1st Place –Veronica Tucker DO
Return
clinic door swings wide
and the woman I Narcaned
brings cookies this time
Statement from the author Veronica Tucker: Veronica Tucker is an emergency medicine and addiction medicine physician, lifelong New Englander, and married mother of three. Her writing explores the intersections of caregiving, trauma, and healing—both in her patients and herself.
2nd Place — Luther Allen
every day the saddle creaks louder
as i ride this tired horse
named body
Statement from the author Luther Allen: I am a retired building designer with an academic background in biology and geography, living near Bellingham, WA. I view writing poetry as my spiritual practice.
3rd Place — Renata Golden
Marigolds
Musky garland stalks
adorning Aztec altars—
paths home for the dead
Statement from the author Renata Golden: Originally from the South Side of Chicago, I live in Santa Fe, New Mexico, where I am a poet and writer with an MFA in creative writing from the University of Houston. My essay collection Mountain Time: A Field Guide to Astonishment, which won the 2024 Southwest Book Award, was published by CSU Press/UGA Press in March 2024; other poems and essays have been published in numerous literary journals and anthologies and have been finalists for several awards, including the New Mexico/Arizona book award and the River Teeth Nonfiction Contest.
4th Place — Elizabeth Buttimer
Survivor
Like a palm that bends
but does not break in a storm,
bold tree rebounds strong.
Statement from the author, Elizabeth Buttimer: I am an entrepreneur, former educator, manufacturer, cancer survivor, and writer incorporates ordinary scenes of every day life revealing the extraordinary tucked within. Small town life, the American south, nature, and history inspire her work.