Employees were encouraged to submit poems that emphasized the values espoused by Dr. King, were based on his life story, or referenced a direct quote of his. Entries were submitted in December and were judged by special guest judge C.J. Suitt, Chapel Hill resident and co-founder of the Sacrificial Poets, a youth poetry organization.

The winners of The Word Project poetry contest are:

First Place: “Untitled Homage to the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.” – Dave Almond, Stormwater Management

Second Place: “Finding Brotherhood” – Emily Cameron, Public Works

Third Place: “From Where I Sit” – Faith M. Thompson, Ombuds Office

Honorable Mention – “Free At Last??” – Lisa Baaske, Parks & Recreation

Winners will read their poems at the Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Employee Celebration on Friday and will also have their poems displayed on bus cards in Chapel Hill Transit buses from late January through March 2013. All the poems submitted will be displayed in Chapel Hill Town Hall through Feb. 27.

Here is the First Place poem by Dave Almond.

“Untitled Homage to the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.”

Now innocent is the past

So thoroughly and well interred

Guiltless is the conscience then

Irreproachably inured

As I speak I and you speak you

So quiet here these days we stand

How same the world is in our eyes

How change is ever in our hands

How beneath the strain we bend

How from our lips a cry is rent

Of how the fallen rise again

And what their fall has meant

Does it not mean we all have dreams

To which we cling to whit

Does that not mean our dreams are there

Can’t they be the things we share

As each day we build anew

The World. The Dream. Me. You.

The Word Project is organized and sponsored by the Town of Chapel Hill Public and Cultural Arts Office in conjunction with the Chapel Hill Transit, Parks and Recreation and Public Works Departments.

The Town of Chapel Hill’s Public and Cultural Arts Office, a division of the Parks and Recreation Department, develops and implements art programs to increase public access to the arts, provides opportunities for local artists to display their work, and promotes public understanding and awareness of the arts.

The Office is advised by and works collaboratively with the Chapel Hill Public Arts Commission, an 11-member volunteer board established in 1992 and appointed by the Town Council.

Learn more at townofchapelhill.org/index.aspx?page=65