2009 Student Poetry Contest Winners
The Championship Game
The score
Twenty-three to twenty-four
Down by one point
With so little time
All we could do was hope
Adrenaline filled my veins
As they passed in the ball
She dribbled to the middle and shot
It swirled around the rim
Like a penny down a drain
The ball jumped out straight at me
I went for the rebound
I began dribbling
And sprinted down the court
No matter how fast I was
The other basket seemed so far
But I knew I had to try
The clock was ticking
Ten…nine…eight…
Sweat trickled down my face
Two seconds left when I shot
The net made a swish and the buzzer screamed
The crowd cheered - - we won
6th Grade
Kaitlyn Jewkes
Salem Middle School
Return to Express Yourself: Teen Poetry Contest
Airport Delay
Watching.
Waiting.
Hoping.
Praying.
Sighing.
Dreaming.
Plotting.
Scheming.
Writing.
Reading.
Talking.
Eating.
Struggling for more comfy seating.
Running.
Dragging.
Groaning.
Sagging.
Getting yelled at when I’m lagging.
Acting Busy.
Feeling Lazy.
Thinking That I Might Go Crazy.
Daydream of Soaring.
Yawning.
Snoring.
Who knew airports were so boring?
7th Grade
Maddie Hren
Ligon Middle School
Return to Express Yourself: Teen Poetry Contest
Society's Gate
Barred from the world
By Society's Gate
Here I stand
I wait and wait
Will anyone come
To unlock the gate
Will someone come
To change my fate?
For here I stand
Alone in the world
I see no banner
For me unfurled
I saw one once
But, oh, alas
The time for banners
Now is past
All around
Many people I see
But none will
Be a friend to me
So here I stand
I wait and wait
Barred from the world
by Society's Gate
8th Grade
Emily Driver
Homeschooled
Return to Express Yourself: Teen Poetry Contest
Crank
Translucent waves weave together to my rhythm
The moon and the stars are a connotation
Strands of color infiltrate the black and white
And this cloud remains my pillow.
I am so high, God is whispering in my ear.
Caressed ever so tenderly by the euphoric
The caramel sun kisses my chest and neck
The elated anomaly seems intangible
But even the devil envies the inevitable low
Solemn faces and sketchy places
They etched the cornerstone of this hell
Like a porcelain doll ripped and torn
My insides were burnt to the wick
I sold myself to crank, the vilest of pimps
Now the pavement far below is asking for a kiss
My arms reach for the immeasurable blue above
As I decide to become acquainted with the reaper
9th Grade
Crews LaGrand
Panther Creek High School
Author’s Note: This poem is about the galactic effects that drugs have on teenagers nowadays. The narrator of the poem describes the high (or the buzz) of doing drugs, then reverts to the depressing effects of the low (after the buzz), of which, in this case, drives him to commit suicide. This does not reflect my personal experiences, as I have never tried any sort of illegal substances. The purpose of the poem is to not glorify, but explain, the terrible ramifications of drug abuse to teenagers everywhere.
Return to Express Yourself: Teen Poetry Contest
If Personals Were Poems
single white female
seeking
soul mate
who won't mind
dancing in torrential downpours
and jumping off skyscrapers
to learn how to fly
must find humor in
life
death
and deep space
and actually get my Freud jokes
please slaughter the flowers personally
instead of them being store bought
dandelions are nice
and I think weeds are prettiest
must see the beauty in
old ladies, spiders, and spilt milk
and know that nothing in life is free
except hugs
be willing to discourse with me
about everything useless
until the sun eats the stars alive
and write me poetry
using only the letters of my name
should make love to literature regularly
(I promise I won't get jealous)
and must know how to
fall head over heels
to respond
sit on a park bench in the rain
(trenchcoat optional)
and when I sit down beside you
offer me an umbrella
you don't have.
10th Grade
Karina McCorkle
William G. Enloe High School
Return to Express Yourself: Teen Poetry Contest
The Archer
I spotted him near two days ago,
A lone figure approaching from the west
Along the road
That I was meant to guard
But identifying him at such distance was
No more than a guess.
So I waited for the stranger to approach
Before choosing my immediate action
In two days he came
An archer with arrow
And a face that was betwixt with
Dissatisfaction.
When he reached but a mile, I stood fast alert
And unsheathed my sword to behold
That he stopped never once
And spoke never once
This boy, who approached with a
Bow.
By law I could send my squire to the General
And request a reinforcement of aid
But only if an enemy
Was identified clear
For my orders were to combat only if a foe
First engaged.
When upon the perimeter of my lonely desert camp
The young archer with his bow did tread,
I asked for a truce
He made me a target,
And with the mere twitch of his wrist, that archer could have
Had me dead.
Yet my squire could not leave our designated post
Lest I was to be first fired upon
And the archer held his aim
Unwavering to words
Leaving me frozen in fear as the day went from darkness
To dawn.
All he need do to seize victory was let go of the string
Yet to his presence I could take no reaction
Hours on end
In that horrid paralysis
With the inevitable drawn out against this strange archer’s
Inaction.
I tried to approach him, to settle this silent duel
But each movement I took spawned a new threat
I was helpless amongst
This desert waste
As each passing second led me deeper into terror,
Regret.
And silence, be gone! I swear I shall respond!
If I am to ultimately withstand,
The size of the
Battle of fears
Between myself and the enemy that I could never
Understand.
Now, I heard once that when execution is upheld,
They will impair the victim’s sight
Ironically, now
I blindfold myself
And through continuous darkness protect myself
From fright.
I know not if he still stands ready
With the arrow placed between his thumbs
But nothing can ever
Outlive change
And if the archer does fire, I reckon I’ll know
When it comes.
11th Grade
Michael Seebold
Keystone National High School
Return to Express Yourself: Teen Poetry Contest
Just Push Play
Rewind.
The mess of sticky transparency
crinkled, clingy, cracked,
persistently smacked.
Stretched onto leftovers.
Long since ripped and worn, never look back you had sworn.
And yet,
the aged words linger,
gushing in reverse.
Pause.
Chilled to a standstill
stagger, stiffen, stall,
will you jump or fall?
A chance to cleanly cleave clamor.
Finally slammed to a pause, unknowingly with or needlessly without cause.
And yet,
your self resolve falters,
dripping indecision.
Play.
Blinding hues of circumstance
unsure, unknown, untold,
an urgency to be bold.
A whispered understanding.
Insignificance rubbed and faded, a life worth living not readily traded.
And yet,
a dimmed crimson light,
recording your existence.
12th Grade
Chase Batchelor
Leesville Road High School
Return to Express Yourself: Teen Poetry Contest