GREENFIELD — After a few years submitting her work to the annual Poet’s Seat Poetry Contest, Greenfield poet and freelance writer Joannah Whitney placed first among the contest’s adult finalists Tuesday night at the Greenfield Public Library.

The crowd roared in applause when Whitney, following the recitations of nine other adult finalists, finished her poem “If There Was a Telescope,” with the three lines: “How fortuitous that I stand here / in an inch of snow / looking up.”

“You always submit what you think is your best work and then you cross your fingers,” Whitney said. “The real accomplishment is in the submission and anything that happens after that is just luck.”

Whitney, who ran a writer’s workshop at the library prior to the pandemic, said she had submitted multiple poems for consideration over the years and was honored to leave Tuesday’s ceremony victorious. Her award-winning poem was initially inspired by the concept behind Native American land acknowledgments — a train of thought that later evolved into the age of light before it enters one’s eyes.

“I had heard somewhere about how long it takes for light to get from the galaxy to us. … When the light that we see today was leaving the Andromeda Galaxy, it was the ice ages here and this was all under glaciers. The light we’re seeing today is however many hundreds or thousands of years old,” Whitney explained. “It really came from thinking about, you know, all those different dimensions of what we see in the present moment and really how old our present day really is.”

Whitney said she first took an interest in writing as a teenager, but reimmersed herself in the craft as an adult after she became disabled around 2010. She said she was given a notebook for journaling during her stay at the hospital, but found herself writing poems in it instead.

About 102 adults submitted poems for the contest’s 33rd year, compared to about 120 last year. Finalists were chosen among three categories: adults, teens ages 12 to 14 and teens ages 15 to 18. While prizes for first, second and third place are awarded in the adult category, two winners are selected for each youth subcategory, and those winners are not ranked.

According to 2019 winner Bob Barba, who now helps sift through poetry submissions and reads poems from absentee finalists, the contest saw a slight decline in youth submissions this year. He said that in the past, middle and high school teachers would assign the poetry contest to students — a system that produced a multitude of submissions from students who were not necessarily interested in poetry. This year, he said judges encouraged teachers not to make the poetry submissions a requirement for their entire classes, allowing students to choose for themselves.

This year, however, both Great Falls Middle School teacher David Bulley and his student Christian Keeney emerged as finalists for their poems “For My Brother, Whom I Have Not Spoken to in Years” and “Life lines,” respectively. Keeney, whose poem won first place for his age group, said Bulley helped him workshop his poem, and in the process, he discovered a passion for poetry. He added that he intends to submit a poem again next year.

“I’m really proud of all my students and part of the class is learning that contests are subjective,” Bulley said. “Some other people who did a really nice job weren’t finalists, and some were very successful. It’s all part of the process, it’s all great and I’m very proud.”

All winners received a certificate, a handmade mug and a rose. However, since Whitney won first place in the adult category, she was awarded stewardship of the Poet’s Seat chair until the next adult winner is announced next year. The chair was crafted by Greenfield resident John Carpenter about 26 years ago and stewardship of the chair has been a tradition ever since.

The co-winners for the 12 to 14 age group were Keeney for “Life lines,” and Summit Wicks-Lim for “Lessons From the World” and “Talking to Someone Better Than Us.”

For the 15 to 18 age group, Calvin Scott emerged as the sole winner for his two poems “MAN VS MIND” and “Note to Self (but not my own),” which he said was inspired by a road trip with his mother that was overshadowed by complicated hurdles in both of their lives.

In the adult category, Eric Malone won second place for his poem “Sky lets down to dark” and Scott Barrows won third place for his poem “Moonlight Ride.”

Anthony Cammalleri can be reached at acammalleri@recorder.com or 413-930-4429.