Select Work, 2011 Edition
Things to do in Kentucky, Fall all athwart
Joseph Hurtgen
listen to music all night
look into eyes, sad and vacant, sometimes not your own
another Kentucky highway
drive through a tunnel blasted out of the rock
always outside
laying in the grass watching the trailing jet clouds
sycamores stark white
letters sent and unsent
tears and laughter unlooked for
pouring out milk for a stray cat
hands joined together one last time
wake up in the quiet
find your way again
The Gift
Alyssa Gnadinger
A rose upon the sill
A rose holds such a thrill
Receive the gift, there comes a rift
A rose upon the sill
A shudder in the night
A shudder born from fright
Tonight they come to take you home
A shudder in the night
A ticking in the dark
A ticking, beating heart
Through time and space, forget the place
A ticking in the dark
A rose upon the sill
So take it if you will
The rift will tear and speech impair
A rose upon the sill
Her Last Run
Nancy Lynn Meadows
The only female in the race,
Eyes with pride on her face.
Winner in fact and in heart,
On May 3rd, she waited to start.
As charming as her name,
Eight Bells was on her game.
They opened the gate
And she raced to her fate.
Eight Bells ran fast
In the race that was her last.
She gave it all she had
Which only proves more sad.
She was number two across the line
And to all, she’d done fine.
But as she fell to the side
They all knew it was her last ride.
Eight Bells, a horse of inspiration,
Her death was devastation.
She showed us the beauty within
As she raced until the end.