Father's Workshop - Photo supplied by Guy Thorvaldsan

This month, I want to congratulate not only the winners, but also the judge, Christine Swanberg, who has just been chosen as the first Poet Laureate of Rockford, Illinois. And a shout out to Jocelyn Kuntz, too. She was just selected as the first Youth Poet Laureate of Rockford.

Swanberg reported that many of the poems submitted for the October challenge, with the theme of “tools,” were excellent. In addition to the three poems published here, she selected four honorable mentions, listed below in alphabetical order of the poets’ first names.

 

First place goes to Guy Thorvaldsen.

 

Bloodlines
 

Blood wells up like ruby oil
laps the rim of a four inch gash
I’ve just sliced deep into my right palm.
I use my elbow to hit
the table saw’s off-switch,
sink to the ground,
clench the rent closed
between thumb and forefinger.
"Remember," my father has told me,
"when you get cut, tell the doc it doesn't matter
what it looks like. As long as it works."
I look: white bone and sinew float
in a pond of red– what we are
beneath the overalls,
the daily veil of coffee, cigarettes and beer.
A lineage of men with thick Norwegian tongues,
ropy muscles working
block-and-tackle hands,
bodies embellished
not with tattooed anchors or hearts,
but ghostly pale etchings
that match the shape of blades–
hatchets, draw knifes, bow-saws.
Tonight, I’ll call my father,
tell him the story, listen to his,
adding up our stitches as if we are tailors.
Then, I will follow the old rules,
declare that it’s nothing, really,
predict my early return to work.

~ Guy Thorvaldsen

 

Judge Swanberg’s comments: “Poetry can accomplish many things simultaneously, and this poem exemplifies that. It is narrative, has original and crisp phrasing, and a poetic flow that leads seamlessly yet energetically to the final lines. It is also indicative of a “bigger picture” without being heavy-handed.”

 

 

Susan Barry-Schulz wrote the second place poem.

 

To the Colander on My 25^th Wedding Anniversary

Tin bowl
full of holes,
a sharp edged handle
on each side,
a shower gift; accepted back
when I believed becoming a wife
would uncover my latent cooking skills—
missing a leg,
caved in and punched out
in equal measure,

a little unsteady
after twenty-five years of running
cold water over garden tomatoes
and store-bought  grapes,
kidney beans and strawberries,
twenty-five years of draining
hot potatoes and Brussels sprouts,
steaming heaps of thin spaghetti—
tin bowl,
still holding its own
after twenty-five years of practice—

keeping all that is needed inside
and letting
the rest

pour
through.

~ Susan Barry-Schulz

 

“This poem shows intense focus on one item—a quirky one at that! It is confessional and a wee bit wistful. It ends on an image, which is also metaphorical, and leaves the reader resonating with what we pour through and what we keep.” according to Swanberg.

 

For third place, Swanberg selected a poem by Thom Brucie.

 

The Mathematics Of Enchantment

 

A 3 foot by 4 foot by 5 foot triangle

makes a right angle.

This knowledge allows the builder to carry

a straight line

along and away from an already existing point

in space and time.

The line, if extended, has two options –

if the universe is flat, like the earth,

the line will extend to the end of eternity;

if it is flexible, and self-contained,

like an Einsteinian glass ball

resting on the back of a turtle,

the line will continue in an ever-lasting 180 degree angle,

and eventually return to discover its beginning.

 

The elegance of mathematics,

its geometric subtlety

of right angles and straight lines,

can connect a room addition to a house

and a straight line to the universe.

The thunderous accuracy of mathematics

suggests that a house is more than angle and line,

more than mortar and brick,

more than foundation and roof.

 

If properly constructed,

a house is its own universe,

the beginning and end

of memories in the table top,

and growth charts on the wall;

of holding fast to grandma’s stew recipe,

and the crawling stage of granddaughter’s daughter;

of summers running out the back screen door,

and all things stored in three-dimensional boxes,

and stories,

and hearts.

 

~ Thom Brucie

 

Swanberg says, “The use of math as a tool is clever. The poem is interesting and very intelligent. The poem moves with just the right kind of energy to its excellent poetic ending lines.”

 

Winning poets retain copyright on their poems.

 

Honorable Mentions, with comments by the judge

Congratulations to these fine poets:

“How to Use a Chisel” by Joe Cottonwood
The crisp language and elliptical phrasing picks up on the chisel itself. The use of imperative voice and first person narrative is clever and effective.

“Simple Machines” by John C. Mannone
The poem shows an admirable density, complex language, and beautifully sculpted stanzas.

“Tools of the Trade” by Margaret King
This poem shines with interesting and complex language.

“Hephaestus in Winter” by Tyson West
This poem stands out not only for its adherence to classical allusion throughout the poem, but also from the point of view.

 

Bios:

Susan Barry-Schulz is a licensed physical therapist in New York. Her poetry has appeared in The Wild Word, SWWIM, Shooter Literary Magazine, Barrelhouse online, South Florida Poetry Journal, The New Verse News, and Panoply and elsewhere. She is a member of the Hudson Valley Writer's Center.

Thom Brucie has published two chapbooks of poems: Moments Around The Campfire With A Vietnam Vet, named “the best chapbook of 2010” (Irene Koronas, Ibbetson Street Press), and Apprentice Lessons, poems which explore the dignity of labor. His work has appeared in a variety of journals and publications, including: DEROS, San Joaquin Review, Cappers, The Southwestern Review, Editions Bibliotekos, Pacific Review, Dead Mule School of Southern Literature, Wilderness House Literary Review and others.
“Mathematics of Enchantment” is from his chapbook, Apprentice Lessons.
www.thombrucie.com

Christine Swanberg has published 500/ 600  poems in anthologies such as Earth Blessings, Garden Blessings, Gratitude Prayers and Back to Joy; journals such as American Aesthetica, Spoon River Quarterly, RHINO, Louisville Review, River City Review, and hundreds of others.   Recent books include Who Walks Among the Trees with Charity (Wind, 2005), The Alleluia Tree (Puddin’head Press, 2012) and Wild Fruition (Puddin’head Press, 2017).  A community poet interviewed by Poets Market 2008, she has won many poetry awards and grants such as The Mayor’s Award for Community Impact, YWCA Award for the Arts, and Womanspirit Award. She is the first Poet Laureate of Rockford, Illinois. To view her most recent book, Wild Fruition go to https://www.puddinheadpress.net/catalog/wild-fruition-by-christine-swanberg/.

Guy Thorvaldsen's poetry has appeared in Alligator Juniper, Forge, Gulfstream, and Magma 69 (London). His first book of poetry, Going to Miss Myself When I’m Gone came out in October 2017 through Aldrich Press. Guy is a journeyman carpenter, taught writing at Madison College, and contributing poet/essayist for community radio.

 

© Wilda Morris