Fessler Professor Karl Elder’s poem “Transportation” from his sequence Mead: Twenty-six Abecedariums, which is scheduled to appear from Marsh River Editions in late spring of 2005, has been awarded 1st place in a contest sponsored by Free Verse and judged by Milwaukee Poet Laureate Marilyn Taylor.
Citing Elder’s poem as the winner, Taylor writes, “Who among us has never felt totally-if illogically-sentimental about a car? “Transportation” skillfully exploits that small quirk of the psyche-the one that exists in virtually everyone who’s ever decided to sell a faithful old set of wheels-and it does so with graceful syntax, exceedingly well-crafted lines, and a consistent undercurrent of wit. It’s a splendid poem, not only because of the fresh and innovative use of language throughout, but also because it speaks to us in a familiar voice that’s impossible to resist.”