2018 3rd-Place Winner (Tied) Mike Joachin

Only This

By Mike Joachin

Live the actual moment.

Only this actual moment is life.

 – Thích Nhất Hạnh

Only this actual moment

is warm air on the hairs

of our neck, swaying

each like grass in a

summer breeze.

Only this actual moment

tugs at skin like a hungry

child, craving nothing more

than acknowledgement.

The chance to walk hand

and hand with our thoughts,

follow the map of the

heartbeat, breathe in what

we breathe.

What else deserves to

swallow us whole?

Other than what wakes

the senses. Gives life.

Is life. This actual

moment.

Mike Joachin currently resides in Miami, Florida, with his wife and two young children. Poetry has always been the natural way Mike expresses himself and tells stories. He is of Caribbean descent, where the art of storytelling is deep-rooted in the culture—this, perhaps, has a lot to do with his passion for poetry. Spirit First is honored to be the first major publication of Mike Joachin’s poetry.  

2018 3rd-Place Winner (Tied) Jeanie Greensfelder

Walking Meditation

by Jeanie Greensfelder

I leave the world and my worries,

walk the wood-mulch trail that shifts

to sand. Buddhist Thich Nhat Hanh

said we’re just one step from the

kingdom of heaven. I say his mantra:

Oui, Oui, Oui, Merci, Merci, Merci.

Yes to going slow, feeling the breeze.

Thanks to eucalyptus trees

where migrant monarchs hang

one from another like beads on a string.

A kingfisher calls and circles her pond. 

At the bridge I inhale rain-fresh air

and note mallards, heads tucked.

A snowy egret lands, fans her wings,

and steps into the pond. Perfect stillness.

Time stretches. My mind quiets.

The egret ignores her ruffled feathers.

Focused, she waits for food to near.

Her pointed beak strikes, catches a fish.

And me?

I got what I came for.

Jeanie Greensfelder feels honored to have won Spirit First third place this year and in 2015. Her work has been published at American Life in Poetry, and Writers’ Almanac; in anthologies: Paris, Etc., Pushing the Envelope: Epistolary Poems, and Corners of the Mouth; and in journals: Miramar, Thema, Askew, Kaleidoscope, Persimmon Tree, Solo Novo, If&When, and others. She is the author of Biting the Apple, Marriage and Other Leaps of Faith, and I Got What I Came For. Jeanie serves as the San Luis Obispo County Poet Laureate, 2017/2018. A psychologist, she seeks to understand herself and others on this shared journey, filled, as Joseph Campbell wrote, with sorrowful joys and joyful sorrows. She lives on the central coast of California with her husband Andy. More poems can be seen at jeaniegreensfelder.com.

2018 Editor's Choice Award Matt Nagin

If We Are Doomed

by Matt Nagin

if we are doomed

i say embrace it

marry it

let it carry you

into verandas of

bliss.

if we are doomed

fall into it

this gentle blanket

array of fireworks

the hot night soaking

your shirt.

if this is the end

let the bullets cascade

and the bombs echo

but embrace it with

what you have

left to give.

Matt Nagin has been writing poetry since age sixteen—where poetry became a bit of a spiritual practice. Matt has always enjoyed the non-linear nature of poetry and believes in what Rimbaud called “a derangement of the senses” to obtain the unknown. In recent years, Matt’s poetry has been published in Antigonish Review, Dash Literary Journal, The Charles Carter, and Grain Magazine, among other markets. His first poetry book, Butterflies Lost Within The Crooked Moonlight, was released in 2017 to very strong critical and reader reviews. Matt is also an award-winning filmmaker, comedian, and actor. More info at mattnagin.com.

2018 Special Category Award Winner David Monteith

Balloons: a haiku

by David Monteith

Like children holding

balloons on strings, we cling to

thoughts better set free

David Monteith stole a library book once in his life (but only once), a collection of poetry by Robert Graves. He hopes you'll forgive him. In his defense, it was pre-Internet, and he was desperate for poetry. In addition to Robert Graves, some of David’s other heroes include Mary Oliver, Wendell Berry, Brian Andreas, Rumi, and the classical haiku master, Issa. He draws on his experiences as a middle- and high-school teacher for inspiration and is currently working on his first children's book. When he's not writing, he loves taking care of other people's dogs, making earrings from comic book word bubbles, and doing Iyengar yoga.

