We are proud to congratulate our winning poets from the 2016 Modesto Poetry Festival’s poetry contest. Names and winning poem titles are listed below by category. Thank you to everyone who attended for making this year’s event another success!

Bird Life

1^st Linda Toren for untitled poem

2^nd Lynn M. Hansen for “Gleaners”

3^rd Nancy Haskett for “Deception”

Honorable Mentions:

Carol Louise Moon for “A Jay in the Cane”
Roberta Bearden for “Birds Play a Triolet”

Borderlands

1^st Ann Bailey for “Salinas”

2^nd Lynn M. Hansen for “Boundary Waters”

3^rd Laura Bayless for “Trees”

Landmarks

1^st Louise Kantro for “Waiting for a Sign

2^nd Laura Bayless for “Seacoast Passage”

3^rd Linda Marie Prather for “Dry Creek, June 19”

Honorable Mentions:

1^st HM Pat Egenberger for “Yosemite High Country”
2^nd HM Carol Quinlan for “Suburban Ride”
3^rd HM Ed Bearden for “Afterward … that first morning”

Play Ball

1^st Nancy Haskett for “Baltimore: April 29, 2015”

2^nd Lynn M. Hansen for “What Does It Mean To Throw Like A Girl?”

3^rd Carol Quinlan for “Kids at the Hoop”

Honorable Mentions:

1^st HM Laura Bayless for “Summer Shenanigans”
2^nd HM Cleo Griffith for “Football Field, November”

Trails and Paths

1^st Cleo Griffith for “I Taught You Shoes (For Elizabeth)”

2^nd Ed Bearden for “A Short Ride”

3^rd Karen Mitchell for “Wrong Paths”

Honorable Mentions:

1^st HM Gordon Preston for “Car Lights”
2^nd HM Ann Bailey for “North Trail Calaveras”
3^rd HM Salvatore Salerno for “One Foot After the Other”