Winner – Bitter Cold by Cassidy Snyder

Glaring up from a spot on the frozen cement
A sea of empty faces pass by.
Everyone moves too fast to care
Or even stop and look.
It all becomes a blur of relentless noise.

 

The wind bites through flimsy layers of cloth
Creating chapped, stinging skin
And delicate flesh that yields to the slightest touch.
Blood dribbles across the barren landscape of cracked lips
Finally quenching the aching thirst.

The burn of ruined skin poses no threat to
The delicate flakes of frost that fall from above;
Instead, the crystal liquid turns blushing red to deepest blue.
And though the shivers try to fight it off,
The biting wind steals one last breath
From a numb, gaping mouth
Until everything goes still
And at long last peace is found.

 

Cassidy Snyder is an English major with a minor in creative writing. “I have been passionate about reading and writing for as long as I can remember and hope to be an author one day. I also adore tarantulas and want to own seven of them.”