POETRY WITHOUT PAPER POETRY CONTEST, 2012
Sponsored by the Gloucester Lyceum
WINNERS
Elementary School
First Place
Willa Lepionka Brosnihan
West Parish School
Grade 3
Under the Waves
Under the lapping, dancing waves
Is a world of water people
With tails and fins and scales to swim
Under the beautiful, wonderful waves
They play with dolphins
They sing with whales
Under the magnificent, mighty waves
They swim with seals
They jump with fish
Under the strong, lovable waves
They race with crabs
They dance with eels
Under the churning, pounding waves
They take care of the shellfish
And they live with the lobsters
Under the wavesthe lapping, dancing, beautiful, wonderful, magnificent, mighty, strong,
lovable, churning, pounding waves
But what they love the most are the waves
The perfect waves
Their home, the waves
Second Place
Owen Bryan
East Gloucester School
Grade 5
Waiting
Aged and wrinkled.
My pages were flipped
many, many, years ago.
There I lay,untouched,
on a shelf.
I wait, I wait
for someone to draw me,
from the piles of old, used, books.
I am,
like a corpse: I will never be brought back.
I was like treasure, I was loved!
But that, was many decades ago.
I wait...I wait...
Third Place
Diane Story
East Gloucester School
Grade 5
Memories of a Lego Guy
Sitting, alone on the shiny clean table.
I haven't moved. I am muddy,
covered with dirt,
forgotten.
I am a Lego guy.
I used to be her best friend.
So much for that.
She pressure-washed my hair off once, with a hose.
It took us hours to find it.
But we had fun, back then,
more than we have now.
I am waiting, waiting,
to be slid down, down the slide into the mud.
Waiting
to be slammed into houses made of strange red, yellow,and blue bricks.
Waiting
to help her create the next grand creation.
Waiting
for birthdays, and holidays, when she would release new friends, for me, from their little plastic bags.
I am simply
waiting
to be remembered.
Honorable Mention
Calhoun Dyer
East Gloucester Elementary School
Grade 3
Leaves
Floating falling leaves
Beautiful pieces of life
Blowing in the wind
Honorable Mention
Luke Pata
West Parish School
Grade 5
Wind
Wind is coming fast
It looks for snow, rain, or hail
Falling trees will come
Middle School
First Place
Aislinn McCormack
St. Ann’s School
Grade 8
Neither Nor
They say I am too young
But aren't I much too old?
I'm too old to sleep with the lights on
Too young to go anywhere by myself
Too old to need help with my homework
Yet young enough to need help with major decisions
I'm too young to form my own opinions
Too old to afford not to
Too old to be so naïve,
But too young to be so distrusting
I’m old enough to see the shades of gray between the black and white
But I’m little so I can’t do anything about it
Furthermore, I’m big enough to hear about all the world’s suffering
Too small to make a difference
I'm too young to take all these insults to heart
Too experienced to just deal with it
Far too old for such outbursts
Too young to keep them from slipping out
Young enough to try my best
Old enough to know it wasn't good enough
Too young to be so knowing
Too old to be so ignorant
I am not an adult
Nor am I a child
Too young to be so knowing
Too old to be so ignorant
I don't fit in
Nor quite stick out
I am me
Whether it's rain or shine, thick or thin
I wouldn't want it any other way.
Second Place
Gabriela Llanos
St. Ann’s School
Grade 7
The Calm Within the Storm
The calm is broken with a clash
In the wind trees begin to lash
Lightning strikes and thunder rumbles
Rain comes falling down in tumbles
Leaves whip from side to side
Animals scamper for a place to hide
The children abandon their marbles game
Weary of the forces of nature untame
A bolt of lightning cuts a tree in half
Followed by the thunders maniacal laugh
Wind whistles through the trees
Sounding like a horde of angry bees
On my window pounds the rain
Seeking entry, but in vain
Im safe inside my little home
But in my head thoughts begin to roam
The fire blazes in its place
Casting shadows cross my face
My chin is lying on my chest
While I sit in unbroken rest
I dream of tales new and untold
With me the hero brave and bold
My chin held high, my back all straight
Ive dreamed this dream many times of late
Outside the wind continues to blow
But I am safe by fires glow
Third Place
Kaitlin Marques
Ralph B. O’Maley Middle School
Grade 6
If-You-Were and If-I-Were Poem
If i were a paper,
And you were a pen.
I'd never stop writing,
never again.
If i were a dog,
And you were a cat.
I'd never stop chasing you,
Until you looked back.
If i were a sock,
And you were a shoe.
I'd put you on,
Until i turned blue.
If i were an elastic,
And you were my hair.
I'd tie you so tight,
and hold you there.
Honorable Mention
Caroline King
Ralph B. O’Maley Middle School
Grade 6
If I Were
If I were a blooming red rose
And you were the shining sun
I'd hold your warmth close to me
And wilt when the day was done.
If I were a beautiful fair maiden
And you were a homely peasant
I wouldn't be judgmental
You'd be my greatest present
But I am a dreamer
And you are my dream
I hold you in my heart
You are a precious part of me
Honorable Mention
Lexi Orlando
St. Ann's School
Grade 8
Peace
What is Peace?
A quiet, empty space?
A child clasped to her mothers chest?
Is it closing your eyes for a night's sleep,
Or lounging at the beach in the warming sand?
What is this peace that some so long for?
That feeling of no harm.
The feeling of no danger.
Nothing to fear,
No war to wage.
Agreeing,
Harmony.
No need to worry.
Only soul soothing forgiveness.
Hand in hand,
Committed to one another.
Driven to be pleasant,
And united in every way within our heart of hearts.
Loving all,
Hating no one.
And secrets to be kept to oneself.
Goodness.
One world sewn as a group,
Stitched wherever broken,
And cleaned wherever stained by hate
But replenished to its former serenity.
High School
First Place
Sarah Zuidema
to be published upon receipt of permission
Second Place
Phoebe Weissblum
The Waring School
Grade 10
A pact with neither Walt Whitman nor Ezra Pound, though coincidentally
with young boy of the same name
I make a pact with you, Ezra,
with your stubborness, with your furrowed brow.
I make a pact with your flinging fists and angry tears.
I make a pact with your insecurity.
You're getting older, and your first grade class
is sick with rivalry.
I never knew first graders called each other those names before.
But you don't need to prove your masculinity to me.
You don't need to worry about whether or not what you say
and write
and do
is good enough.
I, too, am insecure.
But you don't need to apologize.
You don't need to understand the universe
by tomorrow.
The fact that you look up at the sky
and wonder is good enough for me.
Ezra, let this be our pact:
if anyone ever tells you, with their arms crossed
and a snarl on their face- the insecurity behind their eyes invisible to you-
that books are for losers
smile, hold your Harry Potter close,
and know how lucky your bookworm sister is
to have a kid like you.
Third Place
Hannah Morris
o be published upon receipt of permission
Honorable Mentions
Maryka Gillis and John Interrante
to be published upon receipt of permission
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