Artistic Expressions
A Celebration of Possibility: Youth Poetry Contest Winners 2006
A Celebration of Possibility: Youth Poetry Contest Winners 2006
In collaboration with A Celebration of Possibility: An Evening with Maya Angelou and ground-breaking sound poet Tracie Morris, the Pima County Public Library hosted a county-wide youth poetry contest which ended on October 7, 2006.
Winners were invited to read their poetry at the Celebration of Possibility on Sunday, November 5, 2006 at the University of Arizona's Centennial Hall. Four winners were selected from the following categories: Kindergarten to grade 2, grades 3-5, grades 6-8, and high school.
A Celebration of Possibility was created by The Inner Connection in partnership with UApresents and The Poetry Center at the University of Arizona.
PCPL is proud to publish the works of these talented young poets on our web site.
Grades K–2 Winner
Grandpa
when I would come to his house
he always gave me a Popsicle
and now
when I come over
there is nothing there
by Lily, age 7
Listen to Lily read her poem:
Windows Media Audio format
mp3 audio format
Grades 3–5 Winner
A Bird
Blue sky and brown pinecone,
Made me feel at home.
Puffy white clouds and wind,
Blowing on my face,
Made me smile.Ahead I saw a friend,
And flew to her,
We rested on a pinecone.Soon I flew away,
Past thick green trees,
And multi-colored rocks,
Past a small flowing creek,
Where I stopped to take a drink.I saw a wolf and was frightened,
I saw his yellow teeth,
Heard his growl,
As his paws scratched in the gravel.I hurriedly flew for my life,
Far away to a prairie,
Perched on a blade of grass.I felt wonderful,
With the wind on my face,
And open sky!
by Annie, age 9
Grades 6–8 Winner
Untitled
Your fingers slip through the ribbon,
As you tighten my lace bow.
I remember being young
With you there.
I now don't have that comfort of feeling
That I have some sort
Of father around.
To me you are
Broken.
It's almost Christmas now...
That's been eleven in a row.
Your distant love forces me to love harder.
Every day the more I love you,
The further your fingers slip from the
Tight bow that is now
Tightly wrapped around your heart.
I still hold on tight.
Screaming into a pillow
Doesn't fix broken hopes.
I can only put on a band-aid
And hope the scars don't show.
The pillow only makes it hard to forget.
If only I could forget.
Do I really want to?
Now that I understand
Broken
Should I let go of that lace bow?
Let it slip from my fingers
To a heap on the floor.
by Courtney, age 13
Listen to Courtney read her poem:
Windows Media Audio format
mp3 audio format
High School Winner
English Please
Chaparrita de pelo largo cobrizo
Cachetona and big hazel eyes
Gordita, no,
llenita nomas.
Entro de la mano de su mami
Sin saber una gota de ingles.
Are you sure you're in the right class, he said
el güero pecoso with the dark blue eyes.Zuilma Amador, she whispered.
Giggles and laughter filled Mrs. Hernandez' room,
While a roadrunner ran through the halls
Trying to escape.Today...
Kelly with the light brown skin
And eyes like chocolate marbles
wants everything her way.
Black Dickies and purple short-sleeved shirt
Are the uniform.
A frown is part of her uniform, too.She bangs the prep table at Taco Bell
English, please!
But in the restaurant, the customers are brown.
It's the tall giraffe that is out of place.English, please! Customers
I took my gloves off and went to Kelly,
I'm not gonna let anyone disrespect me like that.
You have no right to tell me what language to speak.
She never thought I would say anything.Zuilma Amador, she said.
by Zuilma, age 17
Listen to Zuilma read her poem:
Windows Media Audio format
mp3 audio format