Read the finalist poems from our 2024 poetry contest

This month, we ran a poetry contest to celebrate National Poetry Month . We challenged our readers to craft a poem using only the words that appeared in one of our newsletters (here are the original contest guidelines if you want to give it a try). Give them a read below, then vote on your favorite + we’ll announce the winner next week.

While prose is our newsletter’s bread and butter, it turns out that you all certainly aren’t op-prose-d to verse; we received several creative, intriguing, and beautiful poems that we narrowed down to our top four finalists.

Give them a read below, then vote on your favorite + we’ll announce the winner next week.

“ A Native Lexingtonian Star Comes Home ” by Aaliyah E.

Broadway famous
Grassroots dreaming
Sunday eyes observe
Cruel cancer: red changes
Damage to the bone
Call on a Higher power
Out from April showers
Bring in pleasant farm summer
Shearing sheep, hay rides, feeding chicks and piglets
No more ambivalent strangers
Uplifting quality neighbors
Sharing the Good News
Drag me to Lexington heaven
Shaker Village is bluegrass paradise
Beer garden and cider from Kroger
Round the weekend out with
Bourbon folk laughing at the Derby

“Approaching Summer” by Lindsey A.

Through the showers and storms flooding the Bluegrass
Announced into the ground, displayed the sleeping mix that died below
As they branch, dance, and wind
Seeking April fuel
Sharing the happy, ambivalent weather, and the pleasant laugh of the night
Dreaming up the celestial, uplifting their unique paradise, and form new impeccable fun
Tonight, the variety of wildlife play on the creativity of the season
The garden returns, and the green of summer will appear

“Dressmaker’s Forecast” by Lauren C.

“Submit,” you laugh, “to the wind of green
The water, its drag through streets
Observe the wreckage and Red debris, highlighting the piece
Moving it from simple to celestial.”
Laughing more, you wrap it about me
Your impeccable dress
The power of the storm.

“Circadian Rhythm” by Katie M.

Narrow, the Sunrise invites fuel to the bone of neighbors dreaming
Now flooding out the celestial night, offering eyes to browse summer garden rewards — a rose!
Seeking to observe the pavilion of a perfect paradise, wise strangers wind the looped course of the day
They submit steps to the summit, but do not find higher ground
All to power the Sunset with vocalizations from the storms
Music and dance for broadway
A lifestyle of cosplay