“After the Flood” by Jeffrey S. Hillard wins Cincinnati Public Library Garden 2012 Poetry Contest

Congratulations to teacher, mentor, and friend Jeffrey S. Hillard of Cincinnati for writing a winning poem in the Cincinnati Public Library Garden 2012 Poetry Contest. The contest was held as part of the 2012 Poetry in the Garden series sponsored by the Friends of the Cincinnati Public Library.

A panel of published poets and literary professionals selected four winners from among the nearly 300 entries in this inaugural contest, co-sponsored by the Grailville Retreat & Program Center.

Jeffrey Hillard’s “After the Flood,” one of four winners In the Garden 2012 Poetry Contest, is a poem from Jeff’s unpublished manuscript called HAVANA RIFFS: Poems on Cuba, based on his three trips to the country in the 1990s.

The other winners included “Father’s Day” by Leslie Clark of Clifton, “Crowning” by Karen George of Florence, and “Paean” Mary-Jane Newborn of Winton Place. You can read the winning entries  online at http://www.cincinnatilibrary.org/news/2012/poetrycontestwinners.html.

The winning poets will read from their work on Tuesday, April 17 at 7:00 p.m. as part of the Main Library’s (800 Vine St., (513) 369-6900) 2012 Poetry in the Garden series which is being held on the Tuesday evenings in April at 7:00 p.m.

It’s a great way to celebrate National Poetry Month.

After the Flood by Jeffrey Hillard at La Casa de las Americas, Havana, Cuba In a painting the curator wipes dry, the wet, bedraggled condor, now a dark blue, lifts its wing into the shape of a mountain. The wing’s shine, gone. On her knees, the curator pins the painting to a blanket in the courtyard outside, pats dry each delicate inch of painting thick with floodwater stain. She dries rooms of floating colors and clips wet books dangling like tents from wires strung across the courtyard, her knees reddened raw, the sun continuing to cook the ground, mud wrapping around her ankles. After twenty straight hours of no sleep, one recurring dream now balances her on a bank as she plunges both feet into a swift river to plug its flow. Up and down, on and off her knees, with days yet to scrub and dry, she once even dozed on a charcoal drawing. When she woke, the river had ebbed before she could drown.

Jeff is the publisher and editor of RED!Webzine.  He has also contributed numerous stories to the local Cincy Beat street newspaper. From 1989 to  2005, Jeff  published or served as editor for five books of poetry. More recently Jeff has self-published a youth book for readers 9 to 14 years old,  A Bunch in a Month – seeing Bible, imagining lives .  Available on Smashwords, A Bunch in a Month is a devotional created to be read and re-read over and over, with flash-fiction stories connected to a Bible verse that inspire the reader to reflect on the story – and his or her day.

For more information about the 2012 Poetry in the Garden series, visit www.CincinnatiLibrary.org.