2022
1st Place Winner
Nichole Zachary / Reno, NV
Plastic Shovels
| I was eight years old at the Carmel Beach the water was freezing, but I wanted to one day visit the North Pole. Then, a polar bear was just a bear with a sewn shut smile and button eyes, and cold water could be chased away by large, warm hands. My sister had buried all but her head in the grains of potential glass, and I pointed out she was the opposite of an ostrich in fear. The biggest birds with the littlest heads only protecting the smallest parts of themselves. I miss that child version of me that believed she could swim from the California coast to Hawaii in the stroke of an arm. And when my keen eyes could see things far away as I circled my pale hands over them. Now the sand sticks to my feet like thick woolen socks, patches of seaweed dry in the half-shining sun and my sister’s children build tiny graves to bury the beached jellyfish who’ve lost their sting. |
2nd Place Winners
Kyle Baeder / San Francisco, CA The Wind Sarah Baer / Pleasanton, CA Alcoholic John Baker / Baltimore, MD Pennsylvania Railroad, 1982 Becca Bornstein / Magnolia, NJ Acrylic Faces Yajaira Campana / New York, NY Chivalrous Ryan Crawford / South Boston, VA Ballet Popcorn Maya Fillion-Ritchie / Toledo, OH The Girl Becomes a Black Hole Eliza Gilbert / New York, NY Cages in the Afternoon Ava Harper / Georgetown, TX Only Thorns Kate Jones / Honolulu, HI A Miracle or a Hex | Tulip June / Downey, CA Water the Plastic Tulips Corrinne Mica / Los Angeles, CA Daffodils and Daisies Jackie Michaud / Oxford, OH Remembrance of the Lake Leo Miller / Sammamish, WA Buzz Cut Baptism Heather Pacheco / Lake Worth, FL Fish Bobbi Patton / York, PA Sweet Tooth Haley Rule / Eatonton, GA Camel Lights Piper Samuels / Culver City, CA Breakaholic Nicole Son / La Canada, CA Falling Moon Catherine Tang / Northbrook, IL Hunting |
3rd Place Winners
| Gideon 6ix / Spring, TX Closed Vision, a Heart Deprived of Sight John Allen / Albany, NY Dust Sammy Anderson / North Hollywood, CA Dying to Keep the Death at Bay Ninabella Arlis / Downers Grove, IL The Fruits of Friendship Isabella Athanasiou / Deer Park, NY Ink Stains Pedro Avalos Jimenez / Barrington, IL To Orpheus Kris Bailey / Manhattan, KS Vegetation Consisting of Typically Short Plants Coleman Barrett / Syracuse, UT Sedated Shadow Chloe Bowen / Durango, CO Forgotten Honey Wheat Sadie Brebes / Los Angeles, CA Mama Katelynn Budzyn / Naugatuck, CT Ode to the Rain Audra Burwell / Fresno, CA Firebird Ciarra Butikofer / Coralville, IA Amuse Me Sara Codd / Spokane, WA Breakfast Paula Compo-Pratt / Westville, NJ Illegals Jeff Culling / Hollywood, FL A Grown Man Crying Emily Cummings / Santa Ynez, CA Wasteland Justin Cyr / Sunnyside, WA The Lonely Position of Neutral Elizabeth D’andrea / West Hartford, CT On Cold Tea Drew Dent / Cleveland, GA The Fiefs Paulina Dsouza / Porter Ranch, CA Rats Star Elise Eichner / Hingham, MA Pernicious Pastries Charles Ellison / Augusta, GA Chambers of Secrets Seth Everhart / Sherwood, OR The House in the Forest Harley Feria / Gilbert, AZ Lost in the Fire, Lost in the Blaze Chloe Fleming / Columbus, OH The Year I Was Outside Myself