What a long, strange spring it’s been! One of the bright spots for us at the Estuary Program has been reading the entries for this year’s Morro Bay Estuary Poetry Contest: A National Treasure in Words. We always love reading what you’ve written about the bay, its wildlife, and what this special place means to you. This year, your words and the imagery you conjured took on even more significance as we looked for some extra light and connection to the natural world. Thank you to everyone who entered the contest for sharing your unique perspective and your presence, through your words, with us.
This year, our Morro Bay Estuary Poetry contest asked writers to pen haiku about any aspect of the Morro Bay estuary that called to them as well as free verse poems about any issue discussed in our 2020 State of the Bay report. Writers from down the road, across the county, in the Central Valley, and even from overseas entered the contest. It was an honor to read each and every entry.
You will find the winning poems written by adult entrants below.* If you enjoy reading them here, we hope you’ll join us for our celebratory contest reading online in late May, in partnership with Coalesce Bookstore. (Date to be determined. Please check our Poetry Contest 2020 page for details in mid-May.)
*Due to school closures and the transition to online classes, we have extended the deadline for our student writers through Friday, May 1. We look forward to reading their entries after that date. Student winners will be announced on this blog by the end of May. Please stay tuned to our Poetry Contest 2020 page for details.
Estuarine 17: Haiku focused on the Morro Bay estuary
Honorable Mention: Jude Clement
Resident of Los Osos, California
Lacy bird foot prints
tiny volcanoes in sand
morning low tide walk
Honorable Mention: Corrina Veesart
Resident of Los Osos, California
Under kelp forests,
lissome bat rays glide hither;
life’s labyrinth teems.
Third place: Michael Kinter
Resident of Morro Bay, California
Seagulls croon in flight
Otters coo on eelgrass beds
Rhythmic tides conduct
Second place: Ted Schade
Resident of Morro Bay, California
Orange morning sun
Warms flock of black brants grazing
On dancing eelgrass
First place: Nicole “Kestrel” Dale
Resident of Los Osos, California
Glory to Mudflats!
Worms, Snails and Ghost Shrimp, oh my!
The stench is divine.
State of the Bay 2020: Free verse
Second place: George Asdel
Resident of Atascadero, California
The thunder of
crashing waves,
hushed.
The rush of activities,
the crush of freeways,
silenced.
Now the calls
of ten thousand birds,
the wingbeats
of ducks, loons, pelicans, egrets;
turquoise, gold, brown, and white,
the silver flash of fish breaking
the peaceful surface,
cutthroat trout, salmon, perch,
is the music of this Estuary.
The sway of eelgrass
dancing its timeless dance
in the swirling of
salty tides and sweet
water tumbling down
ancient volcanoes
after Spring storms
is the life and
spirit of this
Estuary.
First place: Monica Stillman
Resident of Avila Beach, California
The ocean breathes
at the pace of the waves.
Winds so vast they follow
the curve of Earth
comb fish and kelp
with waves that migrate
toward the land,
feel the shoaling rim
and rise, trough and crest
curl and plunge,
swash chasing
plover sanderling,
lifted spray returned
to the wind.
The bay breathes
at the pace of the tides.
Pulled taut by hanging
moon, ebb’s silver
channels ribbon
through waves of grass
and settled silt,
and pause . . .
until the turning
when the flood returns,
a wash that fills
the Bay to brimming,
thirsty blades quenched,
clamped shells reopen,
parched flats loosen
their cracks,
and the bay’s full
arms gather drops
of sunlight.
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