We are so proud to announce that one of the members of our Exclusive Ink creative writing group, Zuri, has been named one of the winners of the 18th annual Etheridge Knight Poetry Contest. She will be honored during a special ceremony at Martindale Church of Christ on Saturday, April 14, and will also be recognized during the Etheridge Knight Festival Evening With The Legends at the Indiana Landmark Center on Thursday, April 19. For more information about the events, click here.

Here is Zuri’s award-winning submission:

Those Girls

We are the ones
that lie
in your beds, or to your faces.

We just want to fill
your spaces,

okay ours,
maybe
both?

We never meant to hurt you.
but heartbreak?

is inevitable,
and when
if ever tears fall,

we are not the ones
to call, that is,
we are the heart
ripping love stealing

smile and sleep with your boyfriend,
those girls—

we are the liars
the dark that was left
behind but keep in mind

someone made us
this way.
We were once you
but that was yesterday.

Update: Here is Zuri looking pleased with her plaque.