Student Poetry
Each year the Prescott Unified School District holds a district-wide poetry contest, culminating with a published anthology of winners and a poetry celebration. Parents and teachers are invited to the celebration and students read their winning poems.
2004-05 Winning Poetry | 2003-04 Winning Poetry | 2002-03 Winning Poetry
2004-05 Winning Poetry
John Dillon, 6th Grade :: Sports
The batter comes up to the plate,
He gets ready to hit the ball to the outfield.
He hits the ball.
It’s going, going, and hits the fence
Ahhhhhhhhhhhhh,
The crowd goes quiet,
And then the outfielder grabs the ball and throws it.
The crowd is silent the ball is flying to home base,
He is out!
Kayla Lugo, 6th Grade :: Hockey is my game
Steel blades on ices,
Just try to take the puck from me,
You better think twice!
Gliding across the blue line,
With the puck on my stick,
The goalie tries to read me,
Which side should I pick?
I take my best shot,
The puck goes soaring.
It hits the back of the net,
And the crowd starts roaring!
Colleen McDowell, 7th Grade :: Is There Someone Watching Me?
I was walking home from school one day
With nothing seeming to go my way.
I felt left alone,
And I was trying not to let that feeling be shone.
Right when I felt that no one will care,
I turned around,
Thinking that someone was right there.
When I saw no one behind me,
I started to wonder
Is there someone watching me?
Just the thought of it made my heart pound like thunder.
Is there someone out there that is watching after me?
How can that be?
Is there someone that will care
About my thoughts and needs?
Is there someone who will tend
My wound when it bleeds?
Is there someone watching me?
Jade Bahn, 7th Grade :: Time
Time is a beautiful thing,
It counts down every minute of the day with grace,
Ticking, no matter how tired it gets,
As much as you try, you can’t get away from time.
Place your hand over your heart,
This is your own personal alarm clock,
Ticking away the seconds of your life one by one,
As much as you try, you can’t get away from time.
Listen to what it is trying to tell you,
Slow down and enjoy every minute you have,
Until the alarm clock goes off inside without warning,
As much as you try, you can’t get away from time.
Kate Hamman, 7th Grade :: Heaven’s Entry
Clouds form like soft pillows to rest my head upon
Wind is in a hurry pacing with my heart beat
Birds are soaring in and out as if to put on a production
Wishing I could see through to heaven
But it’s hiding behind the clouds
Knowing there is something far beyond our knowledge
Past all the fog and haze
But for that we will have to wait and see
Like every other mystery
Kevin Smith, 7th Grade :: The Ocean
The soothing sound of waves,
As they crawl across the sand.
Silence fades away, as rough waters crash against jagged rocks.
The smell of salt in the air,
Is a scent of freshness.
As day turns to night,
The sunset comes with neon yellows,
Oranges, and reds that can’t help
But spark the eye.
Emily Galgano, 7th Grade :: Knowledge
Knowledge is like a plant waiting to grow
You have to water it with wisdom
Plant it in soil of understanding
You must let the sun of discernment shine down on it
This is what makes the plant of knowledge grow
Kyle Packer, 7th Grade :: Comical
Calvin and Hobbes like kickin’ up dust
While Batman and Robin find justice a must
Garfield and Odie just like to relax
While Superman stops evil dead in its tracks
The Foxtrot gang just loves to play pranks
While New York City owes Spiderman thanks
All of these characters and of course many more
Are ready to play if you open your door
2003-04 Winning Poetry
Kate Hamman, 6th Grade :: Feeling Just Like Me
Sap cleaving to my hands
As I’m ascending up a tree
Feeling so adventurous
Feeling just like me
Diving through each wave
Swimming through the sea
Feeling so providential
Feeling just like me
Jetting to each store
All the togs to perceive
Feeling so spunky
Feeling just like me
Sitting around the table
My kin chipper as can be
Feeling so beloved
Feeling just like me
Christina Cunningham, 6th grade :: The Garden Gnome
Sits in the evergreen garden,
Keeping the flowers company,
Watching the dark snail creep along slowly.
As the sun fades,
He watches the elegant orange and pink sky.
He runs with the butterfly late at night,
Following the field mice around the yard.
Listening to the crickets play a slow melody,
Laying down, he whispers, “Good night.”
Kalli Hugus, 6th Grade :: Summer
Rushing to the endless sea,
Shaping towers on the fiery sand,
I yearn to be there.
Jessica Nunamaker, 7th Grade :: Snow Princess
Every winter after fall,
The Snow Princess comes to call.
On the North wind she comes riding,
Then down the mountain she goes sliding.
On her brow is an icicle crown.
And feather-like snowflakes adorn her gown.
Upon her icy, colorless feet,
She wears slippers made of sleet.
She works busy as a bee,
As she lays snow upon the trees.
Then the houses she does frost,
Like a cake of very high cost.
When her work is finally done,
She takes to the skies like the rising sun.
Then in the morning each girl and boy
Will cry out in happiness and in joy.
Emily Estes, 7th Grade :: Crystal Ice
Water crystal sparkles cold
Frozen ice beyond your hold
Shimmering sunlight sparkles through
A prism shining colors true.
Frozen crystal stars falling
Wind whistles, heavens calling
When dark pricks of light
Brighten the sky in shining white.
Fields of white shine like glitter
Powdered ice everywhere littered
Crying upon a world of white
Legends tears falling to the night.
Alexa Stroh, 7th Grade :: White Stars
White flakes are
Like tiny sparkling stars
That sparkle with glee.
