The annual Academy of American Poets Fellowship Prize offers $25,000 for a single poem to be published in their magazine. The second finalist will also receive $5,000. The Academy of American Poets Fellowship is a $25,000 prize awarded to one poet each year to recognize distinguished poetic achievement. Established in 1936 and given in memory of James Ingram Merrill, with generous support from the T. S. Eliot Foundation. The Academy of American Poets Fellowship was the first award of its kind in the United States. Fellows are selected by majority vote of the Academy’s Board of Chancellors. The Poetry competition generally operate on annual cycles with deadlines early in the month of May. Click the link below to register for the Poetry contest.
link: https://poets.org/academy-american-poets/prizes/academy-american-poets-fellowship
Learning and Growing with God:
In the quiet whispers of dawn’s first light,
I seek Your wisdom God, my soul’s guiding light.
With every challenge that comes my way,
I find in Your presence the strength to fight and pray.
Rooted in faith and hope,
Nurtured by love, surrounded by worth.
Through trials that test, I rise again,
In lessons of grace, You’re my unwavering soul friend.
The mountains I climb, though pain and joy,
Are pathways to growing, igniting a spiritual spark.
Your love is the blossom that always blooms.
With every tear shed, I learn how to heal,
In moments of silence, Your soul I can feel.
You teach me of kindness, compassion, and peace,
In surrendering worries, my burdens release.
So here on this journey, hand in hand we unite,
With scripture and prayer, my spirit is fed.
Together we wander, through joy and through sorrow,
Learning and growing, embracing this life.
In this world, my soul finds its place,
Surrounded by mercy, wrapped up in grace.
With each step I take, in faith, I will grow,
Learning with You, Lord, more than I know.
By author Bernadine Feagins
Philly News 