Tickled by Thunder Poetry Contest Results

May 15, 1995

Marylin Shaw, Surrey, British Columbia -- The Fairies (shown below)
Helen Michiko Singh, North Vancouver, British Columbia, Let Me Go Gently (shown below)
Alicia De Leon, Delta, British Columbia, That Last Moment (shown below)
Najwa Salam Brax, Flushing, New York, Daring Wings
Claudia Ferguson, Nelson, British Columbia, Darkwood
Gregory Wm. Gunn, London, Ontario, One With Everything
Marylin Shaw, Surrey, British Columbia, Tenacity
Patricia Wooding, Surrey, British Columbia, Farewell
Dr. Glen D. Wheeler, Vancouver, British Columbia, We Should Know
Alice Anderson, White Rock, British Columbia, Autumn
Marylin Shaw, Surrey, British Columbia, Tad Souls
Patricia Wooding, Surrey, British Columbia, By a Lake on a Summer Day.

Honourable Mentions: None.

FIRST PLACE POEM
The Fairies
By Marylin Shaw
Surrey, British Columbia

"Do you believe in fairies?"
"Why, yes, of course I do!
Without the help of fairies,
What would the angels do?"
"D'ya mean they help the angels?"
Her blue eyes grew and grew,
"Of course they help the angels –
Angels have lot sto do!"
"Have you seen fairies Grandma?
Do they come in night or day?
Do they come in different colours?
Do they go or do they stay?"
I picked up my inquisitor,
Plunked her on my lap,
And she simply sat and sparkled,
While we had our little chat.
"They come from the Isle of I love you,
Some fly from the Isle of I Care,
They gather from Compassion,
From Give and Work and Share.
The wind blows some in from Laughter,
The rain eases some in from Tears,
These glistening magical fairies,
To be yours for your mortal years.
They come from their far away places,
Each time that a baby is born,
For they know each child is so special,
And with fairies a baby's adorned.
So, when you hear yourself laughing,
Or crying or finding you care,
No matter your age, my dearie,
You'll know that the fairies are there."
She slid down from her perch then,
Her knowledge to 'go tell,'
And left me quietly muttering,
"God bless you, Tinkerbell!"

SECOND PLACE POEM
Let Me Go Gently
By Helen Michiko Singh
North Vancouver, British Columbia

When my eyes no longer see beauty
When you must shout for me to hear
When my limbs no longer carry me
When I am gaunt and wary
And only skin and bones remain
Let me gaze upon you
To tke the memory with me
Let me feel your arms around me
And tell me you love me, one more time
And when you see before you
The face of your own mortality
Don't turn away in fear
For now, more than ever
I need you beside me
To speak for me, to stand on guard
Don't let them torture my body
With heroics and drugs
that only cause more pain
Don't clutch me to your bosom
And cry that I must not go
For everything there was to see
And everything there was to do
I have done it all
And I am ready now
So plase, let me go
Let me go gently
Let me go smiling into the night
For I can stay no more.

THIRD PLACE POEM
That Last Moment
By Alicia De Leon
Delta, British Columbia

Slim and pale,
she layed on her death bed
Fragility wrapped in wrinkled linen
Her breath hardly moved her chest
I looked at her from my pity and my fear
And she lifted the blue pain of her eyes
And looked at me from her resignation.
Her withered lips trembled
Barely sustaining a faded smile.
Her hand, weak, cold, and bony
Found a warm place between my hands
Above her fears and mine
And for a moment, for that last moment,
I thought I could detain her
I thought that all she needed
Was my desperate need of her!
But eternity had already claimed her
And wrapped in that wrinkled linen
Was only her absence.
The warm place between my hands
Grew colder. I cried.

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