Third Place Winner:
Kackie MacDiarmid
In Transit
Their faces are familiar, but she is not bold
Her cheek's against the window and the glass is cold
She listens but does not partake
In the mindless banter ... She can make no mistake
Talk swirls around her without repose
Mixed up phrases and careless prose
She attempts to examine every word
But they carry past her, details absurd
Her mind is a sieve, conversation is sand
It slips between thoughts 'til she cannot understand
The meanings at all, they are obsolete
Unimportant ideas, scattered, incomplete
The words in her head need a map to her lips
Doubt over truth forms a steadfast eclipse
Her breath escapes in a reluctant sigh
Her eyelids flutter, she must not cry-
Nonsensical tears dance down her face
Chatter and salt mingle, both out of place
They remind her she has but herself to blame
Her unheeded silence is her own quiet shame
