2008 Rattle Poetry Prize Winner

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Joseph Fasano
Goshen, NY
for
Mahler in New York

The early Imagist poet T.E. Hulme argued that real communication is made only by means of images, which exist prior to language, and form a “visual chord” between two minds that can only be approximated with speech. Images, then, are the essence of intuition, and the wellspring of epiphany. In his poem “Mahler in New York,” 2008 Rattle Poetry Prize winner Joseph Fasano unfolds a tapestry of images: the falcon, the wind, the black violin. Alone, these images are haunting and timeless. Gathered together they convey a figurative truth that, like all great art, resists explication—a truth about the death of childhood, and the relentless sweep of generations. Hulme would have been proud, as we are, to introduce “Mahler in New York” as winner of the third annual Rattle Poetry Prize.

Honorable Mentions

 

 Phyllis Aboaf
San Francisco, CA
The Neighbor’s Tale

Meghan Adler
San Francisco, CA
After Six

John Brehm
Boulder, CO
Dear IRS

Ted Gilley
North Bennington, VT
The Tulip Tree

Douglas Goetsch
New York, NY
Nameless Boy

Rebecca Lehmann
Tallahassee, FL
Watching the Wizard of Oz

 Hilary Melton
Richmond, VT
My People

 Robert Peake
Ojai, CA
Road Sign, Interstate 5

 Deborah Tobola
Santa Maria, CA
Dream/Time

 Amie Whittemore
Herrin, IL
The Calendar