FORTy-first Contest

First Place

My Family Home by Holly Henderson

Second Place

A Conversation with a Future Husband by Madeleine Magnant

Third Place

Love, War and Cooking by Nicole K. Myers

FORTIETH Contest

First Place

Relative-ity by Sarah Hina

Second Place

On the Boil by C. Johnson

Third Place

Grandma’s Backyard by Uma Ribeiro

Thirty-ninth Contest

First Place

Wild Compassion by Sarah Talvi Duncan

Second Place

Diptych by Isabel Li

Third Place

Sonder by Cadence Gaul

Thirty-eighth Contest

First Place

When by BV Lawson

Second Place

Things I Wish I Could Tell You by Enchi

Third Place

This Melodious World by Emily Trester

Thirty-SEVENTH Contest

First Place

Building a Wheelchair for Your Sister by Isis Castaneda

Second Place

In the backyard with grandpa by Thien-Y Nguyen

Third Place

What the Thunderstorms Taught Me by Amanda Roberts

Thirty-SIXTH Contest

First Place

& The Rain Comes by Maggie Wilkinson

Second Place

Quiet Revolution (Connie) by Dwana Jean

Third Place

A Son by Seth Honda

Thirty-FIFTH Contest

First Place

Always and Wherever by Sierra Cullum

Second Place

Christmas Gift by Garrett Sharpe

Third Place

Sundays by Stephanie Navarro Lopez

Honorable Mention

The Dandelion by Martin Willitts

Honorable Mention

Dear searcher, longer, dreamer — by Rebecca Puterbaugh

Honorable Mention

Symphony by Amber Partin

Thirty-FOURTH Contest

First Place

Be Like the Birds by Morgan Roberts

Second Place

Finding My Voice by Kim Zoe Potter

Third Place

I like old things… by Andrew Johnson

Honorable Mention

Ashes to Ashes by Jill Bergkamp

Honorable Mention

My Cousin Angela Keeps It Safe by Lynda La Rocca

Honorable Mention

Where all guards drop by Ameya Wordsmith

Thirty-third Contest

First Place

Delayed Wishes by Joséphine Sourgnes

Second Place

Memories of Ice by Emily Grabovac

Third Place

writer’s love by Sasha Vengarick

Honorable Mention

The Attic by Esther Hung

Honorable Mention

Collateral Beauty by Joyce Bian

Honorable Mention

A Pilgrim Am I by McKenzie Romero

Thirty-second Contest

First Place

Healing by Rachel Jackson

Second Place

When Our Kids Went Home with Their Kids by Joel Holland

Third Place

The Frog King by Eric Field

Honorable Mention

I am a Chai Tea Latte by Varsha S.

Honorable Mention

Seeded Basil by Darlene G. Engebretsen

Honorable Mention

18 Things I've Learned at 18 by Jamie Gordon

Honorable Mention

Mother by geetika mahajan

Thirty-first Contest

First Place

A Blossomed Life by Lena Hansen

Second Place

By These Stripes by Charity Smith

Third Place

Words by Tyler Wehner

Honorable Mention

Colorado by Laurel Schwartz

Honorable Mention

Honeybee by Lily Duval

Honorable Mention

The first time I saw my Grandfather by Layla Alkheder

Thirtieth Contest

First Place

My Grandmother Teaches Me to Make Kim-Bap by Elena Lee

Second Place

Pennsylvania Route 417 by Elizabeth Schultz

Third Place

sprinkles in chocolate milk by Kayli Burton

Honorable Mention

Gathering Words by Gareth Caldbeck

Honorable Mention

Moon Landing by Mackenzie Cocherell

Twenty-ninth Contest

First Place
The Low Desert, My Gift to You by Billie Burke

Second Place
How to Boil an Egg by Sarah Ang

Third Place
I Am the Daughter of a Migrant Woman by Zenith Hakemy

Honorable Mention

Coffee and Love by Eunice Barbara Cabading Novio

Honorable Mention

My Sister by Madeleen Olwage

Honorable Mention

Teacher Mother by Emily Dawson

Twenty-eighth Contest

First Place
The End by Rachel Toalson

Second Place
The World Is Dancing by Frances Fay

Third Place
Little Brother by Hannah Zellers

Twenty-seventh Contest

First Place
You're doing ok by Svea Kucinic

Second Place
Life Is Good Poetry by Gustavo Enrique Delgado

Third Place
When Love Fell on Deaf Ears by Rehani Perera

Twenty-sixth Contest

First Place
Bethany by Brittany Steck

Second Place
First Kiss by Nicole Flower

Third Place
Bounty by Lynda La Rocca

Twenty-fifth Contest

First Place
Back Home by Claire Seymour

Second Place
To My Mother by Erica L. Bartlett

Third Place
Tangible by Sanober Khan

Twenty-fourth Contest

First Place
Boat-Shaped Lemon by Jessica Cheng

Second Place
I Forgot All My Maps When I Moved to Massachusetts by Makayla Rutledge

