Events

National Poetry Month Contest

    2011 National Poetry Contest Winners
    pictured left to right: Joe Gagne, Abby Sapecky, Faith Finnin (back row), Lindsay Augello, and Chloe Shuskey
    not pictured: Briana Janes, Brian Gates, Jessica Sedore, and Heidi Grolemund

    Bright and Beautiful
    by Chloe Shuskey, Grade 3, Bergen, NY

    • Paints are bright
    • the sky is blue
    • flowers are beautiful
    • and so are you
    • Rise with an eagle
    • over morning's light
    • the sun is yellow
    • oh so bright
    • Trees make shade
    • and shade makes rain
    • snowflakes falling
    • never the same
    • Always watching from
    • up above
    • my heart for you
    • is filled with love
    • Paints are bright
    • the sky is blue
    • I want you to know
    • I love you

    Untitled
    by Lindsay Augello, Grade 1, Elba, NY

    • Violets are blue
    • roses are red
    • but today is the day
    • I lay in my bed.
    • I don't know why
    • I'm laying in bed
    • but all I know
    • is my monster is red.
    • My monster is not real
    • he's just pretend,
    • he has big horns
    • and no tail on his end.
    • I play with him,
    • he's such a joy,
    • what I want you to know is
    • he is a boy.
    • It's time for bed,
    • we sleep in my bed
    • and I wake up in the morning
    • we're head to head.
    • The End!

    Green
    by Joe Gagne, Grade 3, Batavia, NY

    • Green looks like an apple growing on a tree.
    • Green sounds like the men cutting down trees.
    • Green smells like a flower sitting in a greenhouse.
    • Green tastes like Kool-Aid in my mouth.
    • Green feels like the grass growing in my yard.

    A Willow's Wardrobe
    by Abigail Sapecky, Grade 4, Lyndonville, NY

    • In the spring, a willow wears a crown of robins in her hair.
    • In the summer, she wears a green bonnet with care.
    • In the fall, she has oh nothing to show!
    • In the winter, she wears a veil of snow.

    Outside
    by Briana Janes, Grade 5, Batavia, NY

    • Outside
    • in the summer air
    • I could see rows of crows
    • everywhere.

    • Insects and spiders
    • crawling under my feet
    • waiting for me to meet them
    • ladybugs climbing up stems
    • to make themselves taller
    • so I could notice them.

    • Birds flying in the sky
    • when they run into each other
    • they start to cry
    • but that's just outside.

    Wild Strawberry
    by Brian Gates, Grade 5, Holley, NY

    • It's the taste of a big juicy strawberry
    • It's a brilliant bright red of a rose on Valentine's Day
    • It is the color of my mom's heart
    • warm and sweet
    • It is the color of love
    • It is the color of the bonfire blazing hot
    • Best of all it is my mom's favorite color

    Brick Red
    by Jessica Sedore, Grade 5, Holley, NY

    • Brick red the color of a dead city
    • dark buildings and graffiti...
    • It is the color of blood and extremely
    • violent wars...
    • It is a color of love and comfort to
    • some...
    • Not to me, no, no, not to me...
    • To me red is something that I would not
    • think about before bed...
    • It is the color of my fears of being hurt...
    • It is the sound of a gunshot through a
    • body...
    • It is the taste of my mouth after I lose a
    • tooth...
    • Yuck!!! I hate that taste..
    • I will hate red until I am dead!!!

    Wrong
    by Faith Finnin, Grade 11, Batavia, NY

    • So many memories, so many scars.
    • A hidden life, behind a guard.
    • Put up a wall, hide the blade.
    • You don't want to know, the choices I've made.
    • Pull down the sleeve, put on the mask.
    • You don't want the answer, so don't even ask.
    • Hide the pain, so no one knows
    • Then have that hope, to feel no more.
    • Rip at the seams, tear it apart
    • And wonder when, the good will start.
    • Fake another day, tell you I'm strong.
    • Then at night wonder, where it all went wrong.

    Slipping Away
    by Heidi Grolemund, GCC student, Churchville, NY

    • My mind's unraveling like a ball of yarn
    • My body is tense
    • Nausea fills me up
    • Reality's a blur
    • I've been here before
    • Slipping away
    • I can smell the past, vivid as yesterday
    • I can taste the past
    • Bitter and sickening
    • I want to spit it out
    • But it won't help
    • Just get past the moment
    • Remember where I am
    • I don't have to let it take me
    • I pray I am strong enough
    • It will pass
    • I hope it will pass
    • I'm not crazy
    • They can't have me
    • I gather the yarn so no one knows -
    • I'm slipping away