Some Past Winners

2009 First Prize Winner

 

Melissa Kesegi
Heritage Regional High School
Teacher: Mary Eva

 

Holding On

I didn't want you to fall
If I could turn back and catch you, I would
Gravity was against you that day
And I can't say how sorry I am
I'm a fool for dropping you
Hold on! I told you, Hold on!
But your hands slid out of my own
I think about it for most of my days
Now, I must hold on.

Jury comment:

Though many of the submissions for the Blue Metropolis 2008-2009 Lipogram Contest were outstanding, Melissa Kesegi's lipogram "Holding On" stood out from all the others. Wistful, yet urgent, Kesegi's poem "Holding On" explores regret and loss and what they can teach us. Kesegi's language is fluid and evocative. And Kesegi managed to do all this without using an "e"!

 

 

2008 First Prize Winner

Jacqueline Hanna
Centennial Regional High School
Teacher: Judith Elson

And a crash and a smash and a big bad boom!
In four parts a man is born: of fibs and spirits,
Of vacant days brimming with dusty sky, of bold gut,
Of illicit thoughts. Vim and vigour: tools of a rival in this
Instant, and stop! With a gun in tow, you wait with
All that's sworn to you, through will and birthright,
Lying low for a familiar burglar who'll approach
Surfing a conduit of sin, lust, and viral cicadas
To pinch it all away in this hungry cosmos of night.

 

 

2007 First Prize Winner

Zoé Miranda
Heritage Regional High School
Teacher: Mary Eva

A Kimono Woman

A kimono of bold motif assaults all frailty
Waning what subsists of this woman.
Cionch at waist, razor sharp,
Forbidding any human touch.
Saintly in motion
But with wings cut long ago
Crimson lips worn as a crown,
For honour a woman must show.
Colours vibrant and young, innards a tint of gray
But tradition worships, you must follow its way.

 

Jury comment:
Among the striking qualities of this poem are the precision of its imagery, the rhythm of the language, the maturity of the voice, and the originality of the subject matter. It is also unique in its use of space: the shape of the poem reflects its subject matter, a geisha woman in a waist-cinching kimono. There is no mistaking the woman's identity, though word ‘geisha' is nowhere in the poem.

 

The shape of the poem might also resemble an hourglass, alluding to the theme of Time in the poem's final line, where tradition and history ensnare the young woman as truly as does the belt at her waist.
Zoé's maturity of voice is clear in her use of rhythm and rhyme; it complements but does not predict or overpower the poem. Phrases such as "razor sharp" paired with "crimson lips worn as a crown," suggests the geisha's vital self-sacrifice, while other imagery figures her as a caged bird with "wings cut long ago." The woman seems to bear an artificial stiffness, her ‘innards a tint of gray' while the garish colours of her costume and makeup create a carnival-esque false cheerfulness.

 

Finally, the economy of the language allows its imagery to be clearly glimpsed - there is no clutter in this poem, and every word contributes to the whole. Well done.

 

 

 

Many thanks to all the participants for participating over the past seven years, and thanks to Bell and le Ministère de l'Éducation, du Loisir et du Sport (DGFJ) for sponsoring this contest!