 |
| Photo from Christy Schwan |
There were many excellent poems submitted this month. The judge, Cristina M. R. Norcross, said, “I truly enjoyed reading this selection of poems. I loved the sheer variety of unique approaches to this theme. . . . I had to make some tough choices. Congratulations to all of the writers who submitted. This was wonderful work.”
It was interesting to see how many kinds of headgear provided subjects for poems including straw hat, swim cap, pillbox hat, lace veil, stocking cap, homburg, birdcage hat, baseball cap, deer-hunting wool hat with ear flaps, military dress-uniform hat, tasseled graduation hat, hat with college logo, crown, pith helmet, hair towel, felt hat, fedora, scarf, wig, even an (evidently hooded) Batman cape!
Christy Schwan’s poem, “Chosen,” was chosen for first place.
Chosen
untouched, unworn for years
his hat collection
hangs in his empty office
waits for his arm to reach up
make his choice for the day
lift one off the nailed railing
as he heads for the fields
they no longer jockey for position
no jovial nudges between
seed corn, fertilizer, farm implement
logo-embellished caps
unneeded, unseen
they glimpse the comings and goings
of grand, then great-grand children
choked by layers of dust
grown stiff with disuse
faded to pale shades
of their former glory
they groan as doors
jostle their lineup
open and shut without them
then a child riding on her father’s shoulders
points to a vintage deer trademark
the great-grandmother’s eyes sparkle
gnarled hands reach heavenward
brush off the awakened hat
to a collective sigh of joy
chosen once again
~ Christy Schwan
Norcross said, “I enjoyed the pacing of the poem and the animated sense of life given to the hats described. The lovely turn at the end, of one of the hats being chosen by a child, and how this joy brings a sense of awakening, is so endearing and engaging. These last four lines hold a special magic, ‘gnarled hands reach heavenward / brush off the awakened hat / to a collective sigh of joy / chosen once again.’”
The second-place poem, by Cameron Morse, speaks of an entirely different kind of head covering:
Optune
My head is bandaged.
The tan tape holds my head
together, pressing ceramic
discs to a cleanly
shaven scalp. That’s part
of the deal, you have to buzz-
saw away with the Pitbull
Gold skull shaver every
smidgeon of stubble. Otherwise,
the transducer arrays may lift
and they need full contact
to produce the electric fields
that dismay the tumor. It’s humid
in July in the show me state.
My scalp sweats below
the circuit board. The air itself
is an adhesive no amount of
hydrogel can salve. Somewhere
in my right hemisphere,
a tumor cell is trying to split
apart and encounters some
turbulence. My daughter pulls
on the telephone cord that connects
me to the device. A loose
connection in the box clipped
to my hip gives me a jolt
through the discs. I cry out
then google “electroshock therapy”
I’ve gotten so many shocks I should have
been cured twelve times by now.
Norcross explained why she selected “Optune” as a winner: “This poem about a person receiving treatment for a brain tumor is so tender, touching, and carefully written. Wearing bandages as a hat is a unique image, and for the speaker, this is a sign of great courage. We are immediately drawn into this world through descriptive details and a sense of vulnerability.
Mary Cohutt’s third-place poem has a different take on hats.
Hats at Random
my father once told me
never trust a man who wears a hat to look taller
he said this as a man walked by
his hat perched precariously on the very top of his head
a stiff breeze
would have sent him on a frosty the snowman sprint
my father never wore a hat
except on the coldest days
lime green and orange, with a look-at-me pompom
a whimsical choice
for a man not known for whimsy
I wish I looked good in hats
I admire women who put on a hat
and their eyes become luminous
their cheeks more hollowed
and their lips part as if to share a delicious secret
in my cellar
on a rusty hook next to my hoe
hangs a wide brimmed straw hat with a work-stained band
I put on this hat
and look out to a world of color
of texture
of delicate butterflies
and buzzing bees
I see my hands in the warmed earth
as they make room for more color
and my own image is forgotten
~ Mary Cohutt
“I truly enjoyed the flow of this poem, the detailed descriptions, and the imagery,” says Norcross. “The last 3 lines about ‘hands in warmed earth’ felt so meditative and rich. The whole poem engages the senses and takes the reader on a journey that has a sense of immediacy.”
Honorable Mentions
To Zee Zahava for a haiku beginning with “sister crow.” The judge’s comments: “I love how creative and unique the image is in this poem of the crow wearing a snowflake as a hat. The description of an “April beret” is perfect.”
To Charles Kouri for “tussling our flounces.” The judge’s comments: “This poem deserves mention just for the language itself, the musicality of it and the very visual nature of the poem. I loved the word play in this one, the alliteration and the juxtaposition of words. It is an enticing read.”
Bios:
Mary Cohutt is an information specialist for her local Council on Aging. She grew up in a family with 12 children. She has two adult children and two grandchildren. Her favorite activities include reading, painting and gardening.
Charles Kouri is playwright, lyricist and producer of two full-length musicals, REBEL and 24WORDS, which feature stories and original songs inspired by the Equal Rights Movement. He recently began writing poetry and is publishing 304-Days-With-3-Days-Missing, a series of 301 poems written during the pandemic.
Cameron Morse (he, him) is Senior Reviews editor at Harbor Review and the author of eight collections of poetry. His first collection, Fall Risk, won Glass Lyre Press’s 2018 Best Book Award. His book of unrhymed sonnets, Sonnetizer, is forthcoming from Kelsay Books. He holds an MFA from the University of Kansas City-Missouri and lives in Independence, Missouri, with his wife Lili and three children. For more information, check out his Facebook page or website.
Cristina M. R. Norcross lives in Southeast Wisconsin and is the editor of the online poetry journal, Blue Heron Review. Author of 9 poetry collections, a multiple Pushcart Prize nominee, and an Eric Hoffer Book Award nominee, her most recent books are The Sound of a Collective Pulse (Kelsay Books, 2021) and Beauty in the Broken Places (Kelsay Books, 2019). Cristina’s work appears in:Visual Verse, Your Daily Poem, Poetry Hall, Verse-Virtual, The Ekphrastic Review, and Pirene’s Fountain, among others. Her work also appears in numerous print anthologies. Cristina has helped organize community art/poetry projects, has led writing workshops, and has hosted many readings. She is the host of the Facebook writing prompt group, Connection and Creativity in Challenging Times and is the co-founder of Random Acts of Poetry & Art Day. Find out more about this author at: www.cristinanorcross.com.
Christy Schwan is a native Hoosier author/poet living in Wisconsin. She's a rockhound, wild berry picker, wildflower seeker, astronomy studier, and quiet sports lover of kayaking, canoeing, snowshoeing and loon spotting. Her work has been published in Chicken Soup for the Soul, Museletter, Ariel Anthology, 8142 Review, 2022 Wisconsin Poet's Calendar, and Bramble Lit Mag.
Zee Zahava lives in Ithaca, New York.
