FPS: The Last Flame Challenge Winners

Welcome to our first Winners Announcement of the year and to the final challenge in the Fall Poetry Series.

The Last Flame invited writers to sit with endings, using fire as a central image to consider what remains when something burns out: ash, warmth, memory, silence, or the faint promise of what comes next. The strongest pieces treated endings as gradual rather than sudden, allowing them to flicker, dim, and linger.

As this series comes to a close, we want to thank everyone who participated. We’re grateful to close the Fall Poetry Series with such thoughtful work, and we’re excited for what’s ahead for Vocal in 2026.

🏆 Winners

A Prayer For Your Calcination by Morgana

This poem uses fire as something to be fed on purpose, not feared from a distance. The repeated “feed it” builds momentum, while the details of what’s burned keep it grounded and personal.

shadows and years by John R. Godwin

shadows and years uses repetition with care, letting each return to the table and the candles deepen the moment rather than stall it. The ending lands quietly, with the shift to eight candles carrying the passage of time on its own.

Diary Entry 451 by Mackenzie Davis

Mackenzie’s piece moves through anxiety with a steady, observant calm, letting fire become a lens for overthinking, coincidence, and imagined threat. Its ending settles briefly on the simple act of extinguishing a flame, offering a moment of quiet without pretending the worry is gone.

That old black magic called... by Paris Rosemont

Paris keeps tight control of the imagery, allowing each invocation to build without tipping into excess. The move from flame to embers feels measured and intentional. The poem ends without closure, trusting that last smoulder to carry the weight on its own.

All While the Squirrel Monkeys Laughed by Gina C.

This piece leans fully into excess, but never loses control of itself. Gina C. lets the imagery and rhythm carry the intensity, then slowly cools things down. By the end, the laughter keeps echoing as the fire fades, closing the poem on a note of inevitability.

🎖️ Runners-up

• Clutter by Hannah Moore
• The Dress by Harper Lewis
• Fire proof by Rachel Deeming
• Cooling Embers by Aubrey Rebecca
• How to Burn by Iris Obscura
• I'm Sitting In The Fire by Obsidian Words
• flame ephemeral by Simone Rocca
• monomania by Erin Latham Shea
• The Night After the Fire by SUEDE the poet
• The Last Flash by Jessica McGlaughlin
• My Llorona by River and Celia in Underland
• No Smoke by Cali Loria
• Done to the Bone by Caitlin Charlton
• Afterfire by Ella Bogdanova
• Burnout by Addison M

🏅 Honorable Mentions

• He Doesn't Have a Name by Steven Christopher McKnight
• Pouring cold by Sam Spinelli
• The Last Hearth by Matthew J. Fromm
• Burning Bridges by Imola Tóth
• Longevity by Lamar Wiggins
• Eruption by Kera Hollow
• Yellow by Gerry Thibeault
• My Love is A Careful Arsonist by Justin Black
• Smoke on the Wing by Meredith Harmon
• Blue Flame by Tennessee Garbage

Check out the latest on Vocal Challenges.