2006 Literary Contest Awards

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Self Portraits of a Poet In the style of Frida Kahlo

1
My neck grows out of soil
Rhubarb leaves, thick pink-green stalks surround me
One small piece of blue sky floats
into my upper left-eye thoughts

2
Under my head, the aged pillow
grows wrinkles onto my face
Ears leak pebbles

3
Mouth gasping, words sputter like bubbles
I swim in a blue pool
One arm, straight up. Backstroke
Goggles cover my eyes
My swimsuit: Poems in greasepaint
on breasts, stomach, thighs, armpit

4
I lie on a bed of vertical pencils
No. 2s sharpened to perfection
The painting, tones of yellow
My face, the mask of stern poets
The right (real) eye winks at you

5
I stand in front of a giant clock
Hour hand points beyond my ear,
the minute hand scrapes my sagging chin

6
Head-first into a giant pencil sharpener
My body floats
on a cloud of wadded papers
As I grow shorter, shavings of me
curl off the blade like pages of a book

Jari Thymian
Denver, Colorado
1st place Poetry 2006 Literary Contest

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