They land on
The ground, your nose,
Trees, and fence posts.
Cold yet fluffy,
These flakes are
Easily lost.
Don’t put them
In your pocket, because like
Magic they disappear.
No, these aren’t frosted flakes
These are but tiny
Snowflakes.
Alex Szabo, 7th Grade :: I am Almost Happy When
I am almost happy when I get a little time alone,
But when I do I feel I’m getting a little too far away
As if I’m just little off to the left and down
Is the time were here to have
Is this the place to try the thought? The truth?
For are we just…
Are we to spend the time we’ve been they say we’ve been given
Or the time we need the time we have
So are we here to do as instructed or?
For as it seems we just go on and on unwilling to stop souls always thirsting for life
But we’ve been doing the wrong or not quite the right
But just a little to the left
Just a little to the left
And so I sit here a little too far away
And so I sit a little bit off to the left
And so I sit and wonder why is this writing here
by Michael Ardans, 7th Grade :: Suicide Poetry
We never hid beneath the desks
The teachers gave up we lost the best
For a knife in hand is quite a strange test
As we stand here in our make believe worlds
Pretending the world has come to twirl
For we aren’t safe we never were
Standing here in our sad sad worlds
If we die with a friend no one calls
For this tends to be the answer that mauls
Every creature dies for all
As the bombs never found us swimming in the tides
We were all sons of suicides
2002-03 Winning Poetry
Jennifer Pinney, 7 th Grade :: Now and Then
Have you ever been two places at once,
One below and one above?
Or maybe two faces at the same time,
One half smiling and one half crying?
One hand reaching out to welcome something new
One hand behind to take something back
That you’re not ready to lose.
A memory going two different directions,
A glance in the future,
A glimpse in the past.
The decision is yours
So you better think fast.
Jackie Beavers, 7th Grade :: Never Say Never
Never say I love you,
If you know you really don’t.
Never say you’ll be there,
If you’re certain that you won’t.
Never tell me you are coming,
If you’re always going to be late.
Never tell me that you’re fine,
Unless you’re really great.
Never hold my hand,
If you’re going to let go soon.
Never take me under the stars,
If you know that there’s no moon.
Never say you can’t,
If you haven’t even tried.
And never tell me never,
Because never makes me cry.
Sarah Trahern, 7th grade :: The Battlefield
The queen approaches
turns her head.
The enemy knight stands still,
While his king moves
behind battle lines.
My queen slides across the field
protected by her rook.
Finally, a swish,
a swing.
the kind is down.
An action in slow motion.
Slowly wavering
he falls
crashes
collapses,
Crushed
convicted,
A statue
crumbled on the stage.
Jason Long, 8th Grade :: Destination
I hold in my hand
A destination that is of no
Importance,
Only the voyage.
I hold in my hand
More routes than are on the
Seas.
More trails than are found on
Land.
I rode atop the highest wave,
Sunk into the deepest trough.
Tirelessly working my way out,
Only to start the cycle
Again.
I hold in my hand
No trust.
Thus no hope,
But no longer am I
In the abyss.
Dylan Drenk, 8th Grade :: Sahara Moon
The moon illuminates the blood red sand.
Ripples show the wear of time.
Wind sweeps away footprints of a caravan long passed.
In the distance you can see a glimmer of light,
Maybe a comet dusting the earth with its beauty,
Or a star falling from the heavens.
Though the mystic of this enchanted desert is not long lived,
For
The sun appears in the distance, and the lovely Sahara moon fades away.
Chelsea Herbert, 8th Grade :: No One Really Knows
You start your day putting on your face,
You fix your smile in just the perfect way,
You leave the house, but you leave yourself behind.
Each day you greet the world with, “Hello, I’m just fine.”
But you’re not really fine,
No one really knows you,
No one knows you at all.
No one knows the secrets that you hide,
No one sees the pain that lives inside,
But still you play the game,
Hoping that they’ll like you,
If you only act and pretend.
But you’re alone,
No one knows you,
No one knows you at all.
You end your day by taking off your face,
The mirror gives back your desperate gaze.
Showing the person that nobody sees,
You’re getting tired of
The game of smiles and please.
You feel alone,
No one really knows you,
No one knows you at all.
Jilene Oakley, 8th Grade :: “With Honor, Pride, and Patriotism”
With honor, pride, and patriotism I stand,
I symbolize our nation’s independence gained by veterans everywhere,
I wear the horizontal sunset of red and white,
which lies below the starry blue night,
I can’t count all fifty shimmering star as I lie at rest,
because my uniform is folded over and around them,
but when the breeze swirls around me and my uniform straightens,
you can see my fluorescent colors that brings a smile to everyone’s face,
I then wave freely in the air, for I am free,
and everyone around me is free,
for the veterans who are alive and those who died,
fought for me and gave their life for me,
I am still standing,
after war and peace,
I am still standing,
with those alive and those deceased,
I am still standing,
with not a wrinkle or a crease,
with honor, pride, and patriotism I stand,
I am the American Flag.
Mr. Cleary :: Montezuma’s Well
Birds circle the Verde
south of Anasazi dwellings
My students eat their lunches.
For a slender poetic-moment
the wind silences the freeway
and spins away the sprawl.
Electric power towers
run off like giant kachinas.
The valley reappears unspoiled.
A bus horn calls
camera clutching tourists,
And they are gone.
The moment is gone,
but it is enough.
The wind whirled away
layers of importance
to reveal a connection
that suddenly wasn’t so ancient.