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Each spring semester, the Howe Writing Center hosts a poetry contest In honor of National Poetry Month (April). For 2023, the HWC worked with University Libraries to promote the theme of “Writing Back to the Past,” where students wrote special “golden shovel” poems inspired by works from the library archives.

Howe Writing Center consultants and staff chose four winners for the spring poetry contest:

• 1st Prize: Claire Hampton
• 2nd Prize: Adeline Roux
• 3rd Prize: Anna Boyer
• Staff Choice: Julia Quigley

Congratulations to all prize recipients! Be sure to read their work below.

“Untitled” by Claire Hampton

Stifled under the guise of love,

crushed smaller than she’d ever have thought

she anticipates his conquest, to

domesticate, to discipline, to tame

Is this all there can be? This

suppression, this constriction, this wild-trapped

woman, and her wild-trapped heart

flattened under the boot of a man to

whom she must make

every thought known, every soft

bit of hope and self and

her, turned vacant and pliant

by him, but

this is not all there can be; a

semblance of hope, a longing

for release, a longing to

be her, not his, to go

somewhere, anywhere, on

the wings of a great bird that

flies her far from his mocking

Now, walking a yet-untraveled road,

for a moment, his bootprint sears

on her wild-trapped heart; it

stings for a moment more, and

suddenly it fades, and makes

her float, free of his hold; it

lifts her, and she glides, defiant.

Claire is an International Studies and German double major, with a minor in English Literature, and she will be graduating from �������� in 2025. She is from Cincinnati, and enjoys reading, writing, traveling, and attending concerts. Language is her biggest passion. She is honored to be selected for this prize and looks forward to working more with the HWC in the future.

“Reflection” by Adeline Roux

Pale, she looks at the mirror. What does she see and

What does she think to see? Just herself, as if to

Change, and a thin white hair. She yearns to run

Away from her reality. Outside,

This is where she belongs. Trapped with

Herself, desperately, she is me,

I am her. We feel less lonely, relieved to

Feel this presence; her arm rests on mine, we dance.

In her two-fold world, she is a fool too; and in

Her fantasy, I am fond and see her as the

Woman she wanted to be. The bloody brook

Of life washes out the naïve white dreams of

The hopeful soul. I am staring at our

Pills in the sink; a child in the backyard.

Adeline is a French second-year Master's student in the French, Italian, and Classical Studies department. 'Reflection' is the very first poem that she is sharing and she is thrilled the Howe Writing Center gave her the opportunity to do so.

“Becoming You” by Anna Boyer

Someone once told you

that you never yet became

yourself. Like it’s all a

lie; like you’re just a shell, a mannequin

with dreams of being a dancer on the

sly— all starlit and shining at night.

Like you stiffen each morning for the manager when he

checks the display, but you left

your heart on the polished wood, along with

everything that’s beautiful. They think they know the

truth but there’s something else that holds the patent

to your soul and it’s better than being on

the grandest stage. You tried to explain this. Your

audience laughed, chalked it up to your virginity.

Anna is a junior Finance and Accounting major going into ��������’s combined degree program for the MAcc next year. Her favorite poems are by e.e. cummings, Mary Oliver, and Maggie Smith and she enjoys trying to find ways to look at something familiar from a different angle. Anna’s previous works include last semester’s “Demeter in Stage Five (Acceptance)” and other various poems published in recent editions of Inklings.

“To Know” by Julia Quigley

Julia’s poem uses formatting, so we have decided to include a screenshot of the manuscript here. In the interest of accessibility, we have included the text below without the formatting.

intuition

the size of a pomegranate seed

is all a silenced woman needs

don’t talk to me,

i’m busy co-writing the akashic records

in my sleep

you ask me why i’m asking

but you see, i already see these things

maybe i just wanna be a good girl

and not read into your soul

and scare the living shit out of you

with what i already know

like the first time i cried after i left you

it wasn’t because i missed you

but because after i told my friend katy everything

she told me her story

and we cried because we know

then when i was ready

i asked the other katie

if you cheated on me with her

and she still lies because she knows

in the beginning i couldn’t see

how all of this would go

but now i’m writing and i hear myself narrating

the story as it unfolds

Julia Quigley is a junior Professional Writing major with a co-major in Entrepreneurship. She has written for The �������� Student Style Edition as well as Loveland Beacon. Alongside journalism, enjoys writing poetry and creative nonfiction. Her favorite book is The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho.