Dark storm invading coarse desert sands
Between the in-betweens of toes, searing the soles
Cirrus clouds swirling and caressing in the sharp breeze
Malicious chapped kisses on already-dried arms
Exhausted breathe wasted on silence
Stretching and fading, eviscerating mountains of reasons, proofs, and doubts to rubble
Reminiscent of what was thought to be Babylon
Pulse
Exploding
Tear visible only in the darkest mirror
Two minutes too late
Arms wrapped around a thinning ghost
Ashamed to leave
………….
………….
………….
Again
I wish I loved you the first, second, third thousand time
Instead of acquiescing to the seductive soliloquy I was sold on by corner mannequins
Shadowing the empty car to nowhere
Proximity to promises of just one more time
Lips pried open with forceps and clamps
Waterfalls of a briny sting
Flood the hallow plastic and drench the cotton to the skin
Second hauntings in the mirror
Forgotten at the seat at the table
A child’s unsatiated appetite for a substituted love
I wish I loved you the first time
Help us celebrate the 26th Anniversary of this local tradition!
Welcome to Fresno County Public Library's 26th Annual Poetry Contest happening April 1st through April 30th. Poems will be judged by talented, local professionals and our winners will be celebrated at an in-person Awards Ceremony in June 2025.
DATES
The contest runs from April 1st – April 30, 2025.
Winning poems will be announced online and in person on June 8, 2025.
CATEGORIES
3rd-5th Grade
6th-8th Grade
9th-12th Grade
Adult (18 and up)
PRIZES
Winners in each category will receive a gift card, generously donated by the Friends of the Fresno County Public Library.
1st Place: $200
2nd Place: $100
3rd Place: $50
RULES AND GUIDELINES
- Submit your poem using the link on this site.
- Participants must be residents of Fresno County.
- One poem can be submitted per person.
- Poems written in previous years can be submitted.
- No previously published poems will be accepted (including but not limited to theses, academic journals, and online publications).
- Poems can be submitted in English or Spanish.
- Participants will retain the copyright on their poems.
- FCPL reserves the right to not publish poems that violate the FCPL Rules of Conduct and Comments Policy (linked below).
- Participants are responsible for ensuring the poems submitted do not violate the guidelines for the contest and are not plagiarized or violate an existing copyright.
Remember: This contest is for all ages so please use appropriate language. The Library reserves the right to not publish or post entries. Poems that violate the FCPL Rules of Conduct and the Comments policy (linked below) or violate the rules of the FCPL Poetry Contest will not be eligible and will not be published.
Rules of Conduct
Comments Policy
Shade #880808
Cherry chapstick coats
my stomach lining,
so my insides are as pink
as my lips, and not
the red of the
blood that I suck down –
when a smile splits the skin.
I eat my weight in lipstick
licking my lips and
spilling pinks and reds
down my esophagus until
all I am is a
melting tube of wax.
My eyes leak gloss;
my mucus shimmers;
my blood sticks to my veins;
anything to cover the
pale white that wraps
around empty words
and chipped teeth.
--Dawn P., Adult
Burwell Black Angus Ranch
you retch / bloat-swollen flesh / cleaved / by iron stake / rusted serpent rattle / bovine belly / when lupine / pustules / all four stomachs / cattle = corpse / colostrum throat / cindered & / sour spore / little girl / why did you / watch hoofbeats / stagger maggot / blistered / over hollow furrow / wild-witch / woman lashed / short of the bridle / backwoods brow / carrion reaped / you / prairie-bride / feral feathered / thing / mycelium skin / mildew queen / remember ragged / braids beating / vermin teeth / barb wire bones / plow churned / tallow reaper / wench waiting / by the gates / she-devil / spurred / spite flame fangs / daughter of ash / do you miss / the taste of / unrequited violence
--Audra B., Adult
For You
In our garden
It is early
Mid-Spring
The lavender we hung
Dries little by little
Nearby are the wind chimes
Their sound mixes in
With the song of the Robin
Who forages with little hops
And that of the glacial water
Falling from the ancient Venetian fountain
That we found together
It seems centuries ago
The bold-colored cobalt hyacinths
That we planted
Come back each year
Welcoming with a beautiful fragrance
We used to stare up in reverie
At the blue powder sky
I held your hand while you fell asleep
Never counting the minutes
I remember how you liked to cull fruit
From the big cherry tree
Placing it in a wicker basket that had a hole in it
(You had patched it up with a needle and white thread)
In the shadow of this tree
The marble bench is still where we left it
An eternal weathered sentinel
I wait for you
It is early
Mid-Spring
The lavender we hung
Dries little by little
Nearby are the wind chimes
Their sound mixes in
With the song of the Robin
Who forages with little hops
And that of the glacial water
Falling from the ancient Venetian fountain
That we found together
It seems centuries ago
The bold-colored cobalt hyacinths
That we planted
Come back each year
Welcoming with a beautiful fragrance
We used to stare up in reverie
At the blue powder sky
I held your hand while you fell asleep
Never counting the minutes
I remember how you liked to cull fruit
From the big cherry tree
Placing it in a wicker basket that had a hole in it
(You had patched it up with a needle and white thread)
In the shadow of this tree
The marble bench is still where we left it
An eternal weathered sentinel
I wait for you
--Nick M., Adult