Jim Davis

Second Place Winner, Honorable Mention

Eye On Life Poetry Contest 2011-2012 

JIM DAVIS is a graduate of Knox College and now lives, writes, and paints in Chicago. Jim edits the North Chicago Review, and his work has appeared in After Hours, Blue Mesa Review, Poetry Quarterly, Whitefish Review, Chiron Review, and Contemporary American Voices, among others. Winner of multiple poetry prizes and Editor’s Choice awards, Jim is excited to see two of his collections go to print in 2012: “Work” (unbound content) and “Translations”  (Mi-te Press) www.jimdavispoetry.com

Read Jim’s poems:  

• Harvestmen (Second Place Winner)

• A Circle of Stones(Honorable Mention)

• Waiting Room

• This Morning

Amye Nicole Bird

Third Place winner and Honorable Mention, Eye On Life Poetry Contest 2011-2012 

Amye Nicole Bird is a thirty-seven year old life long resident of Utah. She has always had a passion for reading and writing poetry and has been writing for over twenty years.  She wrote her prize-winning poem, “The Day The Sun Forgot To Rise”, in honor and in memory of her grandparents, Claude and Mae Holm, who both suffered and eventually passed away from Alzheimers disease.

Amye:  “I also wanted to bring awareness to the fact that those suffering from this disease are still our precious family members, friends, and relatives. They deserve to be loved and cared for with the greatest of respect and gentleness. Though their physical bodies ‘forget’ who they are, their souls never do! ——I loved you then as much as I still love you now!”  

Read Amye’s poems:  

• THE DAY THE SUN FORGOT TO RISE(Third Place Winner)

• CROW (Honorable Mention)

Click here to read more of Amye’s poetry at Eye On Life.  

Olivia Arieti

Third Place Winner, Eye On Life Poetry Contest 2011-2012

Olivia Arieti is a US citizen living in Italy with her family.  There she teaches high school English.  Her plays have been published by Brooklyn Publishers, Heuer Publishing,  Desert Road Publishing, JAC Publishing & Promotions, USA, Lazy Bee Scripts, UK.  Her poems have appeared in “Women In Judaism”, “The Wanderlust Review”,  “Poetica Magazine”,  “Eye On Life”, “VWA: Poems For Haiti”, “Cliterature”, “The Harsh And The Heart Anthology” - Silver Boomer Books, “Pagan Friends”; and her short stories have been published in The Smoking Poet, Enchanted Conversations, Daily Bites Of Flesh 2011 Pill Hill Press, Voices From The Garage, Riverbabble, Halloween Anthology Magic Cat Press, Christmas Warmth Anthology Xoxo Publishing.

Read Olivia’s Third Prize winning poem: 

• The Last Wave

Read more by Olivia Arieti.   

EOL Poetry Contest Winners, Honorable Mention, 2011-2012

For the Honorable Mention awards, after all the poems are judged I ask the judges if they would like to pick one or two poems that, although they didn’t necessarily score high when judged by the criteria that they chose to judge all of the poems, touched or moved them on an emotional level.  Following are the poems the judges chose:  

• “Whole in Theory” by Cheryl Sommese

• “How I Fell” by Lisa Cappiello

• “The Season of the Switch” by H.E. Mantel

• “Pedro, Pablo and Little Jose” (two Honorable Mentions) and
  “What Purpose Does a Rabbit Have” by Donal Mahoney

• “Facades” by Carol Hamilton

Christine Barba

As a 19-year-old undergraduate studying English and Communication at the University of Delaware, Christine is the Publicity Chair of “DEconstruction Magazine”.  She has also served on the submissions and editing committees for “The Main Street Journal” and “Caesura Student Literary Magazine”, and was the Entertainment Editor for “The Review” student newspaper during the autumn of 2011. This spring she will be tutoring at the writing center.  Some of her poetry and short stories have appeared recently in “The Main Street Journal” and “CC&D/Children”, “Churches”, and “Daddies”.

