Joseph Fasano
Goshen, NY
for
“Mahler in New York”

The early Imagist poet T.E. Hulme argued that real communication is made only by means of images, which exist prior to language, and form a “visual chord” between two minds that can only be approximated with speech. Images, then, are the essence of intuition, and the wellspring of epiphany. In his poem “Mahler in New York,” 2008 Rattle Poetry Prize winner Joseph Fasano unfolds a tapestry of images: the falcon, the wind, the black violin. Alone, these images are haunting and timeless. Gathered together they convey a figurative truth that, like all great art, resists explication—a truth about the death of childhood, and the relentless sweep of generations. Hulme would have been proud, as we are, to introduce “Mahler in New York” as winner of the third annual Rattle Poetry Prize.

Honorable Mentions

 

 Phyllis Aboaf
San Francisco, CA
“The Neighbor’s Tale”

Meghan Adler
San Francisco, CA
“After Six”

John Brehm
Boulder, CO
“Dear IRS”

Ted Gilley
North Bennington, VT
“The Tulip Tree”

Douglas Goetsch
New York, NY
“Nameless Boy”

Rebecca Lehmann
Tallahassee, FL
“Watching the Wizard of Oz”

 Hilary Melton
Richmond, VT
“My People”

 Robert Peake
Ojai, CA
“Road Sign, Interstate 5”

 Deborah Tobola
Santa Maria, CA
“Dream/Time”

 Amie Whittemore
Herrin, IL
“The Calendar”