13th Annual Teen Poetry Contest Winners

Middle School Category:

Honorable Mention

History of blood
By: Megan Yeaple
Canandaigua Middle School
Grade 6

I am just a man,
Only a hurt soul striving,
I am only a man,
With no sense in thriving.

I no longer feel pain,
Sadness or sorrow.
The bullet wound in my side,
Will finally kill me tomorrow.

For three days now,
I lie in agony awake.
But when I pass on,
My life my lord will take.

As a group of Nazis pass by,
I lay paralyzed neck down.
If they heard me anyway,
They’d fire off another round.

It kills me to think of family
I won’t see them anymore.
But soon they will be with me,
All because of this cold war.

I look around me,
Just one last time.
I see my friend lying there,
Lost in stone cold time.

I am repulsed by what I see
And come close to a simple vomit.
I even see a woman there
Lying dead in a pale blue bonnet.

I smile and think of what’s to come
I knew I tried my best.
And now I will be forgotten hereIn this sad and lonesome death.

3rd Place

Rain
By: Cara Gopen
Marcus Whitman Middle School
Grade 7

Falling,
Falling,
Falling
From the sky.

Dripping
As the
Heavens
Start to cry.

Harder,
Harder,
Harder
It’s coming down.

Soaking,
Soaking,
Soaking
Our little town.

No more,
No more,
No more
Does it cry.

Colors,
Colors,
Colors,
Streak the sky.

2nd Place

Rain
By: Meaghan Mark
Canandaigua Middle School
Grade 8

There’s rain - -

A clarity, pureness, escapes we cannot deny.
A hiding, a lurking, a shelter for when we cry.
It falls when it’s hushed and when it is cruel.
It falls like Cimmerian or virtuous like a jewel.
For why it falls; I haven’t a clue.
Surrounding, astounding, a certain shade of blue.
Cleansing, washing, and sending flaws away.
A surprise that it’s good – since the skies remain gray.
I haven’t a notion of why the rain falls.
It may be its power; its crumbling of walls.
The walls of the beaten, the fallen and the scammed.
To the ones who are betrayed and in the face that doors are slammed.
It’s a mystery; the strength of rain.
How some express their sorrows or dance without shame.
For mothers for fathers for friends for brothers.
For daughters for teachers for workers and lovers.
This rain is so moving and so out of touch.
I want it to save...
Ones who’ve had too much.

1st Place

Night Symphony
By: Rebekah Connell
Canandaigua Middle School
Grade 8

Every night at sundown
The fairy of the night
awakens the stars and comets
Gently shakes the moon
Taps the stars
Calls to the comets
Assembles them in rows against a curtain of black
And conducts them in a starlight choir.
The moon is the bass
Luminous in its harmonious vigor;
Comets glittering are altos
Their passionate voices ringing;
Radiant stars sing with clear joy
Proud to bear the glorious melody.
The fairy of the night directs her pupils
In a symphony of the night.
If you listen closely
You can hear them
Calling out His name.

High School Category:

Honorable Mention

Into The White
By: Lindsey Ellis
Canandaigua Academy
Grade 10

Cloud looks down upon the earth-
He’s colorless and distant
Unadmired and soon enraged…
He breaks into millions of pieces
Those who saw say it was a sight
And as the pieces fell to earth
"Everything should be white”

Under the disguise of snow he lands upon the trees
He drains their leaves of life
The green turns to red turns to orange turns to brown
Their colors gone, they lose their might
Once brittle they’ll fall off and die
He replaces them with white

Next he saw the flowers
In vibrant shades of pink and blue
He was jealous of their color-
Blinded by envy and spite
He covered them- like a blanket
"Now sleep…and become white.”

Soon he covered the whole yard
There’s no color to be seen
Desperately I scrape the ground
And kick the snow away
And there lies a patch of dying grass
Not white, but greenish-gray.

But no, there can’t be color
The icy snowflakes sting my cheeks
And shivering I walk away
And know that in the night
My footsteps and the color will disappear
“And then everything will fade to white”

3rd Place

Stained Glass
By Meredith Perrin
Canandaigua Academy
Grade 10

The hard peel on the outside
Protects what is inside
The beauty and the mystery
Is what this shell does hide.

Those who try and take a bite
Without a further thought
Will taste the acidy bitterness
And miss what they have sought.

But if mystery and wonder
Draw a person to look nearer
If they slowly peel back hardness
In hope to see things clearer.

They will taste the surprising sweetness
And serenity that appears
With taking care to dig deeper
To look for the truth that nears

But very few will find it
The stained glass hidden in the stone
And even fewer will remember
The taste which they have known.

But every person has a cover
And a secret that they hide.
Only seen when another person
Takes the time to look inside.

2nd Place

Words
By: Robin Burri
Canandaigua Academy
Grade 10

Words slither from mouths
And travel through the air
Twisting into your ear
Words are everywhere

Hurtful and hateful
Encouraging and with love
Words that go unheard
Ones that float in the air above

Formed from gentle lips
Spit out in pure disgust
Words that make you wonder
Is it true love or lust?

It wouldn’t hurt to learn
Exactly how to use The Ear
To listen very carefully
And make our words disappear

Even if only for a moment
It’d give someone else the time
Time to say what they feel
And a break from being a mime.

1st Place

Walking the Halls
By: Shannon Hicks
Canandaigua Academy
Grade 12

Step.
Step.
Step.
Step.
Zoning in,
Zoning out
Feel the pressure
Of the ground.
Feel the slip
Of open creases.
Feel the grip
Of steady forms.
Warmth encasing
A familiar cove.
It follows it's
Own path,
A l w a y s t h e s a m e ... N e v e r a c h a n g e ...
L e a d s i t s e l f a w a y ...
Invites a difference.
Eggs me on.
Go right!
Go left!
Go ANYWHERE
But along this
Solemn, boring path.
Look here!
Look there!
Look away from
The trodden
Footpaths on
My memory.
PAY ATTENTION!!!!!
Don't leave me
Hangin' over
This abyss of
Constant Familiarity!
I want a
Change!
I want to
Make a difference!
As I trudge
Across my barren
Land of hopelessness.
Let's mix it
Up, let's make
It new!
I smile knowingly.
You want a
Change?
Yes.
Expectent as I
Pause.
All right.
Agreed.
You got it.Let's do it.
And then
I took
The stairs.

Congratulations to all the winners!