The winners of the Miramonte Writing Lab Contest have been selected  for publication in the Mirador. Here is the winning poetry entry:

The Brightest Silence

The day will dwindle again

Just like each one that came before.

Hours grow short,

Moments elude light,

And dusk shall parade it’s symphony through the reeds.

The sky has inhaled the melancholy fog

And tomorrow it shall breathe it out;

Ashen mist will seep

between the peaks

and the dips

of the town.

But for now

fuchsias bloom on the horizon.

Autumn’s skin blushes rust

beyond the frostbitten blossoms

and petrified leaves.

Daylight rots in the spot

where the sky was once blue.

And silence breaks through

the hillside.

It is momentary silence:

The sound before a kiss,

a gasp,

a whisper,

before the world pivots again.

It is the sound of a blink,

Of a stolen glance,

Of a moment that shall hang or save.

It is the sound we dare not yield to

Unless our only company is solitude.

And in its brilliant splendor

the flowers will not shiver

and the clouds will suspend their gusts

before they collapse

into dust.

The birds will hold their breath.

And for a moment

It is still.

It is quiet as secrets.

It is bright as laughter.

It is raw enough to bleed,

it is cruel enough to leave,

but it is far too wise to stay.

About the Author:

Sophomore Kate Nerone has been “writing since [she] could write” and outside of writing plays soccer and spends her time hanging with friends. “I have really embarrassing little journals from first grade just talking about my life,” Nerone said. Nerone was inspired to write her poem when she saw the poppy photo, saying it “just sort of spoke to [her.]”  Nerone’s love of writing stems from the feeling of sharing her unique perspective and telling a story.

Other participants include: Logan Canada-Johnson, Ellen Persson, Audrey Nathanson, Makenna Millham, Sasha Gordon, Sofia Ruiz, Jessykah Frank, and Jack Niehaus.