First Annual Cabin Fever Writing Competition 2

Well, it is now time to reveal our most worthy second-place writer.  She is well-known for her music reviews, has a very uniquely named and incredibly popular blog called the Bad Tempered Zombie .  I am not even sure how to describe her as I have known her for quite a long time - literally more than a couple of decades!  She is a wonderful, unique person, who is immensely talented at whatever she puts her mind and pen to. ( I am totally biased here, which is why I had to have impartial judges to decide on our winners.)

Barbara Bruederlin freelances out of Calgary.  She writes reviews for several music magazines.  Her knowledge of Indy music astounds me, (she can vouch for the fact that I am a complete Luddite in this area - lol) and I am always impressed by the depth and humour in her writing.  Our judges commented that there was "great use of colour - like points of punctuation" and that the poem was "Enigmatic, has me guessing/posturing but (the) sense of dread and hopelessness is strong."  She also writes Haiku  and occasionally posts it on her blog.  Barb was one of a few individuals that chose to submit a piece of poetry for Cabin Fever.

Congratulations, Barb!


Here is her poem:

barricade

Blood red walls

bear silent witness to

the death

of dreams.

Periwinkle

beckons you to the water,

offering glimpses of escape.

Day pass.

Stay of execution.

When the pounding stops,

when the water stops, 

silence descends.

Silence follows you to the grey room.

Silence peers through frozen glass with dead eyes.

Silence cannot escape this wall of white.

The dead world holds you firm inside this cage

I will be sending your prizes sometime next week.  They include a beautiful pair of earrings from Jeanine Elder of Neepawa, and a Tim Horton's card, as well as a couple little surprises.  Unfortunately, the batteries are dead in my camera so I will post the picture of them tomorrow after it is charged.  (My apologies - I feel like a bit of a smuck for not being more prepared with the camera!)