3rd to 5th Grade PoemsThird Place Fly High by Evelyn Jones 5th Grade Fly High
Second Place Winter Winds by Medha Ravi 4th Grade Winter Winds
At the break of dawn I woke up deranged My home has completely changed The wind took the sun away And with it went the light and warmth of May The trees sway to his song Like subjects loyal to their king I looked around at the bare walls And empty, austere halls My heart filled with longing To see my belongings The moving truck had not yet arrived For the wind whipped up a blizzard, unsupervised I stepped outside shivering in my boots My footsteps crunching over exposed roots My heart filled with hope at a small patch of green I plucked a plump dandelion, neat and clean I blew it out and made a wish Letting the winds of change blow me a kiss First Place What is Migration? by Maanya Agarwal 3rd Grade What is migration?
Migration is pain, Migration is dismay, Migration is intimidating, Migration is torture, Migration is transformation, Migration is love that disappeared, Migration is home left behind, Migration is a new home, Migration is a new hope, Migration is new life, Migration means it's time to move, Migration is movement to find your bright, happy Sun. 6th to 8th Grade PoemsHonorable Mention The Song of the Sea by Elsie Kneas 8th Grade The Song of the Sea
My head slowly stretches back The water courses through my fingertips A shocking chill Refreshing in the unrelenting heat My eyes flutter shut As the sun beats down onto my already torched face The sea softly sings to me Whispering it's gentle melody The roar of an oncoming swell builds In anticipation, I tense Waiting Until... The beat drops and the waves roll over themselves Two songs collide together A soft hum pounds up and down In the distance, the clamor of the surf A rock concert But here its rhythm fades And the ocean speaks its sweet tongue Barely audible There nonetheless. Third Place They Said to Move by Keira Ang 8th Grade They Said to Move I sit down, but they say to move, As if it were a simple seat swap. I move, just like they asked me to, But I have longed for this treatment to be stopped. The following day, I sat down in my normal seat. They told me to move, but this time I didn't. Some would consider this a courageous feat. And everyone watched, while the "sin" I committed. My act of rebellion was too much for them, For I demanded my voice to be heard. They didn't realize my offense was to defend, And behind the bars, I sat alone, but stronger. They said to move, and I didn't at the time, But I soon realized I did their will. I know that my silence was no crime, Because I moved my country while I sat still. I live in a time where things aren't right. And from the ashes, my flame is born, Because there's a thriving fire that wants me to fight. And through the smoke, the idea of liberty is formed. Second Place Once Upon a Time by Alexander Jakubowicz 8th Grade Once Upon A Time
Once upon a time in a country so divine With its people happy and prospering with no troubles at all With its people making a living while having enough to afford luxuries With it's people hustling and bustling to spend their days happily working But that's what they want you to see Underneath a curtain of propaganda and oppression lay a nation in ruin There are no luxuries There are no happy families People afraid to speak out lay low in the darkness But then rising from the ashes A new movement rose It spread through the nation like wildfire The masses became alive with the call for retribution When all hope seemed lost And then the tanks like vicious predators rolled in to keep order The peoples spirit never broke, never wavered The people kept their heads held up high Marching in unison until their feet couldn't carry them anymore They marched forward Straight into the pages of history First Place Flow by Kyle Blasi 6th Grade Flow
As I Sit upon the mountaintop Looking at the sky I hear the roaring of the stream As it passes by Always moving Always churning Always flowing by It never ceases in its movements Always saying bye Next to the creek there is a bush Blowing in the wind I hear the rustling of the branches Above the city's din Always waving Always coplng Always standing by Perpetually finding ways to wln Against the wind's long sigh And on that very mountaintop Like every patch of sky Like every log Like every hill Like every bird that flies There is a force that rules the world Over what lives and dies For this perhaps is the strongest flow The force you can't deny Always sobbing Always laughing Always getting by As I sit upon the mountaintop Looking at the sky I hear the flow of life and death And wonder at the why 9th - 12th Grade PoemsHonorable Mention Her Yarns by Rachel Hogue 12th Grade Her Yarns
