HeartWood Broadside Series 2019 Winner

What They Imply by Depicting a Vulture by Paula J Lambert

Gratitude to this year’s judge: Savannah Sipple

“The crux of this poem lies in the word imply. The vulture is used in ancient mythology as a symbol for rebirth and the balance of life and death. It takes center stage in this poem as an implication of life—a whole, holy life, one full of love. By poem’s ending, we are no longer whole, no longer holy, and the vulture itself implies the change, the shift. For me, the story is in what isn’t said—not about what has changed, but about how the change occurred. The language and repetition in the poem reminds me how much I love the way poetry can set up an expectation and pattern and then, in no time, break the pattern and push us forward, reborn, into something new.” - Savannah Sipple