Winners

High School winner:

Her name is Earth,
She gives us birth,
Every moment, every breath
Lives on her till our death.

She lives with a smile, not a frown.
Her place is colorful with sprinkles of brown.
She lets us grow plants on her,
With flowers, beans, skin, or fur.

We harm her and endanger her,
By being an enhancer
Of global warming
And not being caring.

She takes our pains and blame
And never onces is ashame,
Of not being loved and cared for.
She still greets us on the morning door.

She laughs with us,
She cries with us,
She keeps us company and all above.

Middle School winner:

Autumn
by Jaclyn Vernacchia

The autumn leaves are changing,
Red, yellow and brown.
If you stay long enough
you see them fluttering down.
Twirling and twisting, doing their dance
Filling up a scarecrow's flat pants.
They churn and flip and head
toward ground
Fluttering...
Fluttering...
Fluttering...
Down.

We backed you into a corner (you said)
From which you could not escape
Without shooting
--A bullet of cold steel
Was your release from this world
--this prison

In your head the fever played
A tune of endless misanthropy
Hatred hot burning your mind
Slowly cauterizing your ability to feel
Our pain
As we lay dying on the floor
--You were dead before your heart stopped beating

And perhaps that is why we could not see
As we -- deer in the headlights--
Gazed down your dark barrel
What brought you here
Not as murdered by executioner

The look in your eyes
Was colder than the steel of your gun
--there was no motion there; abolute zero had been attained
And with your frozen bullets you brought upon us an arctic stillness
Broken only by your last gasp
As soul left body (still warm)
For the abyss frozen in eternity

Middle School Winner:

I have a dog
by Prashan Welipitiya

I have a dog.
He is a hog.
For all he does is eat and sleep and sleep and eat.
One day I thought he died.
I cried,
Until I noticed by his side,
A bunch of drool,
Oh that silly old fool.

I have cat,
She is so fat.
For all he does is eat and sleep and sleep and eat.
One day she saw a rat,
And just like that,
She chased him off the mat,
And fell right into my swimming pool.
Oh that silly old fool.

I have a mouse.
I want him out of this house.
For all he does is eat and sleep and sleep and eat.
One day he wanted cheese,
And ate whatever he pleased,
Until he began to wheeze.
For the cheese was actually wool.
That silly old fool.

I wish I could erase that yester-day
And then we would forget that yester-night
So sometime at last it could fade away
Before my fears, before your tears, our fight

Lost that day, the darkness filled my wait
A black abyss upon my couch, despair
Ate at my heart remembering your hate
So lost in disbelief yet so aware

And you that night, how did you rend you heart
In you cold house, when I did not appear
So brokenly your sobs for us apart
Alone we would remain, I made that clear

Abounding in regrets, my only one
So vulnerable yet strong we are undone.

A frown on a face, quite irascible indeed;
Jovial spirits, joyful hearts are what some people need.
Though many fail to realize how precious joy can be.
Without it we’d be miserable, I think we all agree.

It’s the entrée in our lives bringing cheerful surprise.
Filled with delight and happiness, lighting twinkles in our eyes.
It’s the paint on the canvas of our heart’s masterpiece,
Displaying vibrant colors with feelings of pure peace.

It’s breathtaking aroma of flowers in meadows,
Blooming with enthusiasm even in shadows.
It’s the soft chirping sound of birds singing outside,
Their songs have merry melodies in rhythm with ocean tides.

And how’s it possible to get this feeling you ask,
All you do is relax and smile or do a kind and selfless task.
With enchantment in our hearts, we’re all quite aware.
Of the blissful happy feeling that is floating in the air.

Put a smile on your face, give others a salutation,
For joy can be spread and is a beautiful illustration.
Like a candle in the darkness, or a rainbow in the sky,
Joy makes the day bright as memorable times go by.

When things in my life go awry and wrong,
The next day nearly all my mistakes and errors are gone.
I have always been privileged with that extra day,
So I can say tomorrow cannot be as bad as today.

Tomorrow is a token of renewed light and glory,
Tomorrow adds on a page to my growing story,
Tomorrow is a gift sent directly from above,
Tomorrow is an indication of God's undying love.

There's always a tomorrow when I get another chance to believe,
It is all the strength and stamina that I will ever need.
I hope the gifts and blessings I receive can be bountiful as the rain,
I hope my wishes and prayers for tomorrow were not in vain.

Do you have a heart?
Your hatred keeps us apart
And I wish it gone
But with you I am wrong.
I give you what you ask for
And you spit out more
Too much that I am out of luck
And it sucks
That you don't care.
Don't you dare
Try to hurt me because
I know what I can be.
But I can't help but feel for you
Feelings of kindness are few
Yet I still can't help but cry
When you walk by
And try
To insult me harshly.
But I sit quietly
Waiting for some words of love to escape
Even if they are fake.
I need someone to hate.

