First Place

Printer

suddenly, randomly
throughout the day
the printer starts up,
lurching into action
laboriously printing nothing
before settling restlessly.
The way my father,
with small bursts of effort
will clutch at the sides of his bed
trying to lift himself out,
before sinking back.

Caroline Smith was born in Ilford (UK). She studied sculpture at Goldsmiths College, London University. Her most recent poetry book, “The Immigration Handbook” was published by Seren and shortlisted for the 2016 Ted Hughes Award. It was translated into Italian in 2020. Twitter: @csmithpoet

***

Second Place

Seed, country tune

It was cold as hell the night
my momma died. When I hopped
in the truck to head out
of there, my battery was
gone, too. The walk back
to the hospital lobby couldn’t
have been a longer one to tell
my dad we’d need to find
a jump somehow if we were
planning to ever make it home.

Jack B. Bedell is Professor of English and Coordinator of Creative Writing at Southeastern Louisiana University where he also edits Louisiana Literature and directs the Louisiana Literature Press. His latest collection is Against the Woods’ Dark Trunks (Mercer University Press, 2022). He served as Louisiana Poet Laureate 2017-2019.

Twitter: @jackbedell Instagram and Threads: @jackbbedell Bluesky: @jackbedell.bsky.social

***

Third Place

Exquisite aloneness

Leaning White Poplar,
calligraphic sap stroke across the sunset,

we all reach for the river round here.

And in reaching for one thing
invariably find something else:

A cream soused whisker of time,
exquisitely alone,
wood—bone.

Crows go no further than your line in the sand,
nor grief.

Christopher Martin is a poet living by the Mouth of the Tyne on the north east coast of England. His work has featured in various publications online and in print. His debut collection is out 2024 @theblackcatpoetrypress Twitter: @martintimation1 Instagram: @martintimations

Judges

A.R. Williams

_{lives with his family in Virginia’s Shenandoah Valley (USA). He has been widely published in poetry journals, magazines, and anthologies. He is also the editor of East Ridge Review. His forthcoming poetry collection Funeral in the Wild: Poems is to be published with Kelsay Books (Spring, 2024).}

Liz Houchin

is an Irish poet living in Dublin, Ireland. ‘Anatomy of a Honey girl (poems for tired women)’ was published by Southword in 2021. In 2023 she was the Poetry Ireland poet-in-residence at the Scottish Poetry Library. Her work is supported by the Arts Council of Ireland.

Merril D. Smith

lives in southern New Jersey near the Delaware River (USA). Her work has been published in journals and anthologies including Black Bough Poetry, Acropolis, Anti-Heroin Chic, The Storms, Fevers of the Mind, Humana Obscura, and Nightingale and Sparrow. Her full-length collection, River Ghosts, was published by Nightingale and Sparrow Press.