Pushcart Prize Nominee

Greetings All,

I come bearing some good news today.

First, I'm pleased to have been nominated for the 2018 Pushcart Prize in poetry by Blue Unicorn Journal. They have nominated my poem, "Feed Lots," which you can find below.

Secondly, a new poem, "Buy a Ticket," was recently published in Sunday, January 27 edition of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.

Stay tuned for further news and updates.

x
Judy

---

Feed Lots

My head is clamorous with morning.
Before me crowds are trampling the pathways.
Up for breakfast, they rush
to feed at counters & tables;
True, at night they lust to dance,
to play, to curl beneath
bedcovers; by day, to decorate
and embrace themselves.
True, some will remember
a moment of trout shared at
a windswept lake in summer,
a kindly word, a promise.
If once happy, feeding, they will nod,
smile, and choose a rounded spoon.
If starved, take care: they will
find the sharpest knife.

---

Buy A Ticket

An old, diminished town.
Broken streets, broken glass.
Walls here are layered
Many coats of paint, all peeling.
Flakes of rust glom on to any metal.
The salt does this.
A lone surprise amidst the grit:
A chrome-bright gym open
Twenty-four-seven for the afflicted
The jobless-wounded-welfare-ians who
Nagging at scabs, cannot sleep.
Someone says dance, someone says hope,
Someone says Wal Mart is coming;
Someone says try this, it will take off the edge
No one on the other side knows squat but
Of one truth the pounded-bruised-lacerated
Are certain---money would make everyone happy.