Snow flecked with orange as if it fell from the sun.
A shambles of ripped branches.
The ground has grown lemons and bright hailstones.
Yellow wasps attack the cold air.

In two hours it will be summer again.
The yard and the year, will recover.
Here snow is never seasonable.
A deep freeze is what we fear.

The trees, so young, already yield a past:
We planted the lemon in sawdust and sand,
stray cat litterbox, the yard’s bad patch.
Iron nails rust at the roots of the lime

This contest is run by Cha: An Asian Literary Journal. It is for unpublished poems in English language (or poems translated into English) on the theme of “Encountering”.

If you are submitting a translation, please make sure you have the permission from the original author.

Rules:
-Each poet can submit up to two poems (no more than 60 lines long each).
-Poems must be previously unpublished.
-Entry is free.

Closing date:
15 January 2012

Prizes:
-First: £50, Second: £30,