Annual Poetry Contest

The Great White Eye

By Amber Grayford  Altoona
2006 Contest: First Place

All sense its presence, long before it arrives.
Sound and motion sucked from the air;
Its the eve of the storm.

At first, a soft whisper is released
To spread rumor of the battle,
Which man and machine cannot alter.

A hum, and then a buzz, steadily draws nearer,
Like an oncoming train thundering past,
Just inches from my bed.

Powerful fists, without color or shape
Pound repeatedly on the walls,
And inside my head.

Whoosh, whoosh, just when I think
It cant get any louder,
Im proven wrong.

Outside, the trees dance rhythmically
-All to the right; now to the left;
Swing your partner, and stop-

Branches wave frantically, calling my attention
Shadows invade the room;
Thin fingers probe in darkness.

Then theres the shake, that horrid vibration.
It rattles the window glass;
The curtains billow and sway like sails.

The soldier-less army rages on all,
Upturning those whose roots are not deep,
And missing none in its path.

But its time here is short, the force drains away;
Were left with its marks,
And the memory of the eye.