Allison Keefe, recipient of the 2008 Bluestem Scholarship:

 

Excerpts from Keefe's winning work:

ALFRED EISENSTAEDT'S GIFT OF SURVIVAL

Aug. 14, 1945

Eyes of civilians are

Held hostage by the 

entwined bodies of

two nameless youths.

The colors of both

uniforms battle against

the backdrop of Times

Square.  The ambush of

his lips sends goose

bumps rippling beneath

her powder-white tights.

His coarse sailor fingers

burrow into the arch

of her cotton waist.

A flush explodes in her

cheeks, vibrates against

his wrist, melts into his

veins.  Salt-sea memories

are swabbed away by her

stale-coffee saliva.

"We survived the war,

but neither of us will

be remembered for the

sweat on our brow,

for the crimson stains

on our clothes, for the

number of lives we saved,

or for the kisses we gave

to the others we loved..."

                                                                           This is our sole survival

 

Last Updated December 15, 2008