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Artistic Expressions
2008 Youth Poetry Contest Winners
In partnership with Every Voice in Action's Tucson Youth Week 2008, the Pima County Public Library hosted the 2008 county-wide Youth Poetry Contest. View photos on Flickr.
Five winners were selected; one from each of the following categories:
- Kindergarten to grade 2
- Grades 3-5
- Grades 6-8
- High school
- College-age youth
Here are the winners!
Grade K-2 Winner
Lost Dog
If you find a lost dog
You know what to do.
Return it to its owner
And they will thank you.
With hot cocoa and 12 dozen cookies.
Maybe if the dog has puppies
You can have one.
If you lose it you know what to do
Just wait, be ready to make a lot of cookies!!
By Rachelle W., Grade 2
Grades 3-5 Winner
I Am a Courageous Warrior
I wonder if I will have another day to live.
I hear the screaming of ancient warriors in pain.
I am a courageous warriorI pretend I am in a peaceful valley filled with nothing but the sweet sight of people gathering around including our enemies to create peace. I feel the lush petals of a pink & white tulip. I touch the green grass of shedless blood. I worry about the death of many people, the ones we are killing for no reason at all. I cry that this was ever started and that this war will not end until we start to fall apart. I am a courageous warrior.
I understand that this is not the way to peace and harmony. I believe that by the time this war has ended, it would not end soon enough. I dream that someday this war will end, but I know that the time is so far away you can't reach the other side and just fall off the edge. I try to help others in this brutal war. I hope I can see another day of life. I am a courageous warrior.
By Alicia R., Grade 5
Middle School Winner
Rain Clouds in My Head
The poor hungry immigrant man hunches at the edge of the border
forgotten in a lost haze
Inside his eyes' sadness a shadowy black cloud rains above his head,
But the bright unforgivable sun hangs high in the blue sky
Pounding him with heavy fists
His mouth dry and cracked,
The earth dry and cracked underneath dry and cracked boots.
His face speaks his heart,
Still praying to God to see the glorious miracle of tomorrow,
To see happy immigrant children play
To hear the rhythm of the wind and
To praise the shiny face of the next eternity.
He lies under the bare creosote, in the ditch,
Wishing for even a sprinkle of lovely God's water.
Everyday we will hope he won't become the next victim
of the next day.
The desire of seeing a new house in a new place takes over his mind
The vision of starting over, like being reborn just once more,
He doesn't see the dirt and the reality of the shimmering sun-
His eyes are squeezed shut-
He has no green card, no faith of leaving this dreadful place,
This prison with no bars but red sand and broken trees.
I hope someday he will find his place somewhere safe
I pray today for strength
to pick his feet up
just one more
time.
By Ariana M., 7th grade
High School Winner
Acres
Empty Gatorade bottle
Half buried in copper desert sand
Forgotten seeds lose root
No room left for flowers to bloom
Cardinal red petals will never bask in the sun
Just a fading labelWhite plastic bag
Whirls through the wind
Until it snags on the white thorns of an elder saguaro
And hides the cool hallow from a family of tired birds Searching for shelter6-pack rings
Cut into furry necks
A too tight collar suffocates freedom
With the sent of cola and the sting of iceBrown broken glass
Punctures children's feet and a giggling game of chase
Smiles shatterTarnished silver and ash gray
Shadow the vibrancy of jade, emerald, olive, and limePolluted acres
By Bianca Q., 10th grade
College Winner
This is about Change
The fan above my head twirls around round round, the people on the streets are getting round round round The armies in the world want out out out, Politicians keep on sinking down down down
What are we gonna do?
People like me and you?
Instead of a democracy
We're living with insanity
Focus on celebrities
Instead of the real worries
Children starving overseas
Parents dying of preventable disease
Families dying of genocide
Unless they can find a place to hide
And all we can think about is ...meTroubles now keep going round round round, the blame is just being pushed around round round Smiles on faces turn to frowns frowns frowns, Oil Companies put on their crown crown crown
What are we gonna do?
People like me and you?
People showing their patriotism
By being cold to their fellow humans
All this talk of terror
When their plan is just to scare ya
Natural Disasters taking homes
And the government is laughing while sitting on their throne.
The new generations
trying to be so patient
While our breaths diluted
cause the airs polluted
But the truth is we have to act now
By Alia C.