Without any further ado, let’s announce the winner. The grand winner of the Wingless Dreamer Mother’s Day Poetry Contest 2022 is:

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APRIL HERRETT – WITHOUT HER

I’m a middle-aged mother of two grown children who grew up in a small town, Sedalia, Missouri to lower income dual working parents with four children. We had little money but a lot of love in our family.

I have always loved to write and now live in N Georgia and NW Florida with my husband Todd.

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Cue the confetti for our first runner-up:

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GAVIN BOURKE – ST. DOMINIC’S BRIDGE

Gavin Bourke grew up in the suburb of Tallaght in West Dublin. Married to Annemarie living in County Meath, he holds a B.A. in Humanities from Dublin City University, an M.A. Degree in Modern Drama Studies and a Higher Diploma in Information Studies from University College Dublin. His work broadly covers nature, time, memory, addiction, mental health, human relationships, the inner and outer life, creating meaning and purpose, politics, contemporary and historical social issues, injustice, the human situation, power and its abuse, absurdism, existentialisms, human psychology, cognition, emotion and behaviour, truth and deception, the sociological imagination, illness, socio-economics, disability, inclusivity, human life, selfishness and its consequences as well as urban and rural life, personal autonomy, ethics, commerce, science, grand schemes and the technological life in English and to a lesser extent in the Irish Language.

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Beat the drums for our second runner-up:

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LOUISE MOISES – WHEN MY MOTHER DANCED

Louise Moises was born and raised in the San Francisco Bay Area, where she still resides. Her work has appeared in High Shelf Press, California Poetry Society Quarterly, The Gathering, Wingless Dreamers and many other publications. She was very close to her mother, to whom she attributes to her creativity. Long before she considered herself a poet, she wrote poems for her mother.

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A huge round of applause for our top finalists:

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ANDY BETZ – HER BROWN EYES

Andy Betz has tutored and taught in excess of 40 years. He lives in 1974, and has been married for 29 years. His works are found everywhere a search engine operates.

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ANNE GÖTHE – BEDTIME THOUGHTS

Anne Göthe is a thirty-something year old mother of four, reader, writer and lover of poetry and art from Halle (Saale), Germany. Find her journal on Instagram at @_annewrites

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ANIKA STRITE – IN THE KITCHEN

Anika Strite is a senior and Poet Laureate of Mepham High School. She only recently discovered her love for poetry, though she has been a bookworm for over a decade. Over the summer, she attended the Opinion Writing course at the School of the New York Times. Anika believes that poetry embodies humanity, and humanity embodies poetry. When not writing, she can be found listening to folk music through clunky headphones and falling victim to buying too many books at every used bookstore she stumbles into. You can follow Anika on Goodreads under her full name

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KIERAN VAUGHAN – PASSED MY MOTHER’S KITCHEN

Kier is a published poet in multiple magazines- The Borderline and Sheepshead Review to name a few. Her inspiration usually comes from the natural world and connecting it to human sexuality. She’s content, for now, as a proofreader while continuing to write in her free time.

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MEGAN WILDHOOD – MOM AS PSALM 23

Megan Wildhood is a neurodiverse writer from Colorado who believes that freedom of expression is necessary for a society that is not only safe but flourishing. She helps her readers feel seen in her poetry chapbook Long Division (Finishing Line Press, 2017) as well as Yes! Magazine, Mad in America, The Sun and, increasingly, less captured media outlets. You can learn more at meganwildhood.com.