Read Christine’s Poetry:  

• THE FLOWER GARDEN

• CREATION

• THE FACE OF COPPER

• THE WATER’S EDGE

Contest Winners - EOL Poetry Contest 2011-2012

We would like to thank all who entereed the Eye On Life Poetry Contest this year.  It was a very close competition between several good poets.  Now that I have received scores from all judges, I can declare the winners:   

• First Place:  “Life After Death” by Peggy Trojan 
• Second Place:  “Harvestmen” by Jim Davis 
• Third Place:  “The Day the Sun Forgot to Rise” by Amye Nicole Bird
  and “The Last Wave” by Olivia Arieti.  

In addition, the following poems were selected by the judges for Honorable Mention:   

• “Crow” by Amye Nicole Bird 
• “A Circle of Stones” by Jim Davis (two Honorable Mentions) 
• “Whole in Theory” by Cheryl Sommese 
• “How I Fell” by Lisa Cappiello 
• “The Season of the Switch” by H.E. Mantel 
• “Pedro, Pablo and Little Jose” (two Honorable Mentions) and “What Purpose Does a Rabbit Have” by Donal Mahoney 
• “Facades” by Carol Hamilton 

Winning poems and Honorable Mentions will be published the first week in March.  I’ll keep you posted.  

Now Featuring Audio Recordings

Now you can hear as well as read great poetry here at Eye On Life Online Magazine.   To experience this wonderful addition, click on any of the links to the poetry of Elizabeth Swados below, scroll down to the bottom of the poem and click the link to the audio file.  I’ve often heard it said that when a poem is read it gets a whole new life.  Listen to these works by Elizabeth Swados and I think you’ll agree.  

Elizabeth Swados

Elizabeth Swados is an award winning author and composer; she is a Tony nominated, Obie award winning theater artist, and is Guggenheim and Ford Foundation recipient as well as a Pen/Faulkner citation recipient.   Her latest book is At Play – Teaching Teenagers Theater (Faber and Faber). Her other recent publications include: My Depression (Hyperion), and The Animal Rescue Store (Scholastic).  Her theatrical credits span from Broadway, to off-Broadway, to around the world including Runaways, Missionaries, and Jabu.  Her poetry has appeared in magazines such as “Meridian Anthology”, “New American Writing”, “New York Quarterly”, “Emory’s Journal”, “Confrontation”, “Paterson Literary Review”, “Speakeasy”, “Barrow Street”, “Runes” and “Home Planet”. Her first book of poetry, The One and Only Human Galaxy, was released in 2009 and a book of non-fiction prose, Waiting, was released in 2011.

Read Elizabeth’s poetry:  

• Time change

• Poor Hudson Boy

• R-E-S-P-E-C-T

• Loud Guitar

Saheli Khastagir

Saheli Khastagir is currently working on her Masters in Psychology from Delhi University, India.

She says, “I am terrible at expressing myself and words slip through my fingers when I need them the most.  In my effort to express myself I discovered poetry and painting; when I run out of explanations, verses and colors come to my rescue, to give shape to my feelings.”  

Some of Saheli’s poems have appeared in “Mad Swirl”, ”Haggard” and “Halloo.” 

Read Saheli’s poem:   

• Making Love with Solitude

Judging Poetry

I love poetry.  No surprise there, eh?  But how, really, do you judge poetry if you love it?  Does one judge what they love?   Well, of course, as with anything, to judge poetry you need a system that is built of criteria.  What are your criteria?  

My criteria for publication in this magazine are:  

• No errors 
• Vivid imagery that communicates feelings or emotions 
• Poetry that fits comfortably within its own form, or transcends its form  

I am not a judge for the Eye On Life poetry contest.  For that I choose a panel of poets, journalists and academics who volunteer to read and score the poems.  I am extremely grateful for them for helping out Eye On Life with this difficult work.  They are applying their own criteria fairly and impartially to what they love: poetry.  Amazing.  

Thank you, judges.