Clarion University student Katherine Wurth won the poetry section of the English Association of the Pennsylvania State Universities Undergraduate Writing Contest.
Wurth won the contest for her poem, "hope the mangos don't hate me." Wurth is a senior integrative studies major with a minor in creative writing.
Last year, Clarion University's Michaela Bush and Wyatt Inlow took home prizes from this contest.
Wurth will read her work at the opening night reception, Oct. 24, at Mansfield University.
Her poem is included below:
hope the mangos don't hate me
Bone colored hair, I've seen you around!
And now!
Bone colored hair, your family makes me bleed
I've tasted the teeth of a secret sisterhood,
Seen you sew ribbons into chests and cages
Writhing with the scent of blood in flower colored air
You're holding flowers out to death, hoping he stops by
When he does, he takes the flowers, and kisses your eyelids
Warm as candle wax, bee stings
The flowers are gone, but his hand almost touched yours
And you saw beauty hidden in the sandy expanses
Licking tongues of tiger lilies hidden on skulls, once loved