The Meeting

2018 Annual Literary Contest

Finalist
Poetry

Darcee Gundlock
Lethbridge, AB

Face to face
A powder keg of potential energy
Set into motion by a single action
Igniting faster than a fuse ever could

Eye to eye
Deadlocked, unmoving
Weighing the danger
Calculating containment
Unwavering and defiant

Hand to hand
Combat or concession
Moment frozen in time
Waiting for the pin to drop
With a hollow clang upon the tile
Breaking the tension
Releasing a torrent of possibility.

A smile.
One word tumbled out
then another, and another
Spilling in to fill the void
Left vacant by
Loneliness.