Maddie Ford / Bellevue, WA Nosebleed Bryan Fredrickson / Concord, NH Toy Gun Abbie Galipeau / Woburn, MA Sage Green Satin Katelyn Gan / Irvine, CA Dear Grandpa, Rhode Gardere / Union, NJ Persea Americana Paul Goodsin / Dover, NH Mixed Media Emily Harragan / Frederick, MD Bans Anna Harry / Chicago, IL The Sound of Silence Samuel Hart / Greenville, SC To A, My Love Nancy Haydock / Turlock, CA Crows Rosemary Heckard / Arlington Heights, IL In Verse Sarah Henry / Henryville, PA Silly Freshman Girl Star Henwood / Valencia, PA Snakes and Denim Emma Herrod / Ligonier, PA Untitled James Hochbrueckner / San Diego, CA Kintsugi Sarah Hofaker / Atlanta, GA Stupor David Huff / Auburndale, FL War Watch Sara Hutchinson / New Castle, DE An Apology to the Wrong Whale Arielle Johnson / Yellow Spgs, OH Palatable Patrick Kelso / Boulder City, NV No Pleasure Without Pain Anita Kottapalli / Holland, OH Message in a Cocktail Glass Harper Ladd / Suwanee, GA New Year’s Eve | Robert Lamm / Clarkston, MI Swiss Watches Malcolm Lane / Camden, AR Regression Neria Leander / Alfred, NY Prophesody Milani Lee / Santa Clarita, CA Her Final Ballroom Tay Leppik / New York, NY The Residual Intersection of Joy + Sorrow Kyra Lopez / Yorkville, IL Fun House Dimas Mata Martinez / Phoenix, AZ Apparition Caitlin McDargh / Panama City Beach, FL The Stingray Askadeline Milanes / New York, NY Heaven Lies Kelly Millar / Lockport, NY Love to Death and Souvenirs Robert Mucci / Winnetka, IL B Rated Nolan Murphy / Mountain View, CA Sandpaper Shoes Mallory Nikols / Glen Ellyn, IL Mother and I Awa Ouattara / Sarasota, FL Daedalus’s Dissuasion Penelope Parker / Yorktown, NY A Single Flame for the Eternal Winter Kendal Parks / York, PA I’m Just a Boy Not a Soldier Jaime Pineda / San Diego, CA Mourning Cloak Butterfly Maxine Poe-Jensen / Easton, MD Love and Friendship Josephine Quenette / Gladstone, OR My Sibylline Love William Quetula / Lihue, HI Lull/Null at Sea Alexandra Quick / Sparks, NV An Apology Is a Bowl of Fruit Rohini Ramanathan / Oceanside, NY Decency Hannah Ramsby / Traverse City, MI Pyrotechnics Anthony Reyna / Sherwood, OR The Last Day of School Tyrone Rotunno / Whittier, CA O Moon Andy Rowe / Peoria, IL Chamomile Kaitlyn Sabb / Ann Arbor, MI Just Like You Lindsay Sadlowski / Melbourne, KY Open Your Eyes Daniela Sanchez / Orange, CA I Hope You Read This Gary Seifert / Falls Church, VA Shadowland Nancelis Serrano / Rosenberg, TX Midnights in June Salleel Shah / Simi Valley, CA Origin Hudson Simmons / Greendale, WI The Love Between Columns and Rows Roy Smith / Quakertown, PA Narcoleptic Cat Adeline St. Phillip / Bronxville, NY When the Actor Cries Evan Stayton / Saint Ann, MO Constancy’s Muse Aamari Taylor / Downers Grove, IL Bladed Tongue Christopher Taylor / Montclair, CA Self-Taught LeRoy Thielman / Oshkosh, WI Supercilious Balderdash Chelsea Thorne / Northfield, NH The Abyss of Girlhood Layla Todd / Vesuvius, VA Empyrean Dive Into Past Self Sara Vanderclute / Apex, NC Seeking Water Amanda Waggoner / Potter, NE Thin Sofia Wang / Palatine, IL The Olympic Dream Lorelei Watkins / Rocklin, CA Soup Isabella Welty / Leawood, KS Peanut Butter Yinbo Zhang / Atlanta, GA Lost |