Thank You

Dear Poets,

We are honored and proud to announce the winners of our 2024 “Matter” Poetry Contest. More than anything, thank you for sharing your work with us. This competition was very close, and we appreciate everyone that entered. Please keep writing even if your name is not here. All of you matter. This particular contest will hold a special place in our hearts. Your entries truly gave us goosebumps and made us feel deep emotions. We look forward to a beautiful book that will draw readers in with your words that have touched our hearts.
Without further ado, announcing our winners:

Shortlist

Portrait of My Soul as a Mushroom, Gary Beaumier
Auspice, Mike Panasitti
Endings, Isabelle Doucette
American Treaties, Diane Moser
Narcissus, Lina Buividavičiūtė
What Matters, David Sloan
War Zone, William Stevenson
First Memory, Tita Nasol
Progenitor, Sara VanderClute
The May Market, Jennie Pollard
recollections of sanctuary, Lynda McKinney Lambert
Remedy, Olivia Brine
Seldom Scene, Dorothy Rice
A Pastime, Andromeda Mendoza
The Promise, Barbara Tylla
Arizona, Kathlynne Stephens

Finalists

• Winter Solstace, Sandra Phoenix

• Invisible String,  Olivia Brine
• Crystal-Clear Critters,
• Epidemic, Lina Buividavičiūtė
• Mnemosyne, Lina Buividavičiūtė
• At the Open Window, Aline Soules Let It Shine, Stephen Colley
• To The Self-Loathing Girl Who Annihilated Her Junior High Yearbook Photos, Kara Fort
• Roots of Lilac, Luke Amrein
• A Caress of The Past, Bo Bunn
• Vintage Summer, Rose Antol
• A Touch of Innocence, Grace Donnelly
• Epiphyte, Kendra Spatacco
• Ledge, Lena Grayson
• Portrait of My Jealousy, Mike Panasitti
• Tea Bone Zen Mind (a liwuliiluwil), Diana Johar
• Tell Me Lies, Nicolette Shaw
• Everything is Everything, dayhana lopez
• Yay, Stephanie Casella
• What will you say, Barbara Simmons
• Bell Jar, Emma Wells
• Once the Moon in Full, Gary Beaumier
• Safe Passage, Teresa Burleson
• The Boy Within, Joplin James Sell
• Words Explode in My Brain, Sherri Wright
• Age-old Conundrum, Marc Davidson
• The Geography of the Moon, Gary Beaumier
• Trust, Elliott Kurta
• Alone in San Francisco, Lalit Kumar
• Birds, Tim F. Nichols
• Tossicologia - una disciplina, Olivia La Bastide
• Copper night knocks, Mykyta Ryzhykh
• Girl in a Wheelchair, Donald Freeman
• My Bloodbound Companion, Regan Strauss
• If you're hungry, eat; if you're not, don't., Joanna Gallagher
• Scenes From a Dying Star, Jessica Zhang
• My grandfather and the Bose, Roger Craik
• Acute Chronic, William Stevenson
• The Garden, Karen Kerekes
• Illogical Imaginings, Amelie Flagler
• Plans, Landon Ferrell
• Night with New Moon, Richard Johnson
• Burn, Sidney Cotto
• Memories Survive, Barbara Treacy
• Un-Affordable words, Un-Affordable words
• watching summer sky (tanka), Lynda McKinney Lambert
• Funeral Spray for Bob, Lynda McKinney Lambert
• I Sense, JL Tooker
• Black Dog, David Kim
• Perseverance, Mary Ellen South
• Scylla and Charybdis, Thomas Johnson
• Requiem, Suzanne Brown
• Family Ties, Kay Cora Jewett
• The Bittersweet Joy Of Finding The Light, Millie Capon
• The Palette Of Dance, Millie Capon
• Into the River, Ann Chiappetta
• Straighten Your Crown, Amy Smart
• The Composer, Ross Clarke
• "INNOCENT NIGHTS", Joseph Ridgway
• On Sleep, Sara Al Hajri
• Success, Paul Kim
• Earthstorm, Catherine Lagae