First Place Winner

Second Place Winner

A Curious Found Object 
Alissa Mackey 

With wings like a silver angel
you should be able to fly
yet you remain seated on the earth’s chair
a thousand pieces are torn out from you
your shining slivers left
held by a single thread close to collapse
like a person losing hope
fragile, delicate, but firm
your aroma is strong
like the whiff of a grandmother's shawl
your strength comes from the purpose
which serves your beauty
you are my mystery
i search for your place
amidst others
like a traveler searching for a home
lost among the possibilities.

Forever Curious 
Chana Pessel Pearlman

When I was a child
I walked through the streets
Full of questions
I looked at the world around me
And wondered
Why does the moon 
Seem to follow me wherever I go?
Why is my shadow so tall
While I am so short?
Why don’t I feel the Earth
Revolving beneath my feet?
What makes the grass
That grows around me green?

Now I walk the streets
No longer wondering
No longer questioning
No longer noticing my surroundings
The magic of the environment is still there
But the wonder in my heart has disappeared

You
Sarah Haddad 

You. 
You're just a ripple in the puddle she stepped in
As she looked into the reflection. 
You're just the warm air she breathed out of her pursed lips 
Fading away into the cold winter day. 
You're the snowflake she caught on her tongue That melted away into her oblivion. 
You're the bottle she kicked into the road mindlessly. 
You're just a drop of water that dripped from one of the houses she walked by
That rolled off her jacket onto the sidewalk. 
You're just something in her life so minor but unique. 
She's the only reason you exist
To be noticed by her
Constantly dancing in front of her eyes
But she's distracted by other things
As her eyes flick back and forth
To the trees that line either sides of the highway she walks down 
​But you're just a passing car. 

A Dying Breed
Ester Soumekh

Curse the wretched human who
Used me and discarded me so easily
A soiled tissue.
I, who carried your groceries
Clothing
Shoes
When you could not.
Am I really that disposable to you?

Worn and torn and flattened
By feet and cars and streets.
How dare you leave me to fend for myself?

I have seen the beautiful and ugly of the world
I have seen
The Grand Canyon and Central Park
And the Hollywood sign

Dragged by the wind through mucky soil
And freeways and shopping malls.
Tattered remains of me have been left behind
On twigs and grass
Fences and chimneys of abandoned homes.
I have floated on lakes and rivers
Almost drowned in the ocean

And yet it all means nothing
​Without a purpose 
With no one to share it with.

I would have given anything
To be your steady companion.
Instead I find myself stabbed.
Ouch.
And slipped into the dark.

Death 
Victor Fteha 

Blood rushes down.
Cries, screams, and frowns. 
Death has struck.  

Impossible it is
To conquer Death,
But viable it is
To postpone it. 

Those who seek it
Will regret it,
But those who hide
May just survive. 

Death is cunning,
Difficult to evade;
But with wit and wisdom, 
He can be delayed. 

Grief and sorrow
Pervade without veer,
For Death is surely
A man's greatest fear. 

None can bear
The wrath of Death,
And none can dare
To pose an attempt. 

Death is anything but
A champion's dismay,
For a true proponent
Expects what is grey. 

Why suffer
A horrific, vicious end,
When Death can be greeted
As an equal old friend?

Life in the Shadows
Leah Miriam Fuchs

She leads a double life
Her real self
Is in the shadows

Around others
It becomes fuzzy
Out of focus

Sometimes
Her shadow is sharper
Like an outline of the person
She used to be

Third Place Winner

Autumn
Henna Zidele

The hearth burns bright 
And feathers float
Beyond the heaviness of man
Light escapes through the cracks
And embraces the tree of life
With whispers of the past

​​I am Yitzchak and this is my field 
Jesse Blumenfeld

It’s harvest season.
The sun is splattered
on my neck.
A breeze brushes against shoulders
but I am not here to reap.
There is a low whistle in the distance
The trees bend and the tall grass shimmers
like an escaping fish,
but I am not here to crop.
I begin my prayer
and I wait
for my wife to come.
Only a blank face exists
but soon I will see.
Sweat dribbles in painted dirt streaks.
My mind wanders to the distant hills.
With the nomads up North,
cold and blue and fresh.
It is the time before
focused
breathing drawn out breaths
nervous but focused
“Please god,
let her be beautiful like the moon.
Let her have eyes of gold and sapphire;
her hand and face smooth;
untouched by the stroke
of God’s brush.
Let her be here.
Soon.
Soon.

​God's Light 
Rivka Blau

In that pause of time
when everything is dark
that spreads like fire
is that spark
that illuminates me
in the temporary world

​Alzheimer's
​Gitty Schuck 

Most people have choices
They can control their reactions
But creeping into a brain
Is an unseen invader
That destroys
Hard-won self-control
And every memory
In slow stages
Facial recignition fades
And anger simmers
Under the surface
Ready to erupt
At the slightest provocation
Then the invader
Delves even deeper
Into the cranial depths
And anger transforms to anxiety
Because she can't recall

Where she is 
Or how she got there
Why isn't her husband here?
She needs him
Every waking hour
When in her presence
I cannot fathom
Where my grandmother has gone

​Won't You Pray For ME, Too?
​Shalva Gozland 

It is not Paris we should pray for.
It is the world.
A world that preaches love and peace
Yet tolerates hatred.
A world that raises no voice of conscience against injustice,
And remains silent in the face of barbaric evil.
A world that claims to value human life,
Yet stands by idly as Jewish blood stains the streets of Jerusalem,
And fills the cars and coffee shops of innocent people–
Mothers and fathers like you,
Children like me.
A world that turns a blind eye to the victims,
And sympathizes with the perpetrators.
A world that denies anti-Semitism,
yet races to attack Israel when given the chance–
On the walls of social media
And in the campuses across our nation.
A world that simply doesn’t care
Unless it isn’t Israel.
Unless it isn’t the Jews.
A world not true
To itself.