
Winners & Finalists for 2016 Luminaire Award for Best Poetry
First Place: “Baldwin Apples” by Sarah Ann Winn
Second Place: “Coralee Robbins Mafficks the Fall of Art” by Amy Wright
Third Place: “vii. (the leviathan)” by Mary Buchinger
Fourth Place: “we move as dust” by Michael Bernicchi
Fifth Place: “the thing is, you see” by Normal
Sixth Place: “PSU Harrisburg” by Chris Middleman
Seventh Place: “Herding Autumn” by Kaye Spivey
Eighth Place: “Foot Sonnet” by Brendan Walsh
Ninth Place: “Nobody plays in firehydrant fountains but Tegs Turpin” by Amy Wright
Tenth Place: “Mumbai, 11th March, 15.30” by Rinzu Rajan
Eleventh Place: “Hometown Hero” by Aaron Graham
Twelfth Place: “I Consider Whether Shipping Your Memory Home Would Be Too Costly” by Sarah Ann Winn
2016 Luminaire Award Poetry Judges


2016 First Place Winner: “Baldwin Apples” by Sarah Ann Winn
Baldwin Apples
In October, their vinegar
drew bees or decay’s sweetening
drew bees. We brought bushel baskets
and sorted. Some for the compost,
the gently bruised for pies. The best,
those half-gone with pocked, perfect skin
still a little green, for canning
and apple butter. The Baldwins
lured me to the kitchen counter.
The turn-and-scraping colander
mill when the cooked apples were poured in—
the splashed juice hot and delicious.
Space made by adding cooked apples
carefully. She tipped the ancient
Dutch oven, and my idea
of plenty poured down. I didn’t
dare move or some would go to waste.
Save some for later, she said. Now
we restock the canned-goods cupboard.
No beauty goes to waste here. Fill
the shelf. Put up for lean winter
the sweet of slowly gathering
afternoon, that long fragrant bake,
the whole house cooked up, and browned with
cinnamon. In winter, the sound
of that seal breaking snaps me back
to sorting apples in the sun.
Their scent rolled from Atalanta’s
fingers, the breath of Eve before she bit.

2016 Second Place Winner: “Coralee Robbins Mafficks the Fall of Art” by Amy Wright
Coralee Robbins Mafficks the Fall of Art
Coralee dusts roadsides with lupines, coos bless yous
from clawfoot bathtubs, heron-blue handkerchief
raising passing fishermen.
She drawls, bottom lip a curl
of baler twine,
rear-ends a Civic at the Jefferson yield sign,
weeps, circles
lakes and pulpits, strings butterfly lights
from camper awnings, howls
over slick-glazed, sweet-sauced carcasses,
dabs her fingertips with Wetnaps,
communing foremost with the holy
mackerels of deliciousness.

2016 Third Place Winner: “vii. (the leviathan)” by Mary Buchinger
vii. (the leviathan)
She studies the leviathan
learns every
everlasting detail
each mole and dimple, curve of tooth
by heart—
his physiognomy
so much more
familiar
to her
than to himself.
How he shifts in the company of others
the ripple
of self-consciousness
the tics
she cannot but love
only because she alone
has paid attention
and this makes him hers.
This knowledge, heart’s sustenance,
harvested
like pomegranates
—that honeycombed
and jeweled fruit
of banishment,
fertility, promise—
knowledge unwrapped and crushed, juices
staining her fingers, wrists, arms.
This, the myth she was handed.
Devouring, bit by bit, what one has grown to love—
this, love’s requirement.
Luminaire Award Medallion Designers
Special thanks and acknowledgment to Devin Byrnes and SuA Kang of Hardly Square, for their creativity in designing our annual medallion imprint. Hardly Square is a strategy-, branding-, and design-based boutique located in Baltimore, Maryland, that specializes in graphic design, web design, and eLearning courses. Their invaluable design expertise has made our annual awards come to life. Learn more about our medallion designers.
Transparency for 2016 Luminaire Award for Best Poetry
Judging spreadsheets and final reports will be updated here shortly.