Contest winners were announced at the WCDR Annual General Meeting on June 12, 2004. Winners in each category received a cash prize and certificate.
i
hungry for shallow
scraps of blueslick moon
bleak furled surf
and lean belly gravel
grind night to embryo
ii
scorched claws of forest edge
beseech the hunched sky
for a thin bleed of rain
iii
fish keep flat-eye time
in blunt tide
and seaweed lash
gulls hobble a frayed
foam shore, confident
in bread and grain
and the scattered
salt-starved stars
iv
white as a whale's belly
the still of your hands
in the crucible of a kiss
Tina (T. M.) Grabenhorst ("thirst"). In a perfect world, Tina would travel, write, and read – and receive substantial recompense for doing so. In the real world, Tina left Vancouver and her teaching job of eight years for Windsor, unemployment and graduate school. She is please and honoured to receive this award.
Boxed in, we emptied out
Years of shelfed memory
Anger blew in through open windows,
Soughed among the tall trees
Cardinals and rooks
Dropped from high places
To stand like wounds under
The apple tree
The house withdrew from us.
A strange and eerie silence
Descended the long sweep
Of the stairs, swept
Cavernous rooms
Rattled by emptiness
As the green grass of high
Summer turned to brown
We slipped away
Sloughed old familiar skin
Performed a delicate transformation
The new house
Welcomed us
We paced the yard
Found painted turtle
Four score leopard frogs, and more
Imagined
Another apple tree
Philippa Schmiegelow ("The Apple Tree") has had her work appear in a variety of journals and newsletters; in an Introductory Reader for Canadian Woman Studies (1999); and in and on the cover of WCDR's Signatures: An Anthology (2002). Philippa lives in Port Perry with one handsome prince, four score leopard frogs, several hummingbirds, a flock of American goldfinches, one large and voracious Great Blue Heron, and a gaggle of young grandchildren. She is honoured at being chosen as the second-place winner in the Adult category of the Dan Sullivan contest, and regrets not being able to receive the award and thank the committee in person.
Margaret Malloch Zielinski ("The Voice of the Moon") was born in Scotland, and now lives in Ottawa. She has received awards from the Amethyst Review, CAA, CBC, CPA, Contemporary Verse 2, Valley Writer's Guild, and Zygote, and has been a winner in the Lapointe, Milton Acorn, Orion, Tidepool, and 2001 Dan Sullivan Memorial poetry contests. Her work has been published in the above literary journals, as well as The Antigonish Review, Geist and Room of One's Own.
Scott Constance ("Needles In Hand") was born and raised in Pickering. He attended Flagler College in St. Augustine, Florida, graduating in 1998 with a major in Communications/Creative Writing and a minor in Photography. He enjoys writing poetry and short stories and has had a novel in progress for the last ten years. An avid baseball player and sports fan, Scott now lives in Toronto with his girlfriend and two dogs. He works as a sales professional in the technology industry.
He lurks in the shadows trying to hide
Wanting needing fresh silken thighs
He takes without asking whenever he wants
Alleyways, darkness nightly he haunts
He walks with a sickening bounce in his step
Living, laughing without regret
He feels no remorse for the women he breaks
Not noticing, seeing his many mistakes
Beauty he spies, and beauty he claims
Innocence drain, draining, drained
He seeks no forgiveness, off of fear he feeds
For the sake of his satisfaction her pride bleeds
Etched in her memory an unforgettable face
Carrying the product of an unwanted, despised embrace
Inevitably knowing her soul had been shamed
Concrete stain, staining, stained
The water was dripping, dripping, drop
Alone lonely she lay on top of the dock
Stripped of her virtue unable to cry
Silently, soundless unable to die
Nicole Ferreira ("A Woman's Fear") is 17 years old. She lives in Whitby, Ontario.
