Mormon Lit Blitz Finalists

The finalists for the Mormon Lit Blitz are now available for review. One of my poems—“Leah at the Edges”—was selected for publication on June 11, 2022. The other entry from the Longlist that wasn’t selected is below. I really love the Mormon Lit Blitz contest because it give people the excuse to write something that is specifically for Latter-day Saint audiences, which means a lot of things get written that otherwise wouldn’t. This one little contest has resulted in so many wonderful pieces being created. If you are interested in reading more about it, check out the anthology of the finalists from the first five years of the contest here.

Cain

The Lord gave him to me,
and from the beginning,
he was willful and always
wanting more.

Gardener that I am,
I hoped to train his nature
toward stubborn love of God
and desire for growing good.

At first, it seemed to take—
his arguments with Abel ended.
He worked the land, married well,
made outward offerings to the Lord.

But something inside was amiss
that I could sense but not see,
something no mother imagines
when she gazes into newborn eyes
and heaven binds her heart
with love’s first green tendrils.

I thought I’d learned all about hard
choices and the sorrow consequence
can deliver, but now

I am as God,
knowing good and evil
aren’t mine alone to choose.