shirt soaked with sweat
I can't catch my breath
my hair in tangles
you make me feel
beautiful

Kendall Robison

on that breezy summer day,
it was your smile
that made me feel
that i could
trust again

Brittany Mytnik

snow to my knees
empty swings still
the frigid air against my face
but it is the only thing
that stops the tears

Ashley Longcor

the coat hanger,
wearing your hat,
casts your shadow on the wall
and i'm suddenly
broken

Brittany Mytnik

on that breezy summer day,
it was your smile
that made me feel
that i could
trust again

snow to my knees
empty swings still
the frigid air against my face
but it is the only thing
that stops the tears

top quarter champion

snow to my knees
empty swings still
the frigid air against my face
but it is the only thing
that stops the tears

TOP half champion

Dear Love,
the kisses
you sent me
were stale.
Try again.

bottom quarter champion

Dear Love,
the kisses
you sent me
were stale.
Try again.

ignoring the broken nose
and black eyes
he wipes my tears
and says
"I love you"

Dear Love,
the kisses
you sent me
were stale.
Try again.

ignoring the broken nose
and black eyes
he wipes my tears
and says
"I love you"

Desi Thomas

I wipe my face
clean of my tears
this once cold beer
turns warm
unlike my heart

Bill Rzesutko

Dear Love,
the kisses
you sent me
were stale.
Try again.

Desi Thomas

a dangerous kiss
and I know the taste
'The
blue edge
of a zippo

Joe Sparks

top half champion

Dear Love,
the kisses
you sent me
were stale.
Try again.

CHAMPION

too hungry
to take another bite
she chews her lip
and swallows
her words instead

bottom half champion

too hungry
to take another bite
she chews her lip
and swallows
her words instead

as I walked
I saw a bird
feeding it's young.
I realize
that bird will soon be me

Bill Rzesutko

too hungry
to take another bite
she chews her lip
and swallows
her words instead

Samantha Parks

in the middle
of night
wings wrestling
outside my window
too early for dawn

Carmella Braniger

a squirrel
perched in a maple tree
eating his fill
I wonder when
her next meal will be

Morgan Ewald

too hungry
to take another bite
she chews her lip
and swallows
her words instead

in the middle
of night
wings wrestling
outside my window
too early for dawn

top quarter champion

too hungry
to take another bite
she chews her lip
and swallows
her words instead

BOTTOM half champion

too hungry
to take another bite
she chews her lip
and swallows
her words instead

bottom quarter champion

Orange line
to Roosevelt...
DOORS CLOSING,
late for work again
that's home

the faces who
defined my life
stare at me
from the wall
they're always here

Orange line
to Roosevelt...
DOORS CLOSING,
late for work again
that's home

oreos and peanut butter
bring back
childhood memories
surely there will be
some good ones here too?

Morgan Ewald

the faces who
defined my life
stare at me
from the wall
they're always here

Owen Kosik

your large body
your fur coat
your wet tongue
you lay on me and I know
I am home

Ashley Longcor

Orange line
to Roosevelt...
DOORS CLOSING,
late for work again
that's home

Cristy Carranza

in the middle
of night
wings wrestling
outside my window
too early for dawn

as I walked
I saw a bird
feeding its young
I realize
that bird will soon be me.

I love placing these two poems back to back because they form almost a narrative. In the first, I picture a girl who is up far beyond when she is supposed to be; perhaps with a lover, "wrestling" like the birds outside the window. Afterwards, she wants sleep but is kept awake by the birds. In the next poem, then, we see the consequences of that sleepless night; again with this idea of birds, free creatures of the sky, limitless except for the young that keep them tied to their nests. The tale becomes one of growing up and losing the freedom of youth to responsibilities; but because birds are used, this does not necessarily have to be a tale of regret. (I find it to be because I personally envisioned ravens while I was reading but that is up to the reader's imagination) . Samantha

shirt soaked with sweat
I can't catch my breath
my hair in tangles
you make me feel
beautiful

Kendall Robison

on that breezy summer day,
it was your smile
that made me feel
that i could
trust again

Brittany Mytnik

snow to my knees
empty swings still
the frigid air against my face
but it is the only thing
that stops the tears

Ashley Longcor

the coat hanger,
wearing your hat,
casts your shadow on the wall
and i'm suddenly
broken

Brittany Mytnik

I enjoyed this pair the most because they made me feel happy. The first one made me feel like I just went for a good run and since I'm keeping in shape, I feel beautiful. It really was a cool way of looking at it. The second one was just very reminiscent of lovers past. The pair together bring a key to having a happy life. If you are healthy, you could be a lot healthier than people who are constantly sick. If you can trust people, you can relieve stress. This also improves health. Bill

I really enjoyed reading these two Tanka together because they use such opposite word choice yet they send the same message. As one use soaked the other uses breezy, which to me sort of explains how no matter cold wet snow or heat love is love. Whether a girl is soaked with messy hair or smiling in the mid summer breeze she will always appear beautiful to the one who loves her. Cristy

