End of Summer Poem Contest

AQP is proud to announce the winning poem this year is
falling in love as the world sets over august by Anna Gionet

falling in love as the world sets over august
by Anna Gionet

the cicadas humming  
sound like rattlesnakes. 
like the way your fingers
tap against wood. 
what i mean is, 
hold me closer. 
summer is dying but
i promise we’ll make it out alive. 
i promise you’ll see stripes
of sunlight in the snow. 
what i mean is, 
stay with me. 
stay with me and see
how encouraging this cold can be. 
what i mean is, 
we’ll thread this pink haze
into everything we own.
the way my hair sticks up
in the oppressive heat
or the line of ants that crawl
across your forearm, well, 
i will drink these long nights down
like i’m dying of thirst.
but i can’t wait to teach you
the geometry of my body
when the world is gray and cowering. 
what i mean is, 
the last remnants of summer
are sticking to my bones. 
what i mean is, 
i wish you would, too. 

My name is Anna Gionet and I am a copywriter, currently based in Denver. I have been in love with writing, particularly poetry and short fiction, since I was a little girl. I graduated from Hunter College with a degree in English in May and am working as a freelance writer. As I've gotten older, most of my writing tends to come from personal experience and emotion; I hope to share a piece of myself with every reader. I am also an illustrator and am currently working on a children's collection of poems with corresponding art. I believe the best writing and art comes from the rawest place within, while still being able to focus on the way the words sound and feel.