Our theme for March's contest was "Endurance" and our winner is Karen H. Phillips with her poem, "Ode to a Vintage Coffee Table".
Judge John C. Mannone had this to say about Karen's poem: “Ode to a Vintage Coffee Table” is a delightful poem in the voice of its owner addressing the coffee table in praise of service for over sixty years clearly satisfying the theme of Endurance. Second person poems are not easy to pull off, but the author manages to do that well as the reader is taken on the adventure of the coffee table to a satisfying ending. Pablo Neruda, a master of the ode to every day things, would have been proud."
Ode to a Vintage Coffee Table Circa 1950
By Karen H Phillips
Your finish
needs refinishing.
The color of honey,
you served my newlywed parents well,
endured the childhood
my brother and I rollicked through.
You survived our children’s roughhousing,
gnawing pup, procession of scratching cats.
Your hard rock maple soaked up pizza and spilled cokes,
propped up weary feet,
granted grandkids a bench, a TV tray, a coloring spot.
Your colonial style—
simple curves, scallops, and oblong shape—
speak homey elegance,
spindled legs a sturdy foundation
upheld by clubby feet.
Fifteen dollars must’ve seemed a fortune
to a young couple living on pork ‘n’ beans.
I don’t know what you’re worth today, true hue glowing under
surface scar-topped and care-worn,
but the sixty-odd years and adventures you’ve seen
make you priceless.
When she's not hiking, reading, or chasing grandkids, Karen H. Phillips writes poetry and nonfiction.Her nonfiction has appeared in two devotionals for writers, as well as the anthology Project Keepsake. Karen's poems have been published in two online journals, as well as the Chattanooga Writers Guild's contest anthology. Congratulations, Karen!
To learn more about the Chattanooga Writers’ Guild, please visit them online at chattanoogawritersguild.org
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