First Place, Poetry Contest
John He
heard
too, the voice
it
disembodied
reverberating through a baptism
defining "epiphany"
crowning a king with feathers or so they sing
of birds
and wild Ught (you'll
when
know
it
spirits
it
when you hear
it
once again
falls
descends— to people
like
you
than
who do need a brighter view what men offer here)
And
the
to people
two wet men
in a river
could not even feel the
first
shivering waves
or the breeze in their daze.
not every day a
It's
as
man
is
announced
God.
Reborn
in a river
he was the well he knew the nails
one for each year of witness and
his cousin, in
answer
had a heart so fine (is
yours so fine?)
and a head so pure (is
yours so pure?)
that a king
used
it
instead as
payment
for
a dancer.
by Cherie Priest
23
