Frank Sarris Public Library: Express Yourself Poetry Contest – The Results Are In

Press release from Frank Sarris Public Library:

May 5, 2021

The FSPL Teen Advisory Board is happy to announce the winners of the Express Yourself Poetry Contest and share their entries with you.  Congratulations!

In the 7-9 year old division, the winner is “Mountain Place” by Morgandy Bell:

Mountain Place

We climb this mountain
Air tickles our face gently
We watch the world below
Quiet is the mountain
Snow-capped mountain air
One tree sways again and again
We walk back down
Fun times

In the 18+ year old division, we had a tie for first place between “Arboreal Cathedral” by Dana Bell and “Becoming Me” by Martin O’Malley.  The runner-up in this division is “Yellow” by Maison Kairush.

Arboreal Cathedral by Dana Bell

Standing atop a pulpit of rock
Watching the movements
Of a circling hawk

The gentle whir of a hidden stream
Light through the trees
Staining everything green

Each creature, each fungus,
Each tree with a place
Each growing, each different,
Each taking up space

No rules or handshakes, no thunderous speeches
Just the movement of seasons
And breeze through the beeches

And I ask myself

What makes a day sacred? What makes a place holy?
A building with benches
While people nod slowly?

Perhaps church is instead
The path through the trees
The notion of God
In the hum of the bees
Our souls taking pleasure
In each silent prayer
That here I belong
With wind in my hair

Becoming Me by Martin O’Malley

Complete the sphere inside you
and become whole.

Even, smooth and uniformed
Finished and solid
Centered and balanced
You cannot fall.

No hang-ups
Because there are no hooks
No biases
Because there are no sides.

A perfect sphere
You can now roll smoothly
Without interruption.

Created and built by only you
By knowing you.

It cannot be rushed
Only learned.

Once accomplished
Contentment enters.

Yellow by Maison Kairush

I never thought much about yellow

That simple color

I never thought about it

Until I met Her

It was her smile first

Soft like dandelions

It spreads across her face like a rolling field

Always blows me away

Then it was her voice

Sweet like honey

It sticks to me

My mind, my skin, my soul

I drink it all in like a bee

She is the sun

Glowing, life-giving, unattainable

I don’t even know her favorite color

But mine is now yellow

This press release was produced by Frank Sarris Public Library. The views expressed here are the author’s own.