(Submitted by Wood County Committee on Aging)
The Wood County Committee on Aging is happy to announce the winner for the 14th Annual Poetry Contest along with the Honorable Mention and People’s Choice Awards.
Carol Kinsey from Bowling Green received first place with her poem entitled “Cancer Time Love,” winning a $50 gift card sponsored by Bowling Green Manor and BG Care Center.
Honorable mention was awarded to Larry Slaughterbeck of North Baltimore with the poem “A Christmas Morn Walk.”
Public voting took place in April using the WCCOA Facebook and blog to select a People’s Choice Award winner. Mary Gambill from Pemberville received this award with her poem entitled “Persistence Until the Bitter End.”
Congratulations to all of the winners and thank you to everyone that participated in this year’s contest. We received many fantastic entries and look forward to more next year.
All of the submitted poems can be read on the WCCOA blog at:
https://woodcountycommitteeonaging.blogspot.com/. If you submitted a poem for the 2020 Poetry Contest and would like a printed booklet of this year’s submissions, contact the Programs Department at 419-353-5661 or 800-367-4935 or email programs@wccoa.net.
The mission of the Wood County Committee on Aging, Inc., shall be to provide older adults with services and programs which empower them to remain independent and improve the quality of their lives. For information on programs and services, please contact the Wood County Committee on Aging Inc., at 419-353-5661, (800) 367-4935 or www.wccoa.net.
Winning poems are included below in their entirety:
Cancer Time Love
By: Carol Kinsey
I came to bed the other night
you were already sleeping
making little deeply-asleep noises.
I usually crawl under the covers
turning away from you
but tonight, this night
I turn toward you
put my arm quietly across your chest
not wanting to wake you.
Wanting to be near
be dear
but not wake you.
I may not always remember this exact moment
but I will know there were times
I quietly slipped into bed along side you
touched you softly
without you knowing
but felt by both of us.
Other nights will come
taking us closer and closer to a time
when there will be no more nights to come.
A Christmas Morn Walk
By: Larry E. Slaughterbeck
No matter how fast our lives are moving;
Sometimes it is good to feel life plainly,
As on a Christmas morning walk.
A wintry wind moved gently among the branches,
The trees now asleep as I walked
On one of the shortest days of the year.
The quiet morning air was filled with snowflakes;
The sounds of the holiday season,
From a distant church’s bell tower.
A blue jay flew among the low lying bushes,
High in the sky, three skeins of honking geese
Flew at an angle.
A brisk north wind encouraged me to
Pull down my stocking cap.
Persistence Until the Bitter End
By: Mary Gambill
Her struggles were real,
So she tried to stay strong,
So her body would heal,
But the battle raged on.
Her pain it prevailed,
She got very frail,
She walked with a cain,
To help with the pain.
The Kemo was rough,
She tried to stay tough,
All she could say,
Is enough is enough.
The pain got so bad,
She could no longer fight,
Her body was broken,
Words were left unspoken.
She lost a tough battle,
The journey was long,
She pushed very hard,
To try to live on.
Now she soars like an Eagle,
High up in the sky,
Looking down on her family,
Saying please do not cry.
