| InterBoard Poetry Competition | |
nearing the center of the conch
Dick Bowler
(The Critical Poet)
This pink hallway spirals inward.
Floors slope up and walls bloat
out. There are no corners no.
No corners.
Eat a single ridge of kernels
then curve the cob then
curve the cob then.
In this sack so many things are red.
These wings are cracked, said a voice,
These splices are fraying. What choice
long chosen sliced along the seam?
Type a single line of letters
then return the carriage then
return the carriage then.
This caterpillar, green as the leaf it eats,
retreats, chewing one end to the other
end chewing. When I poke this bug
it curls around a center of legs.
It thinks it is a pebble and no trouble
can beslubber it no trouble.
Lay a single line of tiles toward the eastern window
then recoil to the western wall then
recoil to the western wall then.
In this sack so many things are wet.
Here are the eyes you lost, said a voice,
They’re broken. What choice?
They’re broken.
Judge C.J. Sage’s comments: “‘nearing the center of the conch’ is my third place pick for its unusual, haunting use of language. The repetitions work to give the poem a mesmerized and perhaps even obsessed feel. One might imagine the speaker rocking quietly in a corner with these utterances -- yet somehow the image does not disturb. One suggestion: I would like a more fitting beginning; the first two lines seem so much unlike the rest as to set up an entirely inaccurate expectation. The first two lines are not as good as the rest of the piece, and the tone and voice are noticeably different from the rest. Nevertheless, I appreciate the overall experiment of this piece.”
About the InterBoard Poetry Competition
Archive of IBPC Winners
Honorable mentions, July 2004
