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Napa High School conducted a poetry contest during National Poetry Month.
The following 12 poems are the winners of the
contest. Winners were announced at a Celebration of Poetry assembly on
May 1st where Andrew Carroll of the American Poetry and Literacy Project
made one of his last stops on his national poetry give-away tour. Mr.
Carroll brought a copy of 101 Great American Poems to every one of the
2043 Napa High students. The winning poems were selected by four independent
judges out of hundreds of poems submitted.
All visitors to this page are invited to comment on any of the poems, read other's comments,
comment on their comments, or post a poem for others to read and comment upon. Click here to
post a comment or poem.
The Poems|
Twelfth
Grade First Prize: Billy
Wheeler
Time Time is not constant I make time The clock thinks it makes time but I really make time I make my time go fast or go slow or perhaps make it twist or maybe even float But any way you see it I am better than it The clock is one paced one toned one number, right after the other It only makes me wait wait for what will never come and if it does, for all the wrong reasons I must travel by the beat of my soul The beat of my heart, a beat that shines through and defies any clock I can make the moment last forever and ever and the clock only ticks |
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Twelfth
Grade Second Place: Carrie Wallis
My head won¹t stop running
Peaceful thoughts
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Twelfth
Grade Third Prize: Lorena
Hernandez
curtain call
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Eleventh
Grade First Prize: Lindseigh Omichinski
Please Realize This Misunderstood, Aren¹t we all? Why do you think we Write such depressing things? Perhaps this is the Supposed life of a teenager- in that case, God, Grow me up now. I don¹t want to put up with All of this nonsense, It makes me want to leave, be gone. Sure, you can talk to people, But it really sucks to know that no one can make it better, or give you a valid reason that your life is falling apart. Sure, you think you¹re in The right, But everywhere you turn People scream you¹re in the wrong. I¹m seventeen going on ninety- And I¹ve just realized that there aren¹t only Two sides to the story, There are a thousand. Trying to look into each side Is Slowly eating us all alive, It drains us of our emotions, This push to give and try, It sucks our ability to smile And forces us to lie. We need cheering on From the sidelines Because Life didn¹t come with guidelines. Hey we are just learning here, give us some credit- Allow us some room for Mistakes. Sure we give our all And sometimes our all Isn¹t enough, But realize we need tenders Of affection, too- Not just demands of Improvement. We are our yesterday and our tomorrow So Please love all of us, Our faults and our glories. |
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Eleventh
Grade Second Place: Kate
Johnston
You wanted to find love in the shape of a beetle your heroes wore suits and talked like they didn't have a care in the world you wanted a heart in the shape of a rock you wanted to lust, and have lust and hold lust but the boundaries of lust were too scary so you chose love it was easier to spell because love didn't cause embarrassing pinnacle moments for people like you you chose paint over chalk you chose mice You never chose You stayed away from the idea of friends and dying your heroes capitalized and made bigger and better movies They entered the year 2000 They left you with some Italian shoes and a pin striped suit with holes in it They left with nothing So you didn't want friends But you begged for them always You didn¹t want them to die you begged them not to. The Chain got stuck in your head and you hated them you hated me but I know you don't, believe that it¹s true, I never meant any harm to you... you found your cat, hid your lighter and kissed the syringe, for laughs... but darling, This poem isn't for you. |
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Eleventh
Grade Third Place: Lori
Claus
Changes Gloom, darkness, danger of the night, Groping for the source of yellow light. Lost, scared, abandoned of youth, Searching for meaning of life, Unconverted in the ways of the world. Of the coarse, crude, expansive Universe. Knowing of the pleasures of Childhood, Unknowing of the pleasures of adulthood, Hunting in the forest of life, Sectioned on the basis of ability. A tragic change marking the completing of adolescence Knowing so much, yet understanding so little. Freedom, choices, and comprehension all go hand in hand, Mind, soul, and body changed forever. Gripping the fear, that grips you so hard, Yanking to be in control, striving to be unlike the Only adults you know, but ending up back at the Beginning of the cycle. |
