Winning Poems: Teen English Division
First Place | Second Place | Third Place
What's all the fuss about? Scream -- Edvard Munch
Maybe his cat died
Or
Maybe he's dropped his father's pocket watch into the water
Only to see it drift down
To the sand at the bottom,
a sea turtle's afternoon snack
and yet that's not exactly it...
Maybe, over there, down the jetty,
The tax collectors have come for him.
He owes the IRS some money and they've
come to get the watch he maybe lost.
Then again,
Maybe he failed all his final exams
And doesn't know how to tell his mom.
But he's too old to be in school
So that can't be right...
Maybe he's only just realized how bald he is
And perhaps he's so frightened of
his own image reflected in the wood-framed mirror
that I'm trying to carry down the ramp off this boat.
As my dockhand lifts a splintered corner,
Oblivious to the poor man's
Wide-eyed scream,
I struggle to watch him.
I wonder just what could
Cause such apparent horror
In one man, in the middle of
an otherwise dull afternoon.
Evangelia is a student at Central High School in Springfield.
Just Like You
As we sit,
on the side of the road
Stories waiting - to be retold.
"How did you get here,
my dear Friend?"
A normal day -
never thought that it would be the End.
I had a few - that I'd never try,
Soon began to feel - as if I could fly.
We all know the ending to that story,
So here I lay - with
no
glory.
But enough about Me...
How about You?
Why are You here - with nothing to do?
"Began as a day,
like any other...
I was on the way -
to see my Mother.
It was a clear day,
sky - bright and blue...
Then it all ended... collided...
With someone
Just
Like
You..."
Amy is a student at Holyoke High School.
Third Place: Alexandrea Noonan
Untitled
Do you think I am beautiful?
While I lie in wait among my sisters,
A sleeping silver snake, anxious to strike,
Do all my angles shine just right?
So many perfect tiny teeth,
A glass lake surface, stainless,
Do you think you need me?
I am common when I have to be,
But always dangerous, when you need,
Does my sparkle fool you?
When I snare light in alto relief,
Or stroke your arm,
Or rake,
Or lacerate,
Don't you smile at the solid blush I bring?
Alexandrea is a student at Central High School in Springfield.
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