Honorable Mention: WHC Spring Kukai

spring meadow
a child's bicycle
tied to a tree
Yu Chang, USA

Comments by Christopher Herold:

I’m not sure why a child would tie a bike to a tree. It seems sad and, I guess, reflective of the times in which we live. Maybe this meadow is in the suburbs and children who live there are very familiar with theft so that they feel the need to protect what their possessions. What I like about this poem is that, though the bicycle is tied up, the child is nowhere to be seen. Maybe he or she is collecting flowers, or chasing butterflies, or playing hide ‘n' seek with friends. Whatever. The call of the wild has been answered. I find that this poem draws me into the mystifying tension between holding on and letting go.