"The Wolf Gift" Poetry Contest Winner announcement.

      After much thought and consideration, the poem that I felt was the winning poem happens to be Tom Arnone's "Ode to a Weary Wolf." It took a lot of careful thought to ultimately choose this as a winner because each of the poems I received contained a bevy of neat poetic elements. For some reason, the language of Tom's poem really struck me as being illustrative of the kind of visual details that permeates
Anne Rice's rich prose. Again, it was ultimately very hard to pinpoint the "best" poem among the other entries. In the end, it was a bit of a subjective preference which makes art contests of these types such a difficult ordeal. Nevertheless, they are also very enjoyable as it gives me a chance to read and evaluate other people's works. In the future, I hope to have another one!
Thanks again to everyone who was willing to submit their poems!! All these poems will be included in an anthology to be given to Anne Rice tomorrow night.

  Also, Happy Valentine's Day/"Wolf Gift" (I know this might be premature, but I cannot stay up till midnight to post this.)


Ode to a Weary Wolf: By:Tom Arnone
Humanity is transient and fleeting -- save for what memories and dreams may linger....

Too much violence, again.
How flawless a wolf does feign.
Down in the humming cellar,
The guise of a gentle fella.

You have made the beast laugh,
Always expecting a puppy half,
Through centuries of fantasy,
With phantasmagorical empathy.

And the Moon -- what a joke --
I turn in anger and smoke,
It, mostly, soothes and calms,
Devoid of talismans and balms.

Begging for peace and salvation
In fleeting moments of meditation,
Between the madness of transformation,
I ponder my sorted, wolfen fixations.