Poetry Contest Winner, Third Prize, Fall/Winter 2022

Olivia Kingery

Blessing

defined as, simply, living–
the Redpolls cutting the morning sky in half
while the creek breeches its shoulders,
spring has a way of breaking

you open and where you felt clay hard
and parched, you find green growth,
find the Redpoll

making a nest in your chest,
a warm home, the beat of your heart
the same rhythm as the creek

and we wake up and it is a blessing