Finalists announced for Common Good Books love poem competition

Common Good Books' second love poem competition drew more than 1,000 entries--"five shopping bags worth," writes Garrison Keillor (pictured) on his Common Good Books blog.

Keillor and fellow poet-judges Patricia Hampl and Tom Hennen read poems about all kinds of love--love of cheese and tomatoes (that's two separate poems), cats and dogs (definitely separate poems), men and women, hymns and helmets.

They narrowed the field from 1,100 submissions to 25 finalists; most of the poets are from Minnesota but definitely not all of them.

The winner will be announced at a public event at 1:30 p.m. Sunday, April 27, at Weyerhaeuser Chapel at Macalester College.

Here are the finalists--the name of the poem, the author, the hometown:

"Map," Melissa Anderson, Minneapolis

"Love Poem, Late in Life," Chet Corey, Bloomington

"Lexiphilia," Julie Excell, Denver CO

"Inheritance," Patricia Kelly Hall, Roseville

"They Will Appear Lovely In Your Eyes," Jennifer Halling, Leavenworth KS

"Shoveling," Ann Harrington, St. Paul

"An Iowa Song," Marsha Hayles, Pittsford NY

"Pershing Avenue, 1960," Holly Iglesias, Greenville SC

"The Way You Move," Brett Jenkins, St. Paul

"Custodian," Maureen Cassidy Jenkins, Carnegie PA

"Galaxies," Ken Katzen Columbia MD

"New year love," Kristal Leebrick, St. Paul

"Migration," Nancy-Jean Pement, Thousand Oaks, CA

"String," Jessica Lind Peterson, Brooklyn Park

"Sonnet (for K B)," John Richard, Minneapolis

"One Good Thing," Edwin Romond, Wind Gap PA

"Full Moon, Almost," Susan Solomon, St. Paul

"Rondeau for My Grandmother," Marjorie Thomsen, Cambridge MA

"Sonnet for a sister who was once my best friend," Francine Marie Tolf,Minneapolis

"To Carla", Cary Utterberg, Golden Valley