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POETRY WITHOUT PAPER POETRY CONTEST, 2011
Sponsored by the Lyceum Committee of the Sawyer Free Library
Richard M. Sloane, Coordinator

WINNERS

High School

 
First Place
Jaclyn Canillas
Gloucester High School
Grade 11


The Eternal Gem

(This poem is inspired by the Greek myth of the amaranth flowers --- amaranth means "never fading" and is a symbol for immortality.)


Ah, the eternal amaranth,
stuck between the tides,
unable to complete the cycle
of life and death.

Always in the sunlight, and never the shade,
beautiful and lonely,
an earthbound angel
tied down to the seedlings of the ground,
with no wings to carry it away.

A mere flower,
elegant and warm as the sun above
but reserved and silent as the stars.

Struggling to blow out the remaining flame of the candle,
Afraid to lift the veil and find out what is on the other side.

A gem of the fields,
A delicate beauty of the earth
Just waiting to be set free.

Second Place
Yishai Barth
Gloucester High School
Grade 9


White Cat with Golden Eyes


She sits in her den by the hearth of her wisdom,
Warmed by her contemplation,
The fire matching that shade of her eyes
With nothing but perfection.

She is curled up,
Tail encircling,
As if aware of her own safety,
Independent of her mind.

She walks with trotting gait
Out onto that night’s ground,
Watching that orb
Of silver in the sky.

She walks through those clean, dark grasses
Protected by their shadows,
Listening to the knowledge
Granted by the whispers there.

She comes to the meeting of two great rivers
With the droplets
That flow like ribbon tears
Encircling rocks in perfect safety.


She walks up and tastes of those moon tears
And carries on the knowledge with her
Into that place where the tall trees stand
Of total diversity.
They are solid as can be.
Leaves flow through the air
Like schools of fish in the deep deep sea,
What messages they bring in their poetic soliloquy!

She gathers from each tree,
She walks forward and comes upon a hollow of mossy ground
And stares at another cat
Who has not tasted of her night’s knowledge and wisdom,

Black of pelt and blue of eye,
And encircles her tail as the hearth about him,
Yet warmer still than the blazing sun,
And they speak and sing as one about the night.

Third Place
Erica Morse
Gloucester High School
Grade 11

Middle School

First Place
Enzo Paganetti
St. Ann School
Grade 6


Desk


I am forgotten in the corner,
Nobody to use me, no one to move me.
I think about the life I’ve had
As I wait inside the dark.
I’ve seen the ages passing by,
Seen the children grow and grow
As I collect dust in the cellar.
I’ve read the books stored inside me,
Felt the work stuffed inside me
As I remain in this tiny room.
I remember the itching scribbles of pen;
I long for it to happen again,
But now I abide in this gloom.
I’ve heard the lectures of the teachers;
Now I remember them all.
As I rest in this murkiness,
The weight of books
I’ll miss so much,
I think of this and much more
As I stand, expelled and rejected.

Second Place
Veronica Funk
St. Ann School
Grade 8


Sea


The Sea:
A vast, wide open space,
Teeming with life,
Its surface rippling,
Everything is quiet,
Not knowing what goes on beneath.
Splashes of color dart between rocks,
Scales shimmer,
A wild, finned beast swims gracefully,
Searching for prey.
Down below,
Where it’s darker than night itself,
Creatures swarm,
Chased by the unknown.
No land animal dare go down to these depths.
Going up,
Light suddenly comes into view.
The clear glassy water is seen once again.
Ships streak across the horizon,
In and out of harbors.
Seagulls peck at the water’s surface,
To catch a final meal.
The water glows as the sun takes its leave.
The sea goes with it.
It may be just the beginning for deep sea creatures.
The deep blue is lit
By hundreds of tiny lanterns.
Soon the ocean is still and no one stirs.
Even the wind is as calm as the water.
Never have I seen such a beauty.

Third Place
Shannon Murphy-Thornley
Gloucester Community Arts Charter School
Grade 6


People Making Ends Meet


People hurting. Making ends meet.
A house with barely any roof.
Families starving. A hungry chicken clucks for food.
Tattered clothes all hung on a line.
A broken chair that holds no one anymore.

The farmers bent over their crops. Nothing looks good to eat.
Lettuce pale but green.

The mother says, “It will have to do.” The little boy says, “I hate greens.”
The mother responds, “What do you want --- to starve?”
The little boy bursts into tears.
“I don’t like being poor!” he wails.

He wants to be normal.

The mother starts crying. “I don’t like to be poor, either.”

The mother wishes for a real house, a school, and food.

All these things cost money,
But this family doesn’t have any.
Many don’t have enough money or food to make ends meet, either.

This is life in the 1930s.

For some, they still live like this.
They live out on the streets. They have to beg for money and food,
Living in a shelter --- that might be their only roof.
These are people making their ends meet.

Elementary School

First Place
Rumi Thomas
The Cape Ann Waldorf School
Grade 2


The Misty Seas


Far away on the misty seas, where the whales come and go,
where the sharks hunt their prey,
where the seal pups play
Amongst the cresting waves,
where the foghorns blow their low-pitched tunes,
where the lighthouses shine their yellow light
so the sailors may find their way home again
Far away on the misty seas.

Second Place
Jemima Grow
East Gloucester Elementary School
Grade 4


White Horses


White horses galloping to the end,
To the shore of the beach,
Gently fading,
While the waves descend,
Finally disappearing
Without a sound.

Third Place
Stabo Eaton
Gloucester Community Arts Charter School
Grade 4


Anything


Death is more like love than life
and life is a boy and a girl

and love is harsh and simple like the floating leaf on a pond.

Death is bigger than you or me and
a tree is smaller than me or you.

A speck of love is all you need in the stew of life. You and I
are in that stew, so add another
speck in that big, small meal.