近距离内射合集

BERNALILLO 鈥� Joseph MacKenzie had decided that he would never touch poetry again.

He made the hard decision after losing his beloved wife, Elizabeth, in January 2025.

鈥淚 found myself crippled by grief and could no longer write,鈥� Mackenzie said.

The Former Rio Rancho librarian and Bernalillo resident is a poet of global recognition, being the only American to win the Scottish International Open Poetry Competition.

He told a story about his wife discovering his love of poetry after finding his award from Scotland.

鈥�(She) asked me what (the award) was all about, and I told her, 鈥榃ell, that was a long time ago, and I had some pretension of being a poet.鈥� And she asked if I still thought about poetry, and I said, 鈥榊es, you know, I do think about it,鈥欌�� he recounted.

He continued his story.

鈥淪he asked, 鈥榃ell, how often do you think about being a poet?鈥� And I said, 鈥楨very single minute of every single day.' And she said, 'Well, we have to arrange our life so that you can write.'鈥�

For Mackenzie, his love for poetry and his wife were intertwined.

鈥淲e married just too late to have children. Just too late, the window closed, and so we never had children. So we considered my poems to be our children, because they鈥檙e something that we very much accomplished together,鈥� Mackenzie said.

But Mackenzie had given up poetry.

Or had he?

Upon learning about the Freedom 250 poetry competition, friends encouraged him to submit his work.

鈥淲hen the Great American Competition was announced, some very close friends insisted that I pick myself up and submit some entries. This was not easy to do, as I did not know how to put the shattered pieces of myself back together to form the poet the Lady Elizabeth had inspired,鈥� he said.

The competition was in partnership with the White House鈥檚 Freedom 250 initiative.

After not writing for so long, MacKenzie had no expectations of winning a national competition.

In fact, MacKenzie thought another submitted poem was more deserving until he spoke with a judge about why his poem was selected.

鈥淚 asked the question why that poem didn't win, and the answer was that the poet had submitted a competition piece, whereas I had submitted a hymn for the nation,鈥� Mackenzie said.

The competition was to write a piece that could capture a nation, and in writing that piece, he rediscovered his love for poetry.

鈥淚'm writing again now. I'm back on my feet. So I feel that the (Freedom 250) competition has really saved me in many, many ways.鈥� he said.

You can find MacKenzie's winning poem titled 鈥淗ymn鈥� and the other winning poems at .

Isabella Campbell covers community news for the Journal. Reach her at icampbell@abqjournal.com