Five of our students were selected for publication in Poetic Power, a student anthology of poetry!! This publication by Creative Communications is designed for students through ninth grade and accepts less than 50% of its submissions. Additionally, all five of our students now move on to be considered for a Top Ten prize.
Each of these students took part in our annual classes and wrote their poems as part of our spring poetry unit. The poems selected represent many hours of hard work and careful revisions. Please enjoy these winning poems.
Red Darkness–What Is a Ruby?
By Jocelyn C., Massachusetts, 6th grade
A drop of blood, frozen in time
A knife stained with guilt and hatred
A deceitful red apple from the story of Snow White
The spectacular moon on a lunar eclipse
A small dying star with little hope
The still-hot remains of a once great volcano
A reflection of yesterday, but filled with hot anger
An evil crystal ball, looking into the past
The dark, blood-like tears of an ancient rock
Small Black Card
By Mimi W., Illinois, 8th grade
My mother extracts the small black card
Out from the big blue machine.
A long roll of cash follows.
My eyes widen as she takes it
And drives home.
Free money! I think.
I can’t wait until I
Have a small black card of my own!
I could buy anything I wanted!
Toys! Candy! Ice cream!
All of this could be mine!
I could even finally
Buy Christmas gifts for everyone!
Oh, how naive I was to think
That such a thing
As free money exists.
Now I know
Nothing in this life is free.
Driveway Memories
By Robby T., Pennsylvania, 5th grade
One day we had to move away,
Another owner will have some fun.
No more play to be had on you, driveway,
Not one more day can we play in the sun.
Down. Set. Hut! We would shout,
And we would make our own route.
Touchdowns were what it was all about,
As we would play football all day.
Ready, set, go, we would scream,
As we were in a dream,
We would ponder who would go quicker,
And one of us would beam,
While the other’s winning hopes would flicker.
We would swerve and swish, and hope to stay on our vehicles,
Racing our bikes while peddling purposefully.
Stop! We would yell, pushing on the brake handles,
Trying to complete a figure eight successfully.
Our driveway was magnificent,
And we were sad when it was absent.
But the new owners would feel the opposite,
Playing happily and playing all day.
People Think This, But I Don’t
By Athena T., Pennsylvania, 6th grade
I might stand out towards you,
I might get the attention.
I might always be popular,
I might always be cool.
People think of me as talented,
Smart,
Kind,
Cool.
But really on the inside,
I hide something secret.
Even though I am social,
There’s something in my voice,
I always say, “I’m sorry,”
And I never stop that choice.
This shows somehow that I,
A talented and showy kid,
May really have a shy spot,
And a soft heart.
Even though I have some passion,
And a talent for the arts.
The Songbirds
By Elaina W., Montana, 9th grade
The songbirds,
How they ring out their delight!
No matter the weather, measure, or feather
Their song reflects their might.
How could something
So small, so frail, and so fragile
Create such a euphonic tintinnabulation?
Oh, what joy!
They over sprinkle the world with a crystalline delight!
They need not have occasion
To make their joys so voluminously well known.
Their song is exotic,
Some strange, age-old Runic rhyme.
We never could tire of it
A song, sung the span of time.
Oh, the songbirds.
They bring about such delight,
Not matter the weather, measure, or feather
Their song reflects their might.
Interested in Taking a Class?
Our Fall Registration is open! Our annual classes are designed for students in 6-12th grade, and meet the requirements for a full year English credit. Our AP English class is approved by the College Board.
Annual classes run September-April, and students are part of a vibrant writing community, where they read one another’s work as well as getting help from a professional coach. Check out our list of year-long classes here.
