The Mirror recently launched its first-ever fall poetry contest with the theme “autumn.” Thank you to the poets who together submitted over 30 poems.

The panelist of judges for the contest included Mirror staff.

Congratulations to the following winners: First place goes to Federal Way resident Bill Pirkle for his poem, “Fall and Love”; second place goes to Barbra Stewart Pierce, of Federal Way, for her poem “Oh to Autumn”; and third place goes to Brianne Sembar, of Tacoma, for “Fall Abbreviated.”

The Mirror also chose poems to receive honorable mentions.

Here are the winning selections:

First place: ‘Fall and Love’

Suddenly I am separated and on my own, free at last

But alone and apart from that which sustained me

I am experiencing the sensation of falling fast

After living my life riding the wind but not free

Being blown this way and that to nowhere

Now free but with only one way to go

Still I am falling in the autumn darkness here

Soon the end of my journey will come though

As it comes to all living things so it comes to me

I will be remembered as a single leaf now dead

But I have no regrets as this is my destiny

Lying here in splendid colors of yellow, orange and red

Waiting patiently for my brothers to follow me

To turn a barren ground into a rainbow of colors

For people to wander through free like me

Two lovers holding hands, enjoying each other

While treading on me and my brothers

Lovers dreaming of their life together

Will they find their dreams in all these colors

Colors that are a consequence of my life forever

Bill Pirkle, age 72

Second place: ‘Oh to Autumn’

First day of school, to children’s woe

New facts to learn, so much to know! Why did summer have to go?

Now we harvest row by row,

Preserve or eat the foods we grow. Then winter gardens we should sow.

The rain returns. The gutters flow.

Parched lawns wake up again to grow. Now lush and green, we have to mow.

Warm, sunlit days with a magic glow…

The trees put on their colorful show, staged just for us before leaves go.

Dry foliage flutters as breezes blow,

Falling to coat the earth below, alighting on us as we mow.

Pro sports are watched by TV’s glow:

Football, the all-American show; the World Series (though our team did not go)…

Columbus Day: Many years ago

(1492) someone yelled, “Land ho!” (Mistook that land for India, though.)

Class reunions, parties to throw…

A time to see old flame or beau, then homecoming game with spouse in tow.

Many birds look south, and off they go.

But Juncos stay. So does the crow, and others who don’t mind some snow.

Halloween night, carved pumpkins glow.

From house to house, trick-or-treaters flow, expecting more than a mere “Hello.”

In search of game (birds, stag and sometimes doe),

To field and forest hunters go toting shotgun, rifle or bow.

Veterans Day: Our good thoughts go

To all the servicemen we know, who bravely fought our nation’s foe.

Thanksgiving Day: A feast to stow.

To overeat is apropos, until our stomachs must cry, “Whoa!”

Cold, crisp mornings portend of snow.

Winter’s firewood, staked just so, split and dried for

hearth’s warm glow…

Not much of a poet, of that I know!

But these simple rhymes do you bestow autumn in the Northwest — it’s status quo.

Barbra Stewart Pierce,  Federal Way, 74

Third place: ‘Fall Abbreviated’

As the last day of summer goes

Families are settled into school routines

People are reaching for scarves and finding their umbrellas

Kids are digging out rain boots and coats

Leaves are busy changing colors

While animals are gathering and preparing for winter

The ground is mushy from the rain

Coffee is requested as hot once again

All things ‘pumpkin spice’ appear

The days seem to get shorter every moment

You swear you couldn’t see your breath yesterday

While cooking meals, the windows stay closed

Football is on nearly every television on Sunday’s

Homecoming dances come and go

Soon enough it is time to scare your neighbors

Then break bread with your loved ones

People line up for the best deals

Lights and decorations show up all around

Leaves no longer clutter our lawns

Frost arrives more frequently

and children wake early just to look for snow.

Before we know it,

Fall has passed right before our eyes.

Brianne Sembar, Tacoma, age 31

Honorable mention: ‘Strolling through the park’

Strolling through the park

one day

When leaves showed their

color hue

In bright array

Yellow, gold and bits of green

As sun shone through the autumn leaves

Then my lover said to me

Will you marry me

and I said, “yes, oh yes”

We were married Nov. 9, 1940

My birthday Oct. 19, 1920

All in the month of autumn

Autumn in the park.

Dr. Mary R. Leason, Federal Way, age 94

Honorable mention: ‘New Season’

The clear crisp cool air,

Calls out in the morning light,

Announcing a brand new day,

Oh my, what a sight!

The eye-burning sun bathes the sky,

And warms the global turf,

The heart is aglow with renewal,

With all it is worth;

An explosion of blazing colors,

And all its glory,

Golden yellows, pumpkin oranges, royal magentas,

Punctuate the story;

Oh, such beauty,

My eyes ever saw,

Birth of a new season,

It must be FALL!

Robert J. Darrigan, Federal Way

Honorable mention: ‘For the Love of Autumn’

Twirling her fashions

she flirts with the wind;

her dress is a beauty

she dances like sin;

she loses her makeup

and strips off her clothes;

she’s not being sinful, just —

being autumn as autumn goes.

Sandra W. Fick, Federal Way, age 92