1st Place Poem

Nikolay Iliyev

Night and Day

   A brother and sister
forever astray,
siblings so distant
the night and the day;

   Tell me my sister of darkness
who our pain does indeed harness
and put me up on a throne of gold
and you to the darkness forever sold

The truth my brother of light
is as simple as the day and the night
our duty is to the world we blanket
being together, people don’t like it

Every sun ray I will trade
and every bit of warmth ever made
to see our curse forced aside
an eternal unending glorious ride

Knowing that you are there somewhere
knowing there’s someone who always will care
will always remain a light in my heart
even if we’re lifetimes apart

A brother and sister
forever astray,
siblings so distant
the night and the day

2nd Place

Svetlin Atanasov

Unrequited Love

I’m writing this poem all night long.
Unfortunately, not in motherly tongue,
But in a language I abhor,
Yet, one that you can understand, amour.

***

I lie beside you. It’s July.
We watch together the summer sky,
The shooting stars above the sand,
And our bodies wet and tanned.

A crazy love, a midnight swim,
The moon reflecting in the rim,
The sound of hot, summer breeze,
The smell of wrack, salt, and seas.

Your lips are salty, yet so sweet.
I kiss them while listening to your heartbeat.
And lightly touch your cool bare skin,
By slowly going down your chin.

This poem gets too erotic now,
So let’s speak of Titanic and its prow,
And how it slowly sunk into the sea,
Going down, and down like me.

***
Unfortunately, this is what you missed,
You decided not to come to our tryst,
So I wrote this poem now,
As a way to tell you ciao.