FIRST PRIZE
Loren Weiss
Cleveland Heights
A romantic getaway for two at the luxurious Ritz-Carlton Hotel, two tickets to the Cleveland Orchestra concert conducted by Nicholas McGegan, the weekend of 2/15; a dozen roses from Daisy Hill Greenhouses; a $200 travel bag from Larchmere Oriental Rugs; a $20 gift certificate from Malley’s Chocolates; romantic CDs by Placido Domingo, Yo Yo Ma and Joshua Bell from Sony Classical; Peter Buchi’s Tenor Torch Songs from Crossover.
SIXIETH REUNION
This gray hair covers heads
bent forward awkwardly to read
name tags thru bi-focals.
A check for survivors.
Those we hardly knew
in nineteen forty-six
become new best friends.
Find Elaine. Tell her at last
how I loved her silently,
in grades seven, eight and nine.
Pressed against each other,
hug held. Soft and warm,
lips brush slowly, honestly,
sixty years late.
SECOND PRIZE
Kimberly Prudhoe
Bay Village
Romantic CDs by Placido Domingo, Yo Yo Ma, Joshua Bell and Peter Buchi
$10 gift certificate from Malley’s Chocolates
THE LOVE SONG OF KAY ALICE TRUFROCK
Kay Alice was full of malice
and contempt for everyone she knew.
Then she met Gary and life became merry,
but to Alice he could not be true.
So Kay Alice tried not to be callous
and showed kindness to both young and old.
Then she met Kirk, who was a real jerk,
and they’re married with children, I’m told.
THIRD PRIZE
Esti Gumpertz
Beachwood
Romantic CDs from Placido Domingo, Josha Bell and Peter Buchi
$10 gift certificate from Malley’s Chocolates
HOW LOVELY ARE YOUR DREAMY EYES
How lovely are your dreamy eyes
You are so soft to touch;
Your breath, so warm, so intimate-
I love you, dear, so much.
You understand my feelings
You’re considerate. You care.
And when you know I need you
I call and you are there.
You fill my life with happiness
As we cuddle in the dark;
My sweet and silky Labrador,
I just wish you wouldn’t bark.
FOURTH PRIZE
J.T. Lawless
South Euclid
Romantic CDs from Yo Yo Ma, Placido Domingo and Peter Buchi
$10 gift certificate from Malley’s Chocolates
PATIENCE, AS IT WERE
“Patience,” as my mother used to say with rhythm and wit, “is found seldom
in a woman, never in a man.”
Creaking toward our 40th, hearing less and moving less, it is time to pay homage
to this sweet virtue.
So let us take the bite out of talk, the tic out of face and the harsh from ourselves.
Knowing you, you’ll think: this was to be all about me, not about your flaws.
Patience dear, first we’ll do you and finally me.
FIFTH PRIZE
Paul Ciano
Avon
Romantic CDs from Yo Yo Ma, Joshua Bell and Peter Buchi
$10 gift certificate from Malley’s Chocolates
THE RENAISSANCE OF MY LOVE
If I were to die. I would return as one of your tears…
To be conceived again, within your heart.
Burn in your eyes.
Live on your cheek.
And die, once again, on your lips.
SIXTH PRIZE
Mark Katrinak
Cleveland Heights
Romantic CDs from Placido Domingo and Peter Buchi
$10 gift certificate from Malley’s Chocolates
MELTED WAX
Over the shoulder of igneous memory
we glance eleven years back
to orchestrated days when our myths met:
the fire that rose and burned the innocence
out of our eyes; blazing that makes men blind
to common things: a sinking sun,
an evening adding darkness to a room.
Our bodies there are still in unison
Tomorrow came; now we’re a calmer kind.
The night’s more like a quiet-candle warmth
carving in the dark with its meditative wick.
The hours progress without regrets
as melted wax solidifies the years
and faithful hearts and souls intertwine.
SEVENTH PRIZE
Jean Isabel
Hudson
Romantic CDs from Placido Domingo and Peter Buchi
$10 gift certificate from Malley’s Chocolates
GOOD WOE
My heart upside down did flip
When you at first I saw…
And nothing since has righted it…
Not even Newton’s Law.
EIGHTH PRIZE
Linda Burgess
Lakewood
Romantic CDs from Yo Yo Ma and Peter Buchi
$10 gift certificate from Malley’s Chocolates
SURE
“Marriage. It’s time,” she said.
Eyes wide (deer in the headlights) “Sure,” he said.
“We’re together three years,” she said.
“Sure,” he said. “Three years.” Deep breath.
“You’re my best friend,” she said.
Shoulders less tense. “Sure,” he said.
“Don’t you think it’s time?” she said softly.
Grand pause. “Lisa, will you marry me?” he said.
“Sure,” she said.
NINTH PRIZE
Rosemary Ludway
Cleveland Heights
Romantic CDs from Joshua Bell and Peter Buchi
$10 gift certificate from Malley’s Chocolates
THE MUSE DEPARTS
My muse is gone
T’will come no more
It left the day
You said I snore.
TENTH PRIZE
Joannie Havach
Cleveland Heights
Romantic CDs from Yo Yo Ma and Peter Buchi
$10 gift certificate from Malley’s Chocolates
A HAIKU
Love graces the world…
a crimsoned leaf on the floor…
of a stilled forest.
