Earth Day Poetry Contest First Place Winners 2013

Grade K

By Andrew Hanauska (tied overall winner)

Mountain Lion

The sun is hot,
The snake can bite,
And the blue sky can change to black.
The lion is hungry and he is on the mountain.

Grade 1

Amalia Matchett, tied

The Desert in the Day

The wind is blowing,
Sun is shining bright,
The Javelina rests in the shade.

Rattlesnake hisses,
Lizard hurries
Because roadrunner is coming.

Bobcat scratches for its prey in the ground
While tumbleweeds roll around.

Sunset is coming,
It's almost night.

Coyote walks up to its rock.
It howls and howls
In the tip of the moonlight.

All around
Animals are starting their beautiful music,
And they all jam together
When the day is done.

Violet Barton, tied

An Arizona Girl

Out in the desert sun,
Snakes roam
Hawks fly
Lizards run
And spiders hide.
Cactus for miles around.
The sun touches every part
Of the ground.
Water is low,
The sand blows.
This is my home.
I am an Arizona girl!

Grade 2

Henry Medlin, tied overall winner

A Dream

I had a dream
Where the owl flew
Onto my arm

Sharp toes,
Soft feathers.
Electrifying!

Grade 3

Raven Strange

Jumping mouse

Eyes as bright as the starry night sky,
Fur as soft as the young cotton growing in the fields,
Ears as big as prickly pare pads,
Whiskers dancing like the leaves of a palo verde in the spring breeze,
Feet as pink as the cactus fruit,
Tail as long as a rattle snake,
Storing food like a squirrel in the fall,
Nestled in it's home with some cotton balls.

Grade 4

Nathan Krikawa

The Sand

I let critters burrow
deep inside me.
I let the water rest
far below me.
I let the seeds fall upon me.

I am the sand.

Grade 5

George Ballenger, overall winner

The Desert's Senses

I inhale deeply, smell creosote, the prairie grass, the smell all around me,
Surrounding me.

Looking, I see clouds, like blankets covering the sun's hot rays, the saguaro
fruit, littering the ground; I see nature, all around me

I am feeling the strong, hot winds blowing in my face, making me feel like I can
float far away, far away from my earthly problems. The sands, and shrubby
grasslands scratching at my legs

the bushes sway