Editors’ Choice: 2021 Sandy Crimmins Poetry Contest
1. You are not a ghost.
2. Welcome the change coming into your life.
3. The world may be your oyster, but that doesn’t mean you’ll get its pearl.
4. You must try, or hate yourself for not trying.
5. Birds are entangled by their feet and men by their tongues.
6. Land is always in the mind of flying birds.
7. Nothing is as good or bad as it appears.
8. Benefit by doing things that others give up on.
9. Alas! The onion you are eating is someone else’s water lily.
10. In case of fire, keep calm, pay bill and run.
11. A man without aim is like a clock without hands, as useless if it turns as if it stands.
12. You are often asked if it is in yet.
13. Try everything once, even the things you don’t think you will like.
14. Bend the rod while it is still hot.
15. You learn from your mistakes, you will learn a lot today.
16. Never cut what you can untie.
17. Remember this: duct tape can fix anything, so don’t worry about messing things up.
18. Finish your work on hand, don’t be greedy.
19. Happiness is often a rebound from hard work.
20. If your desires are not extravagant, they will be rewarded.
21. Your tongue is your ambassador.
22. Hard words break no bones, fine words butter no parsnips.
23. Your mouth may be moving, but nobody is listening.
24. Think of mother’s exhortations more:
25. Don’t worry, half the people you know are below average.
26. “Accept yourself.”
27. If everyone is a worm, you should be a glow worm.
28. It’s tough to be fascinating.
29. Sometimes you just need to lay on the floor.
30. The quotes that you do not understand are not meant for you.
31. Today is an ideal time to water your personal garden.
32. Patience is bitter, but its fruit is sweet.
33. The secret of staying young is good health and lying about your age.
34. Take the chance while you still have the choice.
35. Being alone and being lonely are two different things.
36. Some dream of fortunes, others dream of cookies.
37. Today is the tomorrow we worried about yesterday.
38. Next time you have the opportunity, go on a rollercoaster.
39. When all else seems to fail, smile for today, and just love someone.
40. If you eat a box of fortune cookies, anything is possible.
This cento is comprised of lines borrowed from Fortune Cookie Message: http://www.fortunecookiemessage.com/archive*
S. Erin Batiste is an interdisciplinary poet and author of Glory to All Fleeting Things. In 2021 she is the recipient of PERIPLUS, Jack Straw Writers, and the dots between fellowships, and is a Writer in Residence at Prairie Ronde and the Helene Wurlitzer Foundation. Batiste is a reader for The Rumpus and her own Pushcart nominated poems are anthologized and appear internationally in Michigan Quarterly Review, Puerto del Sol, and wildness among other decorated journals.