WINNERS
JULY 2022 POETRY CONTEST
Summer Night
First prize 10 and under
Phoebe Richards, age 10
Sonoma, CA
Late Summer Stars
Yes, school starts in seven days.
Yes, I am supposed to be at a dinner party.
Yes, I can hear my parents’ chatter floating on the breeze.
But for now
I do not need
To worry, to plan, to hold on to the
thoughts that whiz around my head.
For now
All I am wanting
Is to stand in this field
And watch the stars
Begin to shine.
First prize 11 and up
Allie Chiu, age 13 Port Lavaca, TX
Alone with Fireworks of July
On a folding chair under hidden starlightand a proudly flying flag andin between sticky humidity and buzzing insectssits a child with impatienceetched on her faceAnnoyance creeps higher asirritation screams and shescratches and itches, wishing for a breezeFinally, a flying blaze of glitter shooting upwardexplodes in a boom of colors, lightssmoke and wonder abloomaccompanied by country musicThe wait was worth everyflash of light, bellow of noise, splash of colorThe birth of a fire and its deathquick astransforms a child’s featuresfeeds awe to her wide-open mouthpaints wonder in her young eyesA child on the edge of her seatleaning forward, hands outstretchedfor sparkles and promises she cannotreach, afraid they’ll disappear like smoke
