Poetry- 1st Place

Two lovers lie in bed, air thin
between them, ceiling a black cloud
absorbing their dreams.

Their hands touch,
incidental contact,
and in silence they begin

their climb to gain a view,
see where they have been
where they might yet go.

Over there, one says, no,
over there, the other responds,
but neither sees what the other sees.

The cynic says, see, there is no there
there, only breath at whose peaks and valleys
we die and are resurrected again.

Ah, but these old lovers know better,
eyes closed now to open the view, calling
without you I never would have gone there.

Judge’s Comments:

“The simplicity of this poem brings us to the exact place we need to be to appreciate love in the long haul. Love transports us, this intimate poem says, and in so doing shifts and shapes who we are and what we see. We climb along with the old lovers to new perspectives. This is a poem of the human condition, the old love, the old sentiment, expertly made new.”

Robert Nordstrom is a poet living in Mukwonago, Wisconsin. He has published fiction, poetry and essays in various literary magazines, including, among others, Verse Wisconsin, Rosebud, Stoneboat Literary Journal, Main Street Rag, and Upstreet (forthcoming).