Her voice moves as quickly as her spindle, For she is spinning More than just a length of thread - Of crying babes and of women growing wings She sings. Lest we forget the weft Of her endless tapestry - of yarns The stories travel along as if in a song Which falls from the lips of a spinster aunt, A female tradition moving with time To bind invisible pages of local, vocal rhyme. Tales of old wives, a woven ladder for women to climb. As the loom shuttle moves faster than her tongue. Tales traveling from the old to the young, Sold and shifted through the ages they go Until finally resting for a moment or so, In our hands the shuttle whizzing to move again. We are their yarns. Third Place Life, Movement, and Destruction by Grace Kushigian 9th Grade Life, Movement, and Destruction
Rustling leaves and outstretched limbs swaying gracefully, Putting on a ballet of elegance. A field of tall grass moves like soft and gentle waves. Uprooted, misplaced, thrown carelessly, The earth is left in all forms of disarray. Wind. An uncontrollable, mystical and invisible thing Bringing life, movement, and destruction to everything it surrounds. A stream of crystal, dancing a simple waltz, eagerly flowing, As if with some grand story it cannot wait to tell the world. Crashing waves violently bashing against rocky cliffs; Unforgiving, cold and harsh. Water. Serine, enticing, and unforgiving. Bringing life, movement, and destruction to everything it surrounds Heat and smoke flying high into the sky, A fierce and powerful dance; A ritual of sorts. Freely giving light and warmth Scalding heat the earth up in smoke Ancient forests single handedly erased Fire. Comforting, necessary and evil. Bringing life, movement, and destruction to everything it surrounds. The whole earth is guided by movement Wholly necessary and beautiful, yet It leaves the earth in sorrow Movement brings life and destruction to everything it surrounds. Second Place three ways to fall by Jessie Lin 11th Grade three ways to fall
1. down like ashes, ashes, she crashes to the ground in a posy filled slump, her brain whirling like the spinning teacup rides, the world blurs and she is happy free collapsing amidst a field of poppies with a basket of lollipops and lace and and and and - 2. in love with the boy who speeds on a harley wearing midnight blue jeans tighter than her own, now a man who calls his mother every sunday morning as if time would skip without this like a broken record - the scratch against vinyl sounds just like his voice. 3. asleep with a half-empty glass of bourbon and liquid ecstasy, her skull a bowling ball lolling against the granite of the bar - striking herself into the gutter. First Place To You by Ye Zin Cho 11th Grade To you.
Take me to you. To the summer Where A bowl of frozen grapes lay Beside our bare feet, Cold against the scathing heat Of those summer dusks. Smell of the freshly mowed lawn, The sweet scent of green cooling our bodies Music from the party down a block, The soft thump echoing throughout the neighborhood. Flavor of the frozen grapes, the tinge of sour Against the sweetness lingering between our mouths as you lean over Vividness of the sunset, The glow illuminating the street in pink. Chill of the evening breeze, The faint mist from the afternoon rain embarking on a journey It's the frozen grapes, The cool against the heat, That brings us chilly happiness In the middle of summer. It's the foggy dusks, The countless scorching nights, The melted grapes and overgrown gardens, That takes me to you, To that summer First Place A Weighted Stillness by Nina Giraldo 11th Grade A Weighted Stillness
She missed the way the thrumming keys swept through her body, Or the way in which she was held ever so carefully by an invisible force that dissolved her limbs into vapor, Or the clacking of her shoes as she sprung nimbly against the studio floor. It had consumed her: from her very fingertips to the soles of her feet She had been completely encompassed by the way the clouds waltzed around her Her mind had been quiet. She was overcome by a gust of swirling thoughts Her being, still dancing in the studio above, She did not think as her boot fell ever so abruptly on the steaming road She felt not the shock of the growling engine Nor the road folding over her intangible presence Only the gasping of the earth as her body lay frozen. The invisible force in which she had been held yearned for movement Her mind awoke and settled in despair Yet her body remained unmoving Her longing gathered, twitched, whimpered, and burst, begging for her limbs to evaporate once more A palpable unsatisfaction burrowed deep into her silenced soul For move she could no more. |
Last updated: April 27, 2020