Wes Carrington, son of Barbara Jean (Swisher) Carrington of Cobbs Creek, was honored for the second year in a row in Fairfax County’s “Poetic Musings” poetry contest, held on June 27 at Burke Center Library in Fairfax.

Carrington was one of three winners in the Adult Free Verse category, with his poem about his mother’s fading vision, “In the Path of Totality.”

In 2023, he won in the Adult Rhymes category with the poem “Hourglass,” a villanelle about his late father Ralph Carrington (1935-2021).

In the Path of Totality

for Mom

The darkness is coming,
whether we like it or not,
a time when night eclipses day,
spring sunlight fades away
and your eyes no longer see
as they once did. The colors
outside are already quieter:
the sky grayer, the river darker.
And no matter how many
watts you turn on inside,
there are too many shadows
and not enough bright.
Ninety years on this earth;
you’ve seen a lot of beauty,
and death. The moon waxes,
your vision wanes, you look
offstage to the unseen things
but even in your darkest dreams,
I hope for light!

(Reprinted with permission)