Pedaling bright yellow bikes,
We ride on a gravel road
Between miles of rice paddies.
Grey clouds churn over us
As we race summer rain.
Drops fall from swelling skies
Like harp notes.  Blinking rain
Away, I cling to slippery handles.
Brushing back damp locks,
My older brother and I wheel
To a rusty rice barn, lower
Heads against the downpour.

Beneath dripping eaves, I
Wring water from my uniform.
Sang Woo flicks raindrops
From his cropped black hair.
Reaching, I catch cool beads
Like clear crystal in my palms.
Soon timid sunlight pokes
Through clouds like rays
Peeking from an old keyhole.
Rain trickles to a stop.  Dry,
We walk our bikes on the path
Dabbled by muddy puddles.

What is SLAM poetry?
Some words that have to rhyme in a sing-songy way?  No.
Slam Poetry is you expressing yourself
About anything in any way.
FREESTYLE
Get out on the street,
You can lay down a beat,
Get up and tap your feet.
And write whatever inspires you.
A rat-tat-tat on the door,
An eagle that soars,
Doing an everyday chore,
Or how English class is such a bore! (sarcastically)
It doesn’t matter; pick anything and WRITE.
A mountain that’s high
Planes reaching to the sky
Just let go and listen to that inner voice
Pour out your soul
And eat it for lunch.
Get out there
The ring ring ring ring ring ring ring on the phone
Being all alone;
In your mental zone
Let your voice be heard.
Write about music-singing from your heart
It’s all art and
It’s all a start
Be inspired
Be you and
Put the SLAM in poetry.

High School winner:

The highest highs, the lowest lows
Up to the sky and down to your toes

Down you plunge, your stomach flips
Taste of failure on your lips

Then you climb, life’s going great
They you make a big mistake

How you look is who you are
Everyone wants to be a star

What you’ve waited for since birth
A letter determines your self worth

Just try to get through every day
Find time to work find time to play

Thrill of victory after acing a test
Failing even though you did your best

Heart beat racing, running fast
I cannot be late for class

Takes so much effort just to smile
Even more than running the mile

Wild days and crazy nights
Stupid, bloody, painful fights

First time ever broken heart
Never knowing where to start

The feel of summer’s first soft kiss
That’s a feeling you’ll always miss

This is that special kind of hell
Life is dictated by a bell

Other people have problems too
Don’t get too caught up in you

What doesn’t kill you makes you stronger
Just hang on a little longer

Middle School winner:

I gently touch,
My pen to the paper
And wait for the magic to start
My heart starts beating
First slowly, and then fast
Sending thoughts and ideas through my veins
Those signals reach my hand
And my hand vibrates, moving the pen
In a rhythmic motion across the paper
My feelings and emotions
Suddenly pour out
And lightly drizzle down on my words
Then my soul escapes
From my body
And scatters into hundreds of tiny pieces
Those delicate pieces fall
Into the depths of my writing
And make each and every word special to me
My pen springs to life
And the ink from my soul
Slowly soaks into my words giving them feeling
I become a part of my poem
And my poem becomes a part of me

High School winner:

The Deadline Ballet
Kelsey Toy

cream swirling in your coffee,
sweet nicotine.
the desperate click clack of the typewriter
as the author moves through
the suicidal, graceful motions of
The Deadline Ballet.
are brown and ash grey the colors of the soul?
or is it more
sky blue?
swish. puff. click. click.
roll up your sleeves
and loosen your tie,
this evening’s work has just begun.
swish. puff. click. click.
oh.
the white out’s missing,
and what’s that swirling in the coffee?
oh well.
black coffee’s better anyhow.
puff. click. click.
hack. cough.
now’s as good a time as any to quit smoking, really.
click. click.
a pigeon takes off from your red brick windowsill.
ten stories up
and you can still hear the traffic.
you watch the bird in flight
and can only hope it offers the painter next door more
inspiration than it does you.
click... click. yawn.
can’t stop now.
like a voracious, omnivorous beast
the Deadline hovers
over your shoulder, waiting to devour
the last vestiges of your hard-pressed
sanity.
click. click. click.
the carpet’s stained,
the walls are stained,
your soul is stained,
the page is white,
begging to be tainted with the impurity of language.
click. click. click. fwoosh.
the sound a Deadline makes as it rushes past
is similar to the sound of a joke going over someone’s head,
or a bird in flight.
but you don’t notice.
your head hit the typewriter long ago,
right after “the end”.
pressed into your cheek
is the final note of
The Deadline Ballet.
click.
zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz—

Coming soon!