JMRL and WriterHouse teamed up once again to offer an exciting poetry contest for adults. The contest this year was judged by a panel of judges, with finalists judged by UVA Professor Debra Nystrom.

This year’s contest theme, “the importance of community,” piqued the interest of many dozens of writers, resulting in wonderful submissions and a competitive judging process! The wider Charlottesville writing community gathered for a poetry reading on Thursday, November 9. At the reading, the winner and runner-up were announced.

Here are the winning poems!

Winning poem by Joan Mazza:

Potluck Supper

Prejudice and ethnic strife feed off abstraction.

                                    —Alain de Botton

In the Agape Restaurant, we sit at tables of eight,

seated by arrival time, not sorted by common genes,

skin color, ethnic origin. We eat family style, pass

bowls of mashed potatoes and green beans, platters

of chicken. We do not pray, but we hold hands and say

what brought us here, express our gratitude for others,

for the food we’ve brought to share—salads, cakes,

and casseroles, which might be served at another table.

This is a potluck, no advance knowledge of whom

we’ll be seated with, what they believe. Conversation

follows rules, as at a Seder, where we ask each other

questions, listen without commentary.

We don’t ask, What do you do? Where did you go

to school? Do you own your home or rent?

We don’t ask for their papers, license, visas,

proof of citizenship. Instead, we follow the script.

What gives you joy? What do you regret?

Whom can you not forgive?

What do you fear?

What was your peak experience?

We ask ourselves to listen with open hearts,

to feel what it must be like to be inside

another’s skin, another’s mind in turmoil.

We do not give advice or offer solutions.

We can’t fix anyone, not even ourselves,

but we can hear deeply, knowing

behind our well-defended facades, most of us

are going a little out of our minds.*

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*The last two lines are from Alain de Botton’s

Religion for Atheists: A Non-Believers Guide to the Uses of Religion

Runner-up poem by Marie Burdett:

Communion

the perfection of bread is in brokenness,

in the loaf an open invitation

to come, sit and eat, join as one —

yes, when broken its perfection has begun.

not when the seed of yeast invigorates the dough

and rough hands have kneaded it

and after labor, sabbath; they lay it aside

in darkness for the savor to rise.

nor in the oven’s crucible,

scourged in cruciform for the warm fumes to escape,

metamorphosing within the chrysalis of crust

to emerge burnished, transmuted, realized.

but then comes the gathering, the

hungering, the divine sundering.

once-minute yeast becomes a feast

shared among friends, when

body blurs with soul.

there was one goal for its glutinous glory.

when broken, bread is whole.

If you are interested in writing, we encourage you to check out JMRL’s free writing programs by keeping an eye on the calendar of events.