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Tenth
Grade First Place: Nicole
Lloyd
The Mystery in Grace They say her face is bright Could it be? 'Tis true, full and glistening A wreath of roses Crowns her head You hardly notice them The pleasant expression upon her face Nothing could detract So happy and full of grace From head to toe Dressed with lace, roses, and bows Like a proper young girl When the girl spoke, she cursed Did not know how to speak a kind word, Of all the girls I've ever met She was the worst The girl across the street Doesn¹t look too neat Her loving attitude shines the good in her She¹s not rich Never will she act like a witch Grace can be found not on the face But in the heart, in that place. |
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Tenth
Grade Second Place: Lauren
George
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Tenth
Grade Third Place: Julie
Stuart
Still We Wait When all the bombs finish falling And all the innocent people stop crying, The memories of the war just past Will lay still inside, yet forever last. Enemies have gone home for good, Families of the dead wish thier soldiers could. The leaders say, ³The war we¹ll win.² But they aren't the ones who die among men. Soldiers have wives, daughters and sons, It doesn't matter they still carry guns. War is the monster that preys on us all It sits behind beating hearts and waits for the fall. We have the choice to battle or not All of the decisions come without thought. So we wait for the day with courage from above For when the world says as one "Our way is love". |
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Ninth
Grade First Place: Aleah
Hockridge
Beautiful Dreamer The moon, so big and beautiful blankets the sleepy dreamer as the old candle flickers by her bedside. The shadows dance playfully as the girl sleeps away. Soon her parents come home from a party they were away at, to see their beautiful daughter sleeping, and they silently dance down the hall, leaving the dreamer to sleep, as her faithful cat stretches at her bedside. The dripping candle still flickers, and outside the moonlight flickers through the window, yet it is so far away. The girl's cat leaves her bedside and wanders into another room in the beautiful Victorian home, as the peaceful dreamer sleeps quietly, unaware of the dance that the trees outside are performing, and their dance progresses as the wind picks up. Now the candle flickers more violently, and the dreamer gets a slight chill, which goes away after she pulls her beautiful antique quilt up to her chin, just as her faithful cat returns to her bedside. Now the cat is peacefully sleeping on the bedside rug, and the girl is dreaming of a dance she once saw at a ballet, and she dreams of herself as a beautiful ballerina, wearing a pretty dress and a jeweled necklace that flickers in the moonlight as she dances the night away. A smile spreads across the face of the dreamer, and although she is asleep, the dreamer looks remarkably like the girl in the tiny old photo on her bedside dresser, the one of her favorite ballerina dancing away. Someday the dreamer will dance as elegantly as the ballerina. But for now the candle still flickers, as it does each night, reassuring the girl of the beautiful dreams as they dance in her head. The girl still sleeps, as does the cat by her bedside, and they look beautiful. |
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The Lake |
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Ninth
Grade Third Place: Alaric
Scott
I Don't Understand! As I chat on the computer, With girls around the world, I think to myself, About the minds of those girls. I never can tell, If it¹s Heaven or Hell, They¹re way too confusing, For me, I can¹t tell. I go on a trip, Right into their minds, But it¹s dangerous territory, Like a field of mines. To me I am having, A very good time, When all of a sudden, She tells me I¹m BLIND! The tantrums they throw, Are as bad as a storm, You have to take cover! The weatherman warns. What did I say? What did I do? I take it all back, I swear I love you! I chat the next day, With my girlfriend in France, And then she complains, That my mind¹s in my pants! My girlfriend up north, She says I¹m an Ox, She makes me just want, To crawl in a box. And talk of annoying, My love from New Jersey, She¹s got a sharp tongue, And gets downright surly! But I keep coming back, Now listen to this, I¹d rather admit, It¹s quite simple, Bliss! |
