Announcing the Winners

First Place:  Christopher Hivner

Second Place:  Claudine Nash

Third Place:  Moneta Goldsmith

Honorable Mention:  Donal Mahoney

We were blessed with some wonderful poems and poets for our final Eye On Life Poetry Contest.  Please click the links above to read about them and to read their prize winning poetry.  

The EOL Poetry Contest 2014 was judged by a panel of 5 judges.  Four of the judges interacted with each other while the fifth acted as a "secret" judge, scoring the poems without any outside influence.  One of the winners remarked on my good taste in choosing this year's winners, but as in other years I can take no credit.  Instead I give the credit to our fine judges who scored impartially and with great care.  We could not have done it without them.  Thank you. 

I know you will enjoy their choices. 

Best regards,

Tom Rubenoff
Senior Poetry Editor
Eye On Life

Christopher Hivner - First Place Winner, Eye On Life Poetry Contest 2014

Christopher Hivner writes free verse in a variety of styles and puts his own unique stamp on all of them with vivid imagery that conveys intense emotion and complex ideas.  It is our pleasure to welcome him back again for his second consecutive term as First Place Winner of the Eye On Life Poetry Contest. 

First Place Winner, EOL Poetry Contest  2014: 

• The Gold Standard

Receiver of three Honorable Mentions, EOL Poetry Contest, 2014: 

• Wretched

Click HERE to read more of Christopher's work and his bio. 

Claudine Nash - Second Place Winner EOL Poetry Contest 2014

We are very pleased to welcome contributing poet Claudine back to Eye On Life as Second Place Winner in the Eye On Life Poetry Contest of 2014.   We count it our personal good luck that she chose to return to writing and grace our magazine with her work, and our faith in our good luck is validated by the judges' selection of her work for both Second Place in our contest and several Honorable Mentions as well. 

Second Place Winner and Honorable Mention, 2014 Eye On Life Poetry Contest: 

• Time Out

Honorable Mention: 

• Morning Bread

• The Unanswered

Click HERE to read more of Claudine's work and her complete bio. 

Moneta Goldsmith

Moneta Goldsmith was the 2013 Grand Prize winner of Spark Anthology’s national poetry contest. He is the recent co-founder of the literary journal 'When in Drought' & its accompanying reading series in Los Angeles. His own prose & poetry has been featured in such places as Sparkle & Blink, Iron Horse Review, & Best New Writing 2014. 

To this impressive list of laurels Moneta can now add Third Place and two Honorable Mentions in our own humble Eye On Life Poetry Contest.  We are honored to include his work here. 

Moneta cites my good taste in the selection of his work but I can take no credit.  I bow to my hardworking poetry contest judges who made this contest possible. 

Third Place Winning Poem: 

• Hyena vs. Wildebeest

Selected by the judges for Honorable Mention: 

• Literatorture: Upon Leaving a Station at the Metro

• Cerberus Smiling

Other works by Moneta Goldsmith: 

• Li Po Gets Drunk & Jumps in the River

• A Fairly Public Vow to Be More Monastic

Honorable Mention: EOL Poetry Contest 2014

Donal Mahoney is a regular contributor to Eye On Life and it is our pleasure to publish this poem of his that our judges particularly liked.   As Poetry Editor for Eye On Life it has been my pleasure to publish much of Donal's work over the past several years and I look forward to doing so as far into the future as I can foresee. 

Please enjoy Donal's poem: 

Nearing The Finish Line

Barbara Caceres

Barbara Caceres lives and works in Seattle.  In 2011 she completed a non fiction writing program at the University of Washington.   Her work has recently been published in Deep South Magazine.

Read Barbara's poetry: 

• Tell Me Why

• For The Winemaker