Closed Ears

GRAND PRIZE-CATEGORY IV
(Grades 10-12)

Now is the silence,
that cool last
Silence before
the mural’s skewed,
the music cut;
before my ears are abused
by the rough, vulgar
beep (whirr click) of everything else.
*
What sweet poetry is
the spider’s web:
life without fanfare and
death without tragedy
played among the deaf silver violin
strings hung with dew,
so tightly strung beyond
our understanding
*
The little septic pool
flowing back of the house
must babble and rush.
For all the water we don’t have
it must be Styx, Nile, Yellow, Amazon—
with all its extravagant filth.

Tiffanie Jones, age 18
Ellenwood, Georgia
Chamblee Charter High School (Chamblee)
Teacher: Diana Lynn Farmer