2025 Barrett Winner
2nd Place Alana DeMaggio
When Demeter welcomes Persephone home with open arms,
the sunrises will taste like blood
orange and strawberry lemonade.
When the grass squishes and sloshes with morning rain
and worms inch their way onto the sidewalk,
I will wiggle my bare toes in the mud.
When the warm weather wobbles
in like a newborn fawn,
I will plant tomatoes in the garden and scrub
the soil from my fingernails
in the kitchen sink.
When the petals fall from the trees and cover the
street like fresh snow,
I will pick them from your brown curls.
When Spring comes,
and the bunnies come out of their burrows
to play in the wildflowers,
Winter’s ache leave my weary bones
and I will be brand new again.