Page 30 - SOUTHERN VOICES_2020

Layers (Self-Portrait)
First Place—Drawing
Shelby Tisdale
Mixed media
Washing Machine Heart
Gracie Rowland
Honorable Mention—Poetry Competition
Mama sits on her knees, the pile of clothes
Beside her like a lumbering stack of books
Laundry room lights transform her blonde hair golden She looks smaller somehow, but wiser
She picks up the blouse on top with leisure
Folds it in two in one graceful fell swoop
Smooths the creased lines with her palms
Places it on the floor, moves to the pile again
Her head sways to the music playing
Back and forth her hair falls
Like a curtain of silk, opening, closing
She’s not rushed, takes her time
Chaos of living dims in this moment
It feels like a photograph should be taken
Like one of those polaroids that make me wonder
If I ever seem as content as that, if the light
Ever graces my limbs in resplendent outlines
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Acrylic
Myrtle Beach
Third Place—Painting
Katy Chen