Samuel Binns, an English major from Hot Springs, Ark., took home the top honors during Tuesday night's Project Poet Winter Formal round.
Binns, who also won the first-week Project Poet challenge, advances to next week’s finale, along with Sandra Davis, Daniel Garcia, Utah Robertson and Amanda Rushing. All five finalist are guaranteed a part of the $2,000 in cash prizes. The winning poet will earn the $1,000 top prize and the title of Poet Laureate of the Spadra Valley.
Project Poet Winter Formal champion Samuel Binns (second from right) poses with judges (from left) Lucas Hoiland, Dr. Amy Oatis and Dr. Brian Hardman.
The final round will consist of a poem about God, a poem about nature, a poem about love, and a poem about America. All four poems combined cannot exceed 80 lines. The final round will be held at 9:30 p.m. on Tuesday, Nov. 4, in the MacLean Residence Hall’s formal lounge.
Binns won the Winter Formal competition that included an haiku, limerick and Shakespearean sonnet. His winning trifecta:
Haiku
"The Fourth of Goodbye"
A flash of fireworks
Vibrant bursts of light dispersed
Devoured by darkness
Limerick
"The Leaves are Falling and So Is Our Motivation"
In class, we stay barely awake.
All these essays they make our heads ache.
We should be sleeping.
Instead we’re weeping.
It’s the perfect time for fall break.
Shakespearean Sonnet
"Urban Heart Rural Mind"
The heart pulsates to sounds of the cheap chatter, Joining the packed pizzazz of jazz and pop.
A sneeze may skip the beat of horns and laughter; However, hearts are cities that never stop.
Impatient hearts will crash in traffic jams.
They’ll always rush, and feelings will go awry.
A melting pot of stress, emotions, and, damn-- The fickle heart may melt, but it scrapes the sky.
The mind erupts and interrupts the hearts, Embracing the stillness and solitude of peace.
Nostalgia acquires control; it pauses, restarts Because it wavers like willows in the breeze.
Elated hearts, yearning minds are in compliance; Together they harmonize the noise and silence.
Topics: Student Events