Poetry 99

First Place

Parched
Because of the shade
goats wait beneath the last tree.

Because of water
wild-eyed men
kill wild-eyed men.

Because of the sand
women with long grey hair
sweep the packed dirt floor.

Because of fire
and fear of fire
houses are of stone.

Hidden inside the last sky
is a single drop of liquid silk.

Because of the heat
we are running out of tears.

Lucy Sandoe, 11
Chico

Lucy is quite a little phenom among Chico’s young writers. The seventh-grader at Blue Oak Charter School has won the kids’ division of Poetry 99 two years in a row now; not to mention she placed third in last year’s Fiction 59 contest as well. All we can say to Lucy is: Keep on writing!

Second Place

Black
When a crow glides across the sky
When a lonely baby starts to cry

The color of frustration and rage
It’s like a monster trapped in a cage

Black
Death, a big dark hole
A demon that comes to take your soul

It is nothing, a lifeless color
It is the ghost that searches for its mother

Mason Hone, 11
Colusa

Mason’s homage to the darkest color was one of many poems we received from the creative students at Egling Middle School in Colusa. Mason enjoyed his class assignment and says that writing is one of his top-three interests, right up there with music and basketball.

Third Place

Screech Owl in the Tree Hollow
It is nearing six o’clock
The sky is pink, purple, red, and blue
my dad and I are on a walk
we are searching for Nature’s treasures
from a dark hollow in a tree
two yellow blinking eyes are watching me
I turn to see
a screech owl and her hatchlings
Out of the grass
A mouse in his talons
The father owl silently wings his way to the hollow
The hatchlings screech pleadingly
The open mouths get the goods!

Charlie Giannini, 12
Chico

Charlie is an energetic fifth-grader at Sherwood Montessori Elementary School. His teacher brought in a selection of visual cues to write about for the poetry contest and, after much thought on the matter, Charlie chose the owl.

Honorable Mentions

Moonlight
It was so
Silent all I could hear
Was my mind exploring in my imagination
Wondering if this moment
Would last forever
If I stayed completely
Silent I can hear two or three frogs playing

I can’t find the moon
As if it was playing hide-and-go-seek
With the night stars
The sky was so long and dark it
Seemed like a never ending
Corridor

Mosquitoes are biting on my
Tender skin
Sucking on my rich, blood

I can smell freshly cut grass
Reminding me of old childhood memories
Somehow getting lost
In my mind by chaos

Ivet Madrigal, 11
Colusa

Midnight
You are the coyote
The coyote that howls at midnight
Scared of the light
You only come out at night
You see the shadow of your self
In the bright glassface
The Glassface is your kingdom
Your ears can hear a mile away
Listening to the crickets and frogs thought
The night
Stars shining on trees birds flying
Far away
You can feel the ice cold wind against
Your short fur

Tyler Gerrard, 11
Colusa

Untitled
Nothing will come
Out of my mouth
I can only speak with my hands
In the form of letters
That will last forever
And ever
Until the rain comes
And they turn to water
And are sucked up to the sky
And the clouds read what I write
And speak my words
To everyone

Ender Mills, 8
Chico

Questions
Why does light shine through the darkness?
Why do the mountains still stand strong?
Why do dreams slip through time?
Why is the song always left behind?
Why do the candle and shadow waver?
Why does thought flutter like a caged bird?
Why is all quiet at the sudden peace of rain?

Ava Nett Kruger
Chico

The Red Fox
Why does the red fox run when I call her?
Why does the tall grass,
light and shimmering,
give heed to her way?
Why does the stream,
cold and quiet,
quench her thirst?

Why does the egg,
so subtle and helpless,
sit in the shade all day?
His patience overcomes mine.
Time seems to slow around him,
calmly changing,
life ever present.
Why does the egg,
so subtle and helpless,
sit in the shade all day?

Connor Schademan, 12
Chico