Brian Batchelor was awarded First Place in Poetry in the 2015 Prison Writing Contest.
Dear crusted gravestone,
granite mortal marker,
Dear lichen
Dear vine, Dear dirt
ditch and spade:
Salutations.
Dear death-calm waters,
liquid-slack
Dear raft,
anchorless and adrift,
Dear hunched horizon,
Dear looming dark—
still air
stale and flat—
Dear disorienting gloom,
Dear cypress oar, Dear compass
rusted and soot-stained,
Dear farewell beacon,
amorous star
that breaks the black—
Hello.