Third Place
Little Sister by Janine Faust

Twenty-third Contest

First Place
Autumn Elegy by D. G. Engebretsen

Second Place
River by Alys Caviness-Gober

Third Place
A Poem for the Cottonwood Growing in the Desert by Cristina Peña

Twenty-second Contest

First Place
A Necklace for You by Yulia Yulina

Second Place
Learning by Lynne Bassler

Third Place
Across the Sea by Carissa Faulk

Twenty-first Contest Winners

First Place
Balestier Road by P. D. Lyre

Second Place
Lines by Katharine Kavanagh

Third Place
Kaleidoscopic I Scream Clones by Zoraida Colon-Collado

Twentieth Contest Winners

First Place
Rings Around My Heart by Ever Twinwood

Second Place
Storm by Michelle Bonczek

Third Place
Sustenance by Karen Edmisten

Nineteenth Contest

First Place
A View of Concrete Ribbons by Sally Clark

Second Place
Northern California Where You Still Live by Liza Porter

Third Place
Hometown by Jessy Weiss

Eighteenth Contest

First Place
For a Would-Be Actress by Lisa Romano Licht

Second Place
Burning Twilight (For My Father) by Beth Barnes

Third Place
Love to Last a Lifetime by Desiree Miller

Seventeenth Contest

First Place
All These Things by Liza Porter

Second Place
Appalachian Year by Amber Walker

Third Place
Moonlight Sonata by Wayne Lee

Sixteenth Contest

First Place
Studying Abroad by L. Thomas

Second Place
Meditations on My Father I: Desert Sunset by Leah Plath

Third Place
The Girl With Hazel Eyes by Rebecca Lindsey

Fifteenth Contest

First Place
Moon Phases: For My Mother as She Turns Sixty by Leah M. Plath

Second Place
For the Boy at the Library by Elizabeth Reynolds

Third Place
Rain by Gary M. Chandler

Fourteenth Contest

First Place
When English Hurt by Meg Eden

Second Place
Grandpa's Light by Annette Manders

Third Place
Not Quite Yet by Frances Flatley

Thirteenth Contest

First Place
September by Michelle Witte

Second Place
Forgiveness by Kristen McHenry

Third Place
All the Beauty You Can Hold by Maria Hooley

Twelfth Contest

First Place
Someone with My Mother's Feet by Maya Stein

Second Place
The Poem by Lisa Marguerite Mora

Third Place
Sally's Dance by Colette Leisen

Eleventh Contest

First Place
Beautiful Woman by Kristine Ackerman

Second Place
We Poets by Jaz

Third Place
For Women Who Ride Horses by Judy Toomey

Tenth Contest

First Place
One Hundred and Twenty by Yi-Ching Lin

Second Place
Throwing Out by Sophia Lewicki

Third Place
This Girl of Mine by Jenny Scott

Ninth Contest

First Place
The Maker of Clocks by Lisa Holmes

Second Place
Never Left Empty-Handed by Jennifer Kalafut

Third Place
Leavings by Melanie Dietzel

Eighth Contest

First Place
Reminiscing (to my best friend) by Mari Nichols-Haining

Second Place
Say we had poetry then. by Liza Porter

Third Place
disheartening epilogue to cold days by Tessa Zeng

Seventh Contest

First Place
Mornings With Dad by Carole Davis

Second Place
Before Apollo by Liza Porter

Third Place
Rocking Chair by Linda Zammit

Sixth Contest

First Place
This Exercise in Being by Shelagh Cosgrove

Second Place
Pomegranate by Ashley Wellington

Third Place
Honey and Salt by Lisa Lindsey

Fifth Contest

First Place
Tonight, I Remember, Mom by Sandy Jamar

Second Place
September Baby by Kassie Jones Blakelock

Third Place
October Woods by Shelagh Cosgrove

Fourth Contest Winners

First Place
To Hear a Cloud Whisper by Lisa Leshaw

Second Place
Pink Ribbons: The Ties That Bind by Beth Thompson

Third Place
Sestina for Grandma by Megan B. Eberhardt

Third Contest

First Place
Of Sisters and Sharing by Anandam Ravi

Second Place
The Box by Amanda Hale

Third Place
Birthday Wishes Blowing in the Wind by Anne O'Hearn

Second Contest

First Place
Six Ways of Looking at My Father by Virginia Lore

Second Place
That Summer by Amanda Hale

Third Place
Moments of Me by Megan Browne Eberhardt

First Contest

First Place
I Thought of You by Mari Parker

Second Place
Somehow by Rebecca Sterner

Third Place
The Day I Grew Up by Kelly Ann Malone