Monet Coppersmith recently won second place in the 2023 Southern Arkansas University for her poem:
Encephalon Empyrean
The ether of the sky and mind are one and the
same,
Toying with the firmament and capricious
brain,
The stygian sky rises when the clock hits 1,2,
And the ardor of the soul fills with colors of
every hue.
At zero hours the encephalon fills with
blossoming flowers.
Then when a chronograph anxiously strikes
three,
The cerebrum at last is truly free.
Lost in the landscapes of places never
traveled,
Fathomless fears vigorously come unraveled.
The spirit yearns for a chance to take flight,
Soaring into the empyrean of twilight.
Emotions themselves mourn, filled with
forlorn,
As the body shivers with vehemence that’s
freshly born.
The welkin begins to fill up with light,
Scarlet, carmine, and vermillion take over the
night.
Swirling shades pulled from the recollection
with a hush,
And gifted to the sky so it may once again
blush.
The consciousness rises and stirs with gelid
somber,
As it tries to recall memories that it can never
ponder.
