long day

everything transformed,

for that enemy

became my friend

My old unconscious

that once interfered,

then helped me

and fulfilled my desires

Once I entrusted him

with my plans

almost without realizing

he alone achieved them

Today we’re in agreement

I discovered the truth

everything is now easier

I can achieve it all

I can help others

and fear no fate

for only I

mark my own path

Now that there’s no conflict

between the two of us

I can reach everything

even GOD.

Third place: Broken Chandeliers by Elizabeth Timmerman

Broken Chandeliers

The wind was hungry last night.

First, she iced every inch of every tree

then huffed and puffed

trying to blow everything down.

This morning, the trees –

only made of sticks and twigs

lay scattered across the grass

on beds of shattered ice

like a broken chandelier

littering a parquet floor.

The silence in the air

spoke of satisfaction

while the wolf was

nowhere to be found.

- - -

Honorable Mention: a poem by Hazel Erikson

Denial of existence results in revolution and revolvers. 

Hiding from the violence, behind a mask made out of self-deception. 

We must change the narrative. Through community. Through love. 

WE EXIST! 

Black, trans, queer, nonbinary, immigrants, women, indigenous people, and all those who are forced into oppression will always exist, and will always fight back. 

WE EXIST! 

Forever and forever. 

Conversations in a classroom, is an act of liberation and an act of changing the narrative. Through community. Through love. 

We shout, WE EXIST! 

We will never let anyone tell us that we are not allowed to exist, because we are living proof that we do exist and we will always exist. 

Through books, through art, through music, through education, through stories.

We exist.