First place: “A Duplex for Nerve Root Signature” by Sarah Carey

Judge’s note: So much skill in this beautiful poem! The duplex form is difficult to master, but here the poet makes it seem effortless. How fitting for the poet to use this form for this particular topic, as Jericho Brown, the inventor of the Duplex, called it a “mutt of a poem.” This poem brilliantly expresses the agony of witnessing the pain of an aging dog with its use of repetition and white space, and it is woven with such tenderness, such exquisite imagery, the poet’s anxiety becomes palpable. Powerful work.

I read this poem and realized I had been holding my breath. The poet makes such deft use of the couplet form, weaving images with pauses, the personal with the universal. Rhythmic, expressive, elliptical, by the end of the poem I had been through fields and a marriage and everything was on fire.

Third place: “Our Dead Pancreases” by Allyson Wuerth