May/June 2019 Lyric Contest Winners

Congratulations to all of our May/June 2019 winners! Click here to enter the July/August 2019 contest.

1st Place
“Changing (While Staying The Same)”
by Mike Guiney
Gananoque, Ontario, Canada

I’m still a drifter
but don’t stray as far
I’m still a drinker
but don’t close the bar
I’m still a joker
but the laughs don’t mean as much
I still like to look
but I don’t touch

I’m still a dancer
but I never lead
I’m still a taker
but got simple needs
I’m still a romancer
but now I take my time
I’m still a giver
but I know what’s mine

When you say I’m not who I used to be
It makes me wonder, who knows who
‘Cause I’m the same person I always was
just not the one you thought you knew

‘Cause i’m still a talker
but careful when speakin’ my mind

I’m still a walker
but I quit walkin’ the line
I’m still a listener
to what I need to hear
I’m still a thinker
but my head is clear

I’m still a gambler
but it’s a different game
I’m still a dreamer
but my dreams aren’t the same
I’m still a friend
to those who are true
I’m still your man
but I’m my own man too

When you say I’m not who I used to be
it makes me wonder, who knows who
‘Cause I’m the same person I always was
just not the one you thought you knew

2nd Place
“Lorelie”
by Joseph Rix
Luzern, Switzerland

To last year’s city, once again it’s me,
caught in the place of all I’ll never be.
The great southern kiss, a cinnamon sigh,
put it to me gently, won’t you Lorelei?

Hers, the year that took a life to untie,
Trappings from the pocket of my cold mind.
Oh, you couldn’t frame a crueler design,
How time means nothing till it passes you by.

Good love keeps me going,
Good love keeps on going past.
Good love keeps me going,
But good love seems to go so fast

To the faceless youth, pride has just begun,
set yourselves afire to be seen by anyone.
Shedding brothers, kin, a vagrant in your home,
dance as far from the tree as you dare to roam.

But this whirling gig is a quick-step loan,
to hold you to the very things you’ve thrown.
And know it’s yourself that you can’t disown,
echo your father on the family stone.

Good love keeps me going,
Good love keeps on going past.
Good love keeps me going,
But good love seems to go so fast.

To she who’s found lonely and reaching out,
pulling threads from a crown of doubt.
Set stationed, bound, rehearsing a bow,
sheltering the parts that they can’t allow.

Well, you won’t be the girl in the mirror now,
keep her under your pillow next to your vow.
And should your weighted strand fall across my brow,
and get tangled all up in me somehow.

Good love keeps me going,
Good love keeps on going past.
Good love keeps me going,
But good love seems to go so fast.

So here’s to the old men fading in the bar,
burnt amber dancing in a sipping jar.
It’s just shy of noon as they break their fast,
how humdrum the day, the head and the glass.

Called bitter and bold as they hone their craft,
and believe their lot to have been miscast.
When a crack of a lip frames a moribund laugh,
salute to a year that never could last.

Good love keeps me going
Good love keeps on going past
Good love keeps me going
But good love seems to go so fast
So fast

3rd Place
“Second Cup Of Coffee”
by Mike Russell
Collierville, Tennessee

I didn’t drink that second cup because I need the caffeine
If it wouldn’t blow my cover I would drink 14

If you weren’t there one cup would do
I drink it because I like looking at you

The morning light through the window hits you just perfect
Your image is pretty so soothing to my spirit

I drink one cup in your glow
The second cup just to prolong the show

If you weren’t there one cup would do
I drink the second because I like looking at you

I leave for the day when you leave the table
The rest of the day my memory is able

I never grow tired of stealing that time
That ole second cup of coffee my partner in crime

4th Place
“Color Me In”
by Ian Logan
Stafford, Virginia

Why are people who are sad called blue
when it’s the color of the sky in June
It’s the shade of the vast deep sea
its beauty has no degree

So color me blue, my darling
to help me be true, my love
say that you need me
baby complete me
color me the color of love

Why are people who are jealous called green
when it’s the color of the grass and the trees
it’s the shade of the aurora lights
its beauty is such a sight

So color me green, my darling
to help me be seen, my love
say that you need me
baby complete me
color me the color of love

Why are people who are mad called red
when it’s the color of a rose sunset
it’s the shade of a beating heart
its beauty’s a work of art

So color me red, my darling
to put me to rest, my love
say that you need me
baby complete me
color me the color of love

So grab your paint brush darling cause its time to see
what beautiful creation you can make with me
I’m your canvas, baby, let your hands go free
and color me the color of your sky and sea

So grab your paint brush darling cause it’s time to see
what beautiful creation you can make with me
I’m your canvas, baby, let your hands go free
and color me the color of the grass and trees

So grab your paint brush darling cause it’s time to see
what beautiful creation you can make with me
I’m your canvas, baby, let your hands go free
and color me the color of your heart that beats

So color me in, my darling
to change who I’ve been, my love
say that you need me
baby complete me
color me the color of love

Honorable Mention

“An American Wake”
Ryan Miller
Oxford, Mississippi

“The Things I Think About”
Eddie Smith
Clermont, Georgia

“Everything I Like Is Killing Me”
Howard Levinson
Florissant, Missouri

“Love Don’t Live Here No More”
Simerly Cook
Oak Ridge, Tennessee

“Pretty”
Emily Ann Dini
Nashville, Tennessee

“Halfway To Asphodel”
Joyce Tratnyek
Portland, Oregon

“Storm Coming”
Michael A. Clabby
Wilmette, Illinois

“Lost Art”
Mark Montijo
Jamul, California

“Fake Happy”
Erika Sparks
Clemmons, North Carolina

“Isaac On The Altar”
Jon Morrison
Staunton, Virginia