I picked these two tanka because I love how one could be a prelude to the other. The second one makes me think of that date, maybe the third or fourth, when you realize that this person could be a vessel for your heart [that I could trust again], thus leading to the shirt soaked in sweat ;-). I also love the contrasts between the tanka: a breezy summer day emulates a sort of warm frigid feel while the first one is obviously much warmer. The second is more innocent, like the smile mentioned in the tanka, but the first is much more sensual and focused on the body (you make me feel beautiful). Joe

I liked these two tanka because they were about love, and I am a sucker for love stories. I feel like these two are so different, yet so alike. When I picture the first, I picture a couple making love. The sweat, not being able to catch breath, and tangled hair. And the writer says, "You make me feel beautiful." I feel like it is a woman, probably because beautiful usually has a feminine connotation, but it is such a passionate scene. The second tanka, however, is much sweeter, and there is a bit of hurt in there. The poet seems to have had something bad happen because they write that they can trust AGAIN, implying that at one point, something happened that made them unable to trust. These two tanka are so different in context, but their theme is the same, love. Morgan

I thought that these two worked really well as a pair because they both depict someone struggling to resist an outpouring of emotion, and they both are very poignant in the way that they address grief. The speakers in both are very fragile and see their loss in everything. It's very sincere but devastatingly realistic I think. Nora

ignoring the broken nose
and black eyes
he wipes my tears
and says
"I love you"

Desi Thomas

I wipe my face
clean of my tears
this once cold beer
turns warm
unlike my heart

Bill Rzesutko

Dear Love,
the kisses
you sent me
were stale.
Try again.

Desi Thomas

a dangerous kiss
and I know the taste
'The
blue edge
of a zippo

Joe Sparks

When I first read this, I interpreted it as an abusive relationship. I pictured a woman who is beaten by her boyfriend or husband, yet after the beating, the man is still manipulating her and telling her that she loves him. I was disturbed by this, while at the same time recognizing how this could represent a lot of real women. I was surprised to hear others interpreting it differently--as a woman who was in an accident, and her boyfriend/husband is still accepting of her despite the injuries that she acquired. This is definitely less disturbing, and more encouraging than how I thought of this tanka. I find both very valid, and I like how it is ambiguous and can be taken either way. Brittany

I cannot decide what I think the tone of this tanka is. Part of me sees it as a light-hearted sort of poem, slightly funny, even, as a person tells their love that they need to send more kisses because the others have gone stale. However, another part of me sees it as something more sad--a relationship is failing, and one person is unsatisfied with the kisses of the other because they are no longer as meaningful as they used to be. They are still willing to work things out, but the relationship is fading quickly. Regardless, I like both interpretations, and I just enjoy this tanka quite a lot. Brittany

I like the mystery that this tanka presents and the comparison between the two subjects: this kiss is just about as dangerous as kissing the blue edge, the hottest part, of a zippo flame. It kind of makes me think of a forbidden love between two people, something like Romeo and Juliet, that's absolutely beautiful but will end in tragedy. Desireé

I felt that these two tanka selections were matched up very well and they worked as a pair. After reading them through several times, I almost had a sense that the second tanka could be a sequel to the first tanka. The imagery of wiping tears was powerful and different in each tanka. In the first, the reader is able to imagine tears being wiped away by a loved one, but in the second tanka, the reader almost gets a sense that the loved one has left and he/she is left to wipe their own tears. Though the feelings the reader receives from each tanka are vastly different, the selections are easily related through the presence of tears. Kendall

as I walked
I saw a bird
feeding it's young.
I realize
that bird will soon be me

Bill Rzesutko

too hungry
to take another bite
she chews her lip
and swallows
her words instead

Samantha Parks

in the middle
of night
wings wrestling
outside my window
too early for dawn

Carmella Braniger

a squirrel
perched in a maple tree
eating his fill
I wonder when
her next meal will be

Morgan Ewald

I like this tanka because it reminds me of all the times I've wanted to tell somebody something but just can't stomach actually doing it. I also like how the lines flow together, how it maintains the… I don't know, action, so to speak, yet slightly shifts. What also made me like it was how it reminded me of the opening scene in "Crazy, Stupid Love," with the husband and his wife in a restaurant. The husband is eating and doing most of the talking. The wife is playing with her food until she blurts out that she wants a divorce, eventually causing the husband to throw himself out their moving car on the way back home. Desireé

oreos and peanut butter
bring back
childhood memories
surely there will be
some good ones here too?

Morgan Ewald

the faces who
defined my life
stare at me
from the wall
they're always here

Owen Kosik

your large body
your fur coat
your wet tongue
you lay on me and I know
I am home

Ashley Longcor

Orange line
to Roosevelt...
DOORS CLOSING,
late for work again
that's home

Cristy Carranza