The Derelict
By Seth Tyler Copeland
A painted ship off a painted ocean
Burnt love; ashy, weatherbeaten rowboatskeleton,on a hill far awaywith an old rusted cross,some kind of disaster,romantic,perverse,natural comedyadorned with shedding paint,white flecks litteringnot-so-white sand,beachsidegulls singa faraway dirgeto Poor Jackand Poorer Jill,still wearing herold rusted cross,reclining indefinitelyin a jumbled,ugly embrace,as gutted as their craft,as pointlessas their sunset.
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Cameron University student Seth Tyler Copeland of Indiahoma submitted the winning poem for the 2011 John G. Morris Poetry Prize, earning the award for the second consecutive year. Copeland received the $250 first prize for his poem, “Derelict.” Judge Ken Hada said that the winning poem "demonstrates control throughout," "provides a fresh feel," and its word choices "suggest…a tension between the desire for hope and the final 'gutted' realization."
A second-place prize of $150 awarded to Colton Rowe, Cache, for his poem, "Take Me to the Healing Waters." Of Rowe's poem, Hada said that it "has a musical quality…a somber, sacred hymnal repetition…There is an elegant, archaic feel that works well with the implied notion of ancestral lands."
Both Copeland's and Rowe's poems will appear in the upcoming issue of Cameron University's literary magazine, The Gold Mine.
Judge Ken Hada, Associate Professor of English at East Central University in Ada, is the author of two volumes of poetry, “The Way of the Wind” and “Spare Parts.” The latter has been named Outstanding Book of Poetry for the 20011 Western Heritage Awards and continues to receive national attention.
The John G. Morris Poetry Prize was established in 2006 by Dr. John Morris, Professor of English in honor of his mother, the late Marian Cary Miles Morris-Zepp. The competition is open each year to all undergraduate Cameron University students enrolled in the spring semester. Each student may submit up to five original, unpublished poems, which are judged on freshness and originality in idea, image and form; exact and precise execution of whatever the poet attempts; and use of the right words in the right order.
Previous winners are Barbara Adams (2007), Jason Poudrier (2008), Joseph Pratt (2009), and Seth Tyler Copeland (2010).
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April 13, 2011
PR#11-078
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Take Me to the Healing Waters
by Colton Rowe
My old bones have come to fail me,Fail me after many years,Though through many trials they’ve led me,Through many times of love and tears.Take me to the healing waters,Take me to the mountain sidesOf the mighty Wichitas, andLet me feel the wind’s soft cries.Let me hear the buffalo as theyStampeded across the plains.Let me hear the roaringOf the mighty rivers as it rains.The stars above shall be my compass,They alone shall be my guideAs I traverse this untamed wild,This ancient, untouched countryside.When I come to the healing watersIn them I shall be rebornAnd roam this untamed wildernessUntil the dawning on the morn.So take me to the land of old times,To the land of days long past,Where Mother Nature’s bounty is plenty,And her streams run ever fast.Take me to the healing waters,Where the life of all begins.Take me to the land of old,So I may be made young again.
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