Poetry 99: Kids

First Place

Just Asking …

where does thunder go when it dies?
does each blast have its own graveyard,
where skeletons of rainclouds dance,
and the resounding booms echo,
into a second life.

who turns on the stars,
nightlights to the world
a silent lullaby.

why do fire and water fight?
has it always been this way?
is fire jealous,
or did water call names;
“smoke-breath,”
“hot-head!”

does the wind have a home?
what do colors smell like?
can trees fall in love?
do seeds have imaginations?
is time like a river,
endless…
is the dark afraid?

tell me…

—Lucy Sandoe, 11
Chico

Lucy is on a roll. The Blue Oak Charter School sixth-grader also placed third in the Kids division of the CN&R’s Fiction 59 contest last spring. She really enjoys writing, and says that she and her friends even wrote a play together that was performed by her whole class.

Second Place

Moonlit Dream

Towering trees stretching to the dark blue heaven,
Magnificent and full of wonder.
Moonlight peeking through the foliage,
Refuge to all that is under.

Branches building ladders to freedom,
Fireflies dancing among the sharp spears.
Angels peeking through their star windows—
Dewdrops forming miniature mirrors.

Crickets chirping the day’s events
As dusk turns into nightfall.
Feel the wind’s soft, steady sweep,
Hear the night owl’s lonely call.

Night in the forest is a wonderful dream,
Visions of nature lit by silver moonbeams.

—Aline Ingelson, 11
Chico

For her first time entering a poetry contest, Aline has done pretty well. The home-schooled 11-year-old has two poems in this year’s issue. She says she enjoys writing and is working on a new poem called “Pack of the Forest.”

Third Place

the cat and the dog

the cat and the dog
do not get along
but they both like
the sun and the moon

—Molly Brown, 6
Chico

Molly was inspired to write her submission by her father, Chico State English professor Matt Brown. When the Sierra View first-grader saw her dad checking his e-mail to see if a poem he’d submitted for publication ha d been accepted, she said, “I wanna write a poem,” and then composed this one about her two favorite animals.

Honorable Mentions

Spring

Whispering like meadows
Scattering like animals
Feeling like warm water
Rolling like roly-polys
Streaming like a river
Dashing like deer
Blooming like blossoms
Waiting like in the doctor’s office
Opening like french doors
Expanding like latex coming out of its package

—D.J. Passanisi, 11
Orland

sleepmask

Pulling you into sweet dreams,
the stars, singing in harmony, shine brightly, over your resting eyes
as the sounds of a swift river,
running along with the song
of a single cricket chirping,
soothe you. You drift off to sleep.
the night dances over your head, slowly
melting into your dreams, in which the sun
is rising over a silent town, sprinkled with the delicate
flowers, that are the neon colors of the sleepmask.
The sleepmask slips off your tired face. Your dreams fade away.
You wake up, and found it has fallen.
The train starts to move again.

—Morganne Collins, 10
Chico

untitled

A tree bare of leaves
Swaying to and fro in the
Cold, harsh winter wind

—Aline Ingelson, 11