A! Magazine for the Arts

Alliance announces winner of poetry contest

May 25, 2021

The Elizabethton Arts and Cultural Alliance has announced the winner of its April Poetry Contest held in honor of National Poetry Month. There were 21 submissions, each of which was posted to the group’s social media. The judges were Jillian Reece of Carter County Drug Prevention, MaryAnn Owen and Harley Williams, both of the Elizabethton/Carter County Public Library. The winner is Amanda Baxter of Elizabethton, Tennessee. Her winning poem is below.

Reborn

By Amanda Baxter

Born a babe with endless potential

Variables in life, often exponential

Childhood brought pain, just a prelude

Empathy and love always seemed to elude

Aged but no wiser, acclimated to the harms

Hopeful for love, driven to a narcissist’s arms

Depression malignant, taking a soul

Dead but still walking, not in control

Reborn at the sound of a baby’s cry

Forced to life, body and mind do comply

Strength returns as parental love

The fate of the baby now taken hold of

Leaving what was once thought of as home

Embracing newness and many things unknown

New strength, new life, new smiles, now secure

Only happiness and love left to endure

Printed with permission

x