These Are My Trophies

would that
words
become my
trophies, heard
by contemplative
souls
who
only

seek that
which I fear I cannot give,
but am forever after
trying to, as the pensive
reflection tells me anyway,
in this, my computer-screen trophy case.

Samantha Terrell is a Pushcart-nominated poet and the author of multiple five-star collections, most recently Dismantling Mountains (Vellum Publishing UK, 2023). Her poems have been widely anthologized in publications such as Dissident Voice, Green Ink Poetry, In Parentheses, Misfit Magazine, Nine Cloud Journal, Open Journal of Arts & Letters, Poetry Quarterly, Red Ogre Review, and others. Originally from the American Midwest, Terrell and her family now reside in Upstate New York. Read other articles by Samantha, or visit Samantha's website.