Valentine's Day poem contest winners

Every year, the electrical and computer engineering department hosts a poem contest on Valentine's Day. Faculty, staff, and students are encouraged to submit a poem. Here are the winners.

Winning poem #1

short circuit my heart
Jessica Meng

roses are red, violets are blue
your spindles of copper wire glow softly
under the fluorescent white light, flickering
on
     and
off,
similar to the current that swirls and circles
through the gate of your MOSFE- or not.

but you resist, your thin /bent/ frame
shying away from my artificial affections
to complete your parallel black lines,
perfectly engraved into the coffee-stained
papers, but your nose wrinkles as I persist,
eagerly pushing your limits of depth into
the small pivots of our yellow plastic base.

you crack, dusty metal shavings coat
my rough fingertips and when I look up
once more, your multi-colored eyes stare only
at the board, as your LED flickers
on
     and
off.

Winning poem #2

Roses
Lavender Jiang

Roses are red,
violets are cyan,
stars are black,
colors are chaos.

Roses are sweet,
candies are sour,
bleaches are cold,
scents are turmoil.

Roses are soft,
glasses are coarse,
pills are fluffy,
touches are dull.

I grow old,
I grow insensitive.
Sun rises and falls,
time flies in blinks.

But I remember roses:
red, sweet, soft.
‘cause they were bright,
the summer we met —
I gave roses to you,
and only you.

Winning poem #3

I Take a Moment
Margaret Noel

Roses are red, violets are displayed in view
I take in the fragrance and let out a resounding “Achoo”
For my allergies preclude me from the delight
Of such deeply hued flora. Instead, I take in the sight

And experience the aesthetic joys of such a gift
In celebration of spousal love that knows how my spirit to lift
In times of exhaustion, in times of surviving
our adorable but errant toddler.

Though the allergenic blooms bring mild discomfort
The visual presence is welcomed still as a reminder
Of the variety of horticultural tones so vast in number
Representing all of love’s splendor.

I take a moment to enjoy the view
Before the darling toddler
Rushing in like a contender
Tries to sample a taste of the violet, so blue.