Winners

High School winner:

Isolation
By Ben West

The nickel drops
    the only sound
My heart stops
    I turn around
But there's no one there
    that delight
    that scare
Was all of the imagination
My mind mocking my plight
I blush with humiliation
Though there's no one there
Save for myself
Who could possibly care
But myself is all I need
Myself is the one that feeds
This dark, evil seed
Which builds up this wall of thorns
Around this wall of stone
    that keeps me inside
And I can only mourn
    on my own
This eternal loss of freedom
This tight white jacket
That binds me to this lonely kingdom.

Middle School winner:

If I Were a Blade of Grass
By Neeshi Patadia

If I were a blade of grass,
I could play all day.
I would talk to the rain as it falls,
And to the trees as they sway.

To the wind I would whisper,
As it rushes by.
Watch the butterflies as they flutter,
And sing to them as they fly.

I would create a green blanket,
On which children will roam.
And many creatures will crawl,
Seeking a home.

So after everyone told us to go
I’ll love you more than I’ll ever know
Isn’t it shocking when night turns to day
And isn’t it sad when black turns to grey
How the ferris wheel will always revolve
Too many problems for us to solve
Watch the drops as they hit the floor
Until it’s too deep for even you to ignore
But in the end it all works out
Because that is what life is all about.

Oh, Juliet an indecisive follower.
Panicky and chaotic you vent in vain to drink
the potion that will bring you either death or night.
Decisions are what make us who we are, choose wisely or they may lead to your downfall. 
Choose! Juliet Choose!
Stop pondering it's a waste of time worrying and waiting causes fear to arise. 
Arguing, Juliet, you are arguing with whom? yourself.  Ha!
Despair, convulsion, ridicule, shame
drink the potion or these words will haunt your name.
 *Smirk*
Suicide is another wonderful option, plagued with poison and destruction.
(She is screaming, shaking, and refusing!)  Make up your mind Juliet, make up your mind! 
The clock is ticking ever so quickly-quickly-quickly!
You are a foolish rose, Juliet,
being choked, consorted by vines of verdict.
Juliet, listen, if you wake in the gloomy, inauspicious sepulcher
won't you find yourself madly playing with your forefather's joints? 
Aww, Juliet you cry
Hopelessly
  (no one is going to hear you).
Friar Lawrence has abandoned you,
the Nurse has deceived you,
and your father despises the day you were born. 
Ooo! Confusion, Juliet, you are being filled with confusion. 
I know you don't want to marry Paris, so WHAT ARE YOU WAITING FOR!
DRINK OR DIE!
LIVE OR LIE!
MARRY OR CRY! 
Juliet, why?  Decide before dear Romeo deserts you as well.

*when you realize in life that who you know
became who you knew,
*you realize that forever really means
“for now”
*you then know that nothing lasts forever,
*in life the strangest things you never think
Happen ….. occurs,

*best friends to worst enemy
 [or the other way around]
*love to hate or hate to love
*hello to I never want to see you again
*never to forever
*once is to once was
*beautiful dreams to torn apart life

*so many things in life that you never think
happen can occur in a blink of an eye …..
we all hope for the best and the worst,
*without hope there’s no ….
“don’t give up..”, “I think I can..”,
“I believe..”, and “have faith..”

*this is why I believe everything happens
for a reason,
*little things we don’t think affect our life,
*can affect your future….as if without it,
life can be so much different……… 

Gray a color so near, yet so far
Wrapped within whispers, quiet, obscure
Close but not quite, almost there but unsure
Afraid to be noticed or to be called bizarre
Content to remain in the middle, on par
A color enshrouded in silent allure
Shy in its shadows, yet wise and mature
The hue that was burned to the ashes, a char
Undeclared, undecided, unspoken in choice
Muted, mysterious, making no stand
Mild and mannered, without a demand
Unwilling to speak and containing its voice
Gray is so still, but it moves everywhere
The color that hides in the mists and the air

