Our second The second place winner of our Poetry Competition 30-3-100 Michael Kennedy receives his framed certificate from ATG chair Rachel Toner

at October's Open Mic.  Michael's poem 'The Rag Bag' is below with comments from our judge David Braziel.

The Rag Bag

Summer gone, September sighing

I returned the deck chairs to their attic store

And came across the rag bag.

Overflowing with the fabric of our past

Wafting lavender laundered cotton and musk of work wear

Destined for a patchwork quilt; some day.

A strip of yellow linen bright and joyous

As the pregnancies it covered

A square of green torn from a hospital drape

That became a tiny shroud

An apron faded and thinned to the edge of function

The measure of care.

Surprised by the power these scraps contained

To stimulate emotion and memory

I continued the lucky dip

And one by one they told their story

A child’s gingham dress, an old school tie

A threadbare jumper repurposed as a cat bed

Orange corduroy and blue floral print spoke of new love

That square of woollen rug must still

Hold sun warmth and itch on naked skin

Overwhelmed, I left it to its bloated slumber

Descending again into the now, I pondered

Could that quilt ever be made ?

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