I placed 2nd---Fairfield University Masters of Fine Arts in Creative Writing Poetry Contest

I've been left speechless. The announcement for the 2013-2014 Fairfield University Masters of Fine Arts in Creative Writing Poetry Contest were just made a few minutes ago, and yours truly placed SECOND!!!!

Paper

Has my voice grown weak because of my trepidation
Do you question why my feet tremble on the gravel path
Should I speak honestly about twisting my woolen scarf tighter
Do gusts of doubt descend Enders Island
Are they consuming me
Why in silence was I distancing myself
Have words simply failed me causing me to outcast myself
Can others see my inner voice
Is it loud, is it clear
Why do I wonder how I ended here
Can you perceive the deeper meaning of my spoken words
Are they ripped from my sputtering heart
Does the pain of the artist's soul seem apparent
Who relates to the yearning of my spirit
Can you try

Could I speak of childhood pain, of never fitting in or knowing even why
Do your eyes comprehend what I need to say
Is it too much for you to know my father made paper so I could be a writer
Is it asking to little for you to see that AIDS has been a genocide in my life
Is is apparent my mother was a dropout inspiring my adoration to read
Do my words even matter as I march into my passion
Or is all that you see is my incredible sense of fashion
Are you hearing me as I really am

Or do none of those things even matter
Have they shaped the man you see before you
Or has my life consumed and disabled me
Do these circumstances become my stories
Or can they be inspirations for characters
Do I begin to see I am rewriting my personal story
Am I becoming my own creation
Have I finally taken pen in hand

I am so afraid to speak
Should I not fear exposing my truth
Have I spoke of the world as I had seen it, as I feel it to my bone
Should you know my world as your own
Is that the goal of a writer
Have I finally claimed my own voice