#LoveHonorPoem winners celebrate diversity

Some entries to Miami University’s first #LoveHonorPoem poetry contest included less than 130 characters, others were photos of poems, and for the three grand prize winners, their short, but powerful messages celebrated diversity on campus.

In celebration of National Poetry Month, the Miami community participated in a social media poetry contest during the month of April. Students, faculty and staff were invited to post a micro-poem on Twitter or a photo of a short poem on Instagram, using the hashtag #LoveHonorPoem.

Read the entries in this Storify link.

Awards were given to submissions from students. Three grand prize winners will receive a Love & Honor medal and a $40 gift certificate to the Miami University Bookstore. Honorable mentions will receive $18.09 credit to the Miami bookstore. Faculty members from Miami’s creative writing program judged the entries.

Grand Prize Winners:

Viengsamai Fetters

Learning is the continual/Change in which one/becomes an alloy/of the Entirety of the world

JuJuan Johnson

United we stand, divided we fall/We’re together but still separated//So as a nation we crawl//Every disagreement is a dispute//turns into a brawl//And when the cops are the ones//you’re fighting, who do you call//We went from//building bridges to building walls//Twin towers,//I guess we won’t come together//until these buildings fall//I heard there's more power in unity than division//So either y'all just don't see the vision//If we combine can you imagine the impact of that collision!

Shamika Karikari

Red bricks paved/a road too small.//Whose history/is the mortar.//Stitched in the fabric//of over 200 years./Where unity was a dream//and diversity an illusion.//Now building a new road//Where red bricks must be only a part.//Not the whole.