Four brothers walk the earth, from ancient lore,
The year stands divided amongst the four,

Winter rules with a freezing fist,
His cold eyes hard, and shrouded in mist,

During his reign the tress lay bare,
Snow covers the ground, frost builds his lair,

Next comes Spring, who fills his vast, lively home,
With plants, and animals, starting to roam,

A touch of his hand makes the flowers bloom,
Spreading color and scents, ending Winter's gloom,

Summer takes over, showing his power,
As days grow longer by several hours,

The fiery sun shines at his command,
Sending blazing heat across the land,

Fall steps in, shortening the days,
As leaves flutter by in colorful arrays,

He builds up the winds into a mighty gale,
And farmers pray that their crops won't grow frail,

These siblings, so different, sit on their thrones, side by side,
Each rules his own region, with force, and pride.

you breathe uncertainly
By Olivia Miller

today (12/11):
cold so intense it froze
the lacquer-thin layer of yellow sunshine coating
the morning and turned it brittle-
it shattered like
ice
every time i stepped outside,
leaving a bitter taste in my mouth your clouds of breath
hanging so uncertainly in the air did
nothing
to dissipate while the stripped trees were left hopelessly hopelessly
reaching into the
sky
(they strove too to be warmed by the sun but their skeleton arms weren’t
long long enough, just like mine can’t- can’t be long enough
either)

Thunderous Storm
Nina Kamath

The sky outside trembles in mighty fear
Dark clouds embrace the blackness of the sky
Pale streaks of silver lightning come so near
Torrents of rain pour down from oh so high

The powerful wind rips off a tall lamp
Gushing rain overflows onto a street
Leaves scatter everywhere and roads so damp
Echoes of thunder sound like running feet

From my bedroom window, I look outside
The storm looks terribly fright’ning at night
The murderous sky makes me want to hide
Bursts of lightning cause me to jump in fright

But even though this stormy night’s no fun
The next morn sparkling light bursts from the sun

We Need to Talk
By Brian Hwang

Your words floated like soft snow
And melted into hard rain
As they fell on me,
And I couldn’t tell whether
What I felt was the water
From the stormy sky
Or the words
From your red lips
Running down my face,
But I was standing right here
With rain and words dripping
Off the tip of my nose,
And you were right there
Across from me
On the other side of the closet space
Between us, between the very tips of our noses,
But your side was dry,
With blue skies and sunshine,
And mine was not
Because it wasn’t raining on your side of the conversation.
Mine was lightning strikes and yours was kites.

Music
by Lauren Hall

Music is a very wonderful thing,
It can make you soar,
It can make you sing,
But best of all
It can take you anywhere,
But first you have to learn how to listen,
You have to learn how to care,
About every note of music,
Every beat you hear,
For without one note of music,
The song cannot be there,
So learn how to listen,
Learn how to care,
For I know of some people
Who can soar across mountains, fields, and plains,
Just by listening to one piece of music,
Again and again

Stairway to Nirvana
By Vivek Choksi

Mentally meandering,
My meditating mind
Came to muse upon the matter
Of the misery of mankind

The malediction of the sinner
Marks the bane of all his kind
Triumphed only by the taming
Of the demon of the mind

Avarice and malice mean
A moribund decline
For the mentally malignant
So consumed by moral crime

Yet amidst the muddy marshes
Of corruption over time
Lies an everlasting lotus
That I may, someday make mine

If that dream is managed,
I, the master of my mind,
Shall be freed from all misdeed
And shall submit to the sublime

The Things of Stories: memories and people
By Wilson Korges

Candle wax
And burning letters
Cold camp earth
A phoenix grave
Shadowfax
Ron Weasley’s sweaters
Elfish mirth
A knight so brave

The last thought
That leapt through your mind
As you turned the page
Down to the last man
A fairy kind
A red-haired mage

By the five
In high-back chairs
Sit down,
Black-clad shadowed stranger
And let me welcome you
To the family
That lives just under
One well-worn cover