April is National Poetry Month and we’re kicking it off by celebrating the talented young poets who bravely submitted their work to our Kids’ Poetry Contest. We were so impressed with the dozens of submissions we received and are proud to share these students’ work (with their permission)*.
Winners and runners up were selected in each age category and will each receive new books.
Thank you to all these fantastic young poets and their supportive families and teachers who encouraged them. Happy Poetry Month!
“Strong”
By Harmony Belle Devoe (Ages 11-12 Category)
Muscles
A paltry sign of strength
The cries of a protest
Are music to change
Enervated, distressed, and worn
Turn up some tunes
I feel reborn
Safe from a virus
I cover my face
Masking, disguises
Make me think
“What’ve we done to this place?”
Strong, healthy
Follow the rules, the guidelines
To not get
Ridiculed
Earth fights for peace
The world is not always peaceful
Yet is always resisting, always persisting
Family
Hold me up when I’m down
Flip my frown
Make me
Indestructible
Swim in ice
Kissed by the cold
Though never froze
Boosts my mind
Inner strength
Makes me kind, find
Words to heal the world
The power of the pen, pencil, press
Undeniable
Always reliable
Often deemed unjustifiable
Will always be mightier than the sword
Writing
A path to the world
New-found poetry
Like an unfound memory
Flowers in my hair
Fingers tense to pluck them out,
One by one
My
Brain
Grows every day
Unswayed, never persuaded
Or made
To conform
A
Sturdy tree
Stabler than me
Branches as strong as I hope, esteem to be
Roots
Dig deep
I am
Strong as the tree
With green, photosynthesising leaves
A swing
Playful, a child
Strong, healthy, new to the world,
Wild,
Never convinced to have a mild
Temper
A flame
So much as a spark to their name
We are strong
Alone together
No longer tethered
To old ways
We have strength
And strength
Makes change
“In Honor of Vermont’s 230th birthday”
By Eve Menguc (Ages 9-10 Category)
Red leaves falling,
Mountains enthralling,
First to outlaw, *
Last one to thaw.
Fall ice freezes,
Heat up bejeezes!
Far pastures covered with powdery snow.
Can’t catch any trout,
So get your skis out.
Lift’s on the go,
I brought the cocoa.
We’ll start at the summit,
Be ready to plummit (sic),
Trail by trail, we’ll make our way down.
When the snow starts to melt,
And the first sun is felt,
Shed off coats, scarves, hats, and snow pants.
Then head outside to see if, by chance,
The crocuses are blooming,
And in the field there are lambs.
The clouds overhead,
Give a warning unsaid,
No rain dance is needed
As the pond floods its banks.
Listen at the dawn and you will hear,
The steady hoofbeats of a white tailed deer.
Listen at the dusk and you will hear,
The first peeper’s song, loud and clear.
Look out the window and you will see,
Empty fields with a lonely tree,
But soon those fields will be chock-full,
With corn, and cows and a solemn bull.
In the distance, Lake Champlain,
Glistens like a colored pane.
Adirondacks on one side,
On the other full of pride,
Green Mountains stand tall
Singing of bird call.
Cider’s in the making.
First leaves we are raking.
Birds fly south,
And we wait for frost.
*slavery
“Vermont”
By Elise Menguc (Ages 7-8 Category)
If you’re coming to Vermont from a city,
When you look out the window you will probably see a countryside full of farms
and fields of cows.
In the summer you can go out to a pond
and catch peeper frogs
and go swimming in Lake Champlain.
When it gets dark you can build a campfire.
As the grownups sit around the campfire talking,
you and your friends can catch fireflies.
When it’s time for bed you can bring your fireflies home
and put them on your bedside table, like a nightlight.
Spring: When the flowers come up and the spring rains are here
You will go out into the woods
and tap trees to make maple syrup then-
Shhhh, be quiet- it’s a deer!
The deer looks at you then trots away
into the woods.
Fall: As the leaves turn yellow
then orange then red then brown and fall,
You will sit inside waiting and waiting
and waiting for it to snow.
You mark down the days til Thanksgiving
and when there’s just a few days before it,
you will forget about the snow for a little while
And help make the pies.
But after Thanksgiving, when you get your Christmas tree,
there’s still no snow.
Then the next morning you wake up,
look out the window and see
Snow on the ground!
This marks the beginning of winter.
Winter: As the powdery snow falls flake by flake,
You sit inside under your Christmas tree, reading.
You get bored so you decide to go outside
and play in the snow.
You [are] building a snowman and call him Carl.
Then your dad calls you inside.
“What?” you say, looking back at Carl’s half finished dog.
“Get in the car,” he says. “We’re going skiing!”
And that, is my poem about Vermont,
Wild and free.
“Wind”
By Isaac LeBlanc (Ages 4-6 Category)
*While you can feel free to share the link to this post, please note that these poems may not be recreated or published anywhere else without the poet/parents’ express permission.