Scythed skeletons stand upright
The lone grey trees are moored,
Encircled by the dark waters of the marsh
Forgotten marshals of an outpost long-gone
Sent by a receding forest and
Surrendered to the encroaching bog
Which eagerly sucks up all life,
All nutrients, leaving the husks behind
Gaunt reminders of prosperous times
Soon to be assimilated and disappear
Into the grey mists of a stagnant new age
Heather J. Matthews ("Ancient Settlements of Nature") is 16 years old. She is enrolled in the Special Series Art program at Wexford C.I. in Scarborough. She loves to read, draw, write and listen to music. In 2003 she placed second in the Junior category for the Window on Words poetry competition. Heather will continue to explore the world of poetry in the future.
Step, each careful step brings me higher
From the green anarchy below I go further
Weaving a taut rope from my red banner
To the metallic light of yonder tower
Long ago did I live among that valley
Holding ever high this banner proud
Content within my small and simple pasture
Ever filled with rousing hymns sung clear and loud
Though sometimes sick and filled with hunger
Finding in darkness no reprieve
Never would I wander from that pasture
For I could find no cause to leave
Till the day I stood upon the hill
That rose highest above the rest
And saw a sight that broke my will
Lured me from my nest
A pyramid forged of light
Piercing the fabric of my time
And I, awe struck from such a sight
Obeying the omen, began my climb
Now from afar above my pasture
Do I, now might, stand
Sneering down upon that once dear
So distant from my ruling hand
I near the gleaming tower of light
That seduced me from my rapture
Ignorant of my foolish plight
A mirage I seek to capture
Duncan James Pike ("Pandora's Peak") has recently turned 18, and is a Grade 12 student at Glenlyon Norfolk School in Victoria B.C. When not reading or writing, he enjoys basketball, soccer, squash and playing guitar. More than anything else he likes partying on the beach with his buddies. Next year he'll be teaching English in Costa Rica.
There once was a worm, not particularly big.
He wandered the garden; dig, dig, dig!
He wandered the garden, through rain and through snow.
How long he had been there, he did not know.
He had to be careful of the robin you see,
Because sometimes old redbreast would fly down from her tree!
Then one day the worm said, "I'm tired of it here!"
He was running away, oh dear, oh dear!
But where would he go? He wanted to leave,
But he didn't have food; not even a seed!
Then he came across something quite different to him;
Indeed it was something that fell off a limb.
He dug and he dug through it's red, shiny outside,
It was a whole different world once he was inside!
He took a small bite; mmm...this was good!
Maybe, maybe, just maybe he should...
...Stay here awhile, see how it turns out!
Yes, of course, without a doubt!
So from then on he stayed in his cozy new home;
And with all the food around him, he was OK all alone!
Laura Tomilin ("The Worm in the Apple") lives in Kamsack, Saskatchewan. She is 11 years old and in the sixth grade. Writing is one of her interests, as well as dancing, singing, art, drama, track and field, soccer and basketball. She lives with her mom and dad, a dog, a cat, and a lizard. Laura is happy to have received first prize in the Childrens' category of the Dan Sullivan contest.
Carmel Farahbakhsh ("The Magic of the Canadian Shield") was born in Dartmouth, NS. She is 11 years old. At the age of six, she moved from Dartmouth to the fast-paced city of Edmonton. There she attended Victoria School for performing and visual arts. In the fifth grade Carmel chose to do a project on the Canadian Shield, since it would be close to her next new home, the city of Guelph. She researched, read, and studied pictures of the Shield, then wrote her poem. Driving across the country from Edmonton with her family, she was struck by the beauty and magic of the Canadian Shield, and was delighted to see that it was close to the way she had imagined it. Other than writing poetry and studying Geography, Carmel's interests include playing the violin, drawing, painting, sketching, soccer, track and singing.
James Bengert ("My Cherished X-Box") is a Grade 5 student at Glen Dhu Public School. He is 10 years old and his favourite subject is Math. His ambition is to be a scientist and find a cure for cancer. James plays and referees in soccer, and loves to ski (both snow and water). His favourite hobby is X-Box of course!