July Challenge Winner

Thank you to the poets who submitted "night poems" for the July Challenge.

Thank you, also, to the four judges, each of whom is a contributor to the Wisconsin Poets’ Calendar 2012. They are Doris Bezio, Susan Gibson, Charlotte Johnson and Mary Cleary Krauss. Selection of the winning poem was not easy, as evidenced by the fact that three different poems received first place votes.

Congratulations to Gail E. Goepfert, whose poem was selected as first by two of the judges and second by the other two.


Nightly in the Summer Garden

Let’s walk the plantation, she said--
such a grand name
for their early evening stroll
to admire all that she had planned
all that he had planted
to survey all that spoke
green in the summer garden.

Her words carried by fireflies
mingle with the garden perfume

Breathtaking lavender-
blues of the hydrangea blooms.

A pink gerbera daisy is poking
through its tunnel of leaves.

Look—violet clematis weaving
along the fence and
five buds on the tea rose--
I’ll cut one for the morning room.

Ivy just creeps across the cocoa beans
Honey, the impatiens need a drink.

Oh, we’d better go inside--
mosquitoes are starting to bite,
and you know how they love you,

and nightly, the door closes behind them.

~ Gail E. Goepfert
Poets published on this blog retain copyright to their poems.

Here are some of the comments made by the judges concerning this poem:

“I like this woman who loves her garden.”
“The shared conversation is a nice touch.”
“Love the phrase ‘all that spoke green’”!



If you are interested in purchasing the Wisconsin Poets’ Calendar 2012, go to http://wfop.org/ and click on the cover picture.




I will try to post the August Challenge on time, but it is likely to be delayed, due to the death of my mother.


© Wilda W. Morris