Announcing Our 9th Annual Spirit First Poetry Contest

Annual Spirit First Poetry Contest

Deadline: February 28, 2018 (midnight)
First Prize: $200
Second Prize: $150
Third Prize: $100

Complete Guidelines:

Spirit First is pleased to announce its 9th Annual Meditation Poetry Contest. Poetry submissions may be of any length and any style but must have a theme of Meditation or Mindfulness. Poems may reflect any discipline, any faith, or none. Poems must be previously unpublished. Poems not on the themes of meditation, mindfulness, stillness, or sacred silence will not be included in this meditation poetry event.

Enter up to three submissions. Poems beyond three submissions will not be considered. Please submit your poems by email unless you do not have access to the Internet. Poems will be accepted by U.S. Postal Service for those who do not have access to sending through the Internet. All others are requested to be emailed. Poems sent by U.S. Postal Service will not be returned. Poems must be received by February 28, 2018.

Please submit your poems all in one file or inside the body of an email (rather than three poems in three separate files). Please do not send your poem(s) in a PDF (formatting and spacing are lost if your poem is sent in a PDF).  Be sure to include the author's name, address, telephone number, and email address. There is no cost to enter this contest. Submissions must be received no later than February 28, 2018. Please note: We are sorry to say we are unable to provide personal evaluations/reviews of individual poems. 

Winners will be announced on or before June 30, 2018, on the Spirit First website at www.spiritfirst.org. Winning poems will be published on the Spirit First website, the Spirit First Facebook page, the Spirit First blog, and in a Spirit First newsletter (authors retain full rights to their poems).

How to submit:

By email: send to meditate@spiritfirst.org.

By U.S. Postal Service (for those unable to send by email), send to the following address:
          Spirit First Poetry Contest
          PO Box 8076
          Langley Park, MD 20787

To all our participating poets, thank you for your beautiful words. We look forward to reading your poems!

Join us!

Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/thespiritfirstgroup?ref=hl

Meetup at http://www.meetup.com/Spirit-First-Meditations/
Our website:  www.SpiritFirst.org

2017 First-Place Winner--Jennifer L. Freed

Our 2017 First Place Winner is Jennifer L. Freed for her poem "At the Middle School Concert."

Jennifer L. Freed’s work has appeared or is forthcoming in literary journals and anthologies including Amsterdam Quarterly, the Common Ground Review, The Worcester Review, and Forgotten Women: A Tribute in Poetry; in the medical journals JAMA and Chest; and in a chapbook, These Hands Still Holding, a finalist for the 2013 New Woman’s 
Voices prize. Years ago (before husband, before children), she taught English in China and in then-Czechoslovakia. She now lives with husband and children in Massachusetts. Her website is jfreed.weebly.com.

At the Middle School Concert

by Jennifer L. Freed

The seventh grade band squeaks

through its festive repertoire,

and the harried day is still wound tight

along my spine.

I am checking the time,

thinking about the sixth grade chorus

and the eighth grade strings

still waiting to play,

thinking about the list of To-Do

I have not yet done,

when, from the stage,

or the air, or the whisper

of another mother passing near,

comes the sense

of being

here.

All at once I see

how the small boy beating the drums

is wagging his red head, beaming. 

How the boy on trombone wears neon

green socks beneath his khaki slacks. 

How the girl with gold satin shoes

and sparkling pink tulle

waves as she raises her flute.

Another girl clicks her high heels like Dorothy. 

The band teacher waves his baton

and bounces with verve.

Every note is brimming

with gorgeous imperfection.

We are held, all

of us, in the light

of this

fragile

night.

2017 Second-Place Winner--Lawrence Kessenich

This year's Second Place Winner goes to Lawrence Kessenich for his poem "Healing."

