One Simple Wish crowns winners at CAC’s 11th Annual Black History Month Poetry Contest

The winners were announced during halftime of the Central Arizona College women's basketball game vs. Yavapai at the Signal Peak Campus on Feb. 22.

1st Place - One Simple Wish by Amber Morgan

It began with a dream,

A wish

A desire.

Freedom for all,

Equity

To acquire.

Acceptance came slowly,

Step forward

Then retreat.

Walls came down,

East and west

Did meet.

A new generation,

Parity

Will know.

One simple wish,

United

We grow.

2nd Place - One Simple Wish by Alice Shoaf

If ever my one simple wish could come true,

T’would be for the gift of a star sapphire blue;

This world’s confusion may suck out your soul -

You need a safe haven where you can be whole;

I’d lay this fine gem in your upturned hand

And cradle it there so you’d understand.

We live in a whirling, kaleidoscope world

With faces and voices and thoughts all a-whirl;

No time for inspection of motives or song,

no careful selection between right and wrong,

ne’er time to examine core faith or belief,

or to visit the ailing to offer relief;

but when this life presses in hard, you would have

your star sapphire blue for your soul’s healing salve.

Gaze deep into wellsprings of azure delight

That calms troubled waters of hearing and sight,

It draws your soul deeper, past crystalline blue

That transcends to magnificent midnight hue.

The madness surrounding you softly fades

Like swirling touches of whirling shades

That cling to the edge of reality -

Here now is your soul’s actuality.

The star, like the bright star of Bethlehem,

Lies glowing so deep within crystalline prism,

Shines snowy white, and oh! shining so

That towards its beauty you simply must go;

No shading of gray in this wondrous sight,

Just the simple power of Love’s pure Light.

Here then is your rest, when the world crushes hard,

When your vision is numb, and your heart becomes scarred.

Oh, I would wish for this one simple thing;

To give you serenity, a song you can sing,

A haven of rest when kaleidoscope world

Is too much to handle, too fast and too swirled –

The clearness and depth of a focused gaze

That captures the prize amid swirling haze;

The vision of One who is simple and true

As seen in the beauty of star sapphire blue.

3rd Place - One Simple Wish by Alisha Akin

one simple wish

so you say

is a wish really a wish?

in a world of material

is a wish really what a wish should be?

I want an iPod

I wish for a pony

could I have a bike

or maybe even a car

all around wishes fly

from little children

to grown adults

they want what they want

but is there a reason?

“I just do”

“it’s the best”

“it’s so cool”

“Tommy says I need it”

but do you need it?

wishing is wanting

wanting is needing

right?

Some will say yes

“I wish for this because I need it”

they’re wrong

you don’t need it

you don’t even really want it

No

a wish is a wish

simple and sweet

no need

no worry

no fuss

just a simple wish

not complex

not long

just short and sweet

like it once was

when a wish was still a wish

wishing was to believing

wishing was hope

that life would get better

that the war would set you free

that working hard will get you out

that when people look they see you

or even that the gas won’t kill you

when a wish was pure

when a wish was really a wish

if I had one simple wish

it would not be for a pony

nor for a cell phone

and not even for the world to get along

if I had one simple

short

sweet wish

it would be only this

to return the wish to what only the wish can be

For more information about the annual Black History Month Poetry Contest, please contact Barrington Campbell by phone at 520-494-5067 or by e-mail at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..