Geneva J. Phillips was awarded an Honorable Mention in Poetry in the 2018 Prison Writing Contest.

Every year, hundreds of imprisoned people from around the country submit poetry, fiction, nonfiction, and dramatic works to PEN America’s Prison Writing Contest, one of the few outlets of free expression for the country’s incarcerated population. On September 13, PEN America will celebrate the winners of this year’s contest with a live reading at the Brooklyn Book Festival, Break Out: Voices from the Inside.

Five Haiku Plus Two

1) The sheet falls tangles
Searching hand returns empty
He curls around her

2) Storms blow sleeting snow
Endless panes shimmering glass
December fences

3) Noodle bowl steaming
White paint flakes gently
Flutters to earth

4) Hardsilver glinting
Clear sunglazed deep blue day
Plane passes over

5) Accumulation
On shelves, empty locker
Disposable life

1a) Boxed up letters
One picture turned just so
Small shred, certain scrap

2a) Razorwire ruins view
Sun setting fire cedars
Phoenix in the ashes