Lawrence Kessenich
Photo by Joseph A. Cohen

Lawrence Kessenich, who has practiced Transcendental Meditation almost continuously since 1971, won the Strokestown International Poetry Prize in 2010. His poetry has been published in Sewanee Review, Atlanta Review, Poetry Ireland Review, and many other magazines. He has a poetry chapbook, Strange News, and two full-length poetry books, Before Whose Glory and Age of Wonders. Kessenich has also published essays; he had short plays produced at festivals in Boston, New York and Durango, Colorado; and his first novel, Cinnamon Girl, was published in September 2016. His website is www.lawrence-writer.com.

Healing

by Lawrence Kessenich

Tasting stillness and knowing that it was medicine.

- Roshi Joan Halifax

What we call stillness may be composed of
sea bird calls, waves shushing across sand,
the almost audible sparks of light dancing
on water. Even in the deepest stillness,
the heart beats, blood whooshes through the ears,
joints click as the limbs make small movements.

The still are steady as the earth on its axis,
their stillness a way of being, of interacting
with the world. Like a gyroscope balanced

on a string, a dervish spinning on a mountaintop,
an angel dancing on the head of a pin.

And what is healing but the restoration
of balance, that which is out of sorts sorting
itself out? When one tastes stillness, like warm
sweet milk settling the stomach, all that has
been troubling, disturbing, all that has made
one feel sick gently dissipates, and all

that’s left is being.  

2017 Third-Place Winner--Pat Wadsorth

Our 2017 Third-Place Winner is Pat Wadsorth for her poem "If."

Pat Wadsworth has been writing poems and stories, and keeping journals, since she learned to read and write. Writing about the joy, sorrow, beauty, and wonder of life is her way of staying balanced in good times and sane in bad ones. After retiring from a twenty-four year career working with high-risk youth and their families, Pat enrolled in writing classes at her local community college. Encouraged by teachers, friends, and family members to submit her work for publication, she took the plunge. Her poetry has appeared in Mind Magazine, The Voices Project, The Blue Heron Review, and Sliver of Stone.

If

by Pat Wadsworth

if we look closely

into each other’s eyes

we will see tiny magic mirrors

if we listen closely to other voices

with open hearts

we will hear echoes

and, if we reach out

with loving hands

we will touch ourselves

with holiness

2017 Special Category Award: Haiku--David Monteith

This year's Haiku Award goes to David Monteigh for his poem "paper lanterns."

David Monteith is a former high school teacher—he lived and taught in San Antonio for nearly 20 years. Now he lives in Little Rock, Arkansas, where he is a journalist, a dog sitter, a facilitator, an Iyengar yoga practitioner, and a writer. He also runs an Etsy shop (Ex Libris Novum) where he sells earrings he makes out of comic book word bubbles. He loves playing with words. He's written three children's stories that haven't yet found a home. Last year he won a Banned Book Week writing contest with a story written in the style of 1001 Arabian Nights. “Paper Lanterns” is his first published poem.

paper lanterns

a haiku by David Monteith 

Breathe, then place your thoughts

like paper lanterns on the

river of your breath

2017 Editor's Choice Award--Liz Dolan

This year's Editor's Choice Award goes to Liz Dolan for her poem "The Humble Do Not Fear Failure." 

Liz Dolan’s first poetry collection, They Abide, was nominated for The Robert McGovern Prize, Ashland University. Her second, A Secret of Long Life, nominated for a Pushcart, has been published by Cave Moon Press. A nine-time Pushcart nominee and winner of Best of the Web, she was a finalist for Best of the Net 2014. She won The Nassau Prize for Nonfiction, 2011, and the same prize for fiction, 2015.

The Humble Do Not Fear Failure

by Liz Dolan                                                                                          

March

and I'm still

waiting for the amaryllis

on the sill to bloom

as it did last winter.

Another slender green stem

sprouts. Lovely so!

But not the golden goblet

of last year's  frosty gloom.

I've sprinkled stardust,

chanted psalms,

danced fandangos.

I've entreated

trees,

stones, 

whoever/whatever will listen.

I've even worshiped turtles, frogs, lit candles to tarantulas.

But the red-winged seraphs guffaw

clutch their sides

laugh at my pleas. “Stay on your knees,” they say.

What I force always fails.

Too late I've learned

to wait.

Announcing Spirit First Poetry Contest 2017

Annual Spirit First Poetry Contest

Deadline: January 31, 2017(midnight)
First Prize: $200
Second Prize: $150
Third Prize: $100

Complete Guidelines:

Spirit First is pleased to announce its 8th Annual Meditation Poetry Contest. Poetry submissions may be of any length and any style but must have a theme of Meditation or Mindfulness. Poems may reflect any discipline, any faith, or none. Poems must be previously unpublished. Poems not on the themes of meditation, mindfulness, stillness, or sacred silence will be disqualified in the first round.

Enter up to three submissions. Poems beyond three submissions will not be considered.

Please submit your poems by email unless you do not have access to the Internet. Poems will be accepted by U.S. Postal Service for those who do not have access to sending through the Internet. All others are requested to be emailed. Poems sent by U.S. Postal Service will not be returned. Poems must be received by January 31, 2017.

Please submit your poems all in one file or inside the body of an email (rather than three poems in three separate files). Be sure to include the author's name, address, telephone number, and email address. There is no cost to enter this contest. Submissions must be received no later than January 31, 2017. Please note: We are sorry to say we are unable to provide personal evaluations/reviews of individual poems. 

Winners will be announced on or before June 30, 2017, on the Spirit First website at www.spiritfirst.org. Winning poems will be published on the Spirit First website, the Spirit First Facebook page, the Spirit First blog, and in a Spirit First newsletter (authors retain full rights to their poems). 

How to submit:

By email: send to meditate@spiritfirst.org.

By U.S. Postal Service (for those unable to send by email), send to the following address:

Spirit First Poetry Contest
PO Box 8076
Langley Park, MD 20787

To all our participating poets, thank you for your beautiful words. We look forward to reading your poems!

2016 First-Place Winning Poem

First-Place Winner: Building a Brace by Joe Cottonwood 

Joe Cottonwood has worked as a carpenter, plumber, and electrician for most of his life. He is the author of nine published novels, a book of poetry, and a memoir. His novels for adults include Famous Potatoes (1978) and Clear Heart (2009). His novels for children and young adults include Quake! (1995) and The San Puerco Trilogy (1990-1996). Joe Cottonwood's 2013 memoir, 99 Jobs: Blood, Sweat, and Houses, based on his experiences as a contractor, carpenter, plumber, and electrician, is available electronically and in print—readers and reviewers have praised its humor and authenticity. Joe lives in La Honda, California, where he built a house and raised a family. More about Joe at http://www.joecottonwood.com/.

I am Building a Brace

by Joe Cottonwood

I’m a carpenter. There’s a mindfulness of craft—of any manual labor, actually—if you open yourself to it.

I am building a brace for the front porch

of my brother who is on the other side

of that door listening with headphones

to a recording of Chinese poetry

(in Mandarin, which he understands)

while he is dying, slowly,

brain cell by brilliant brain cell

in that rocking chair

whose joints are creaking,

coming undone.

He no longer remembers his phone number

or how to count change at the grocery store.

He is in denial of any problem

but the crack in the porch grows wider

millimeter by millimeter

so out here in the rain

I set four-by-fours upright as posts,

then I jerk four-by-eights as beams

     lifting on my shoulder

     held by my hands     transferred through my spine

     pushing with my legs

     anchored by my feet

as the useless joists of the deck

drop termite shit onto my eyebrows

like taunts of children:

nya nya you can’t fix this.

But I can brace it for a while.

Long enough, at least

for my brother to forget ten languages.

I will repair that rocking chair.

I will change his sheets,

install grab bars in the shower

because he’s my brother.

I won’t let his porch collapse

out here in the rain.

I simply won’t.

Holding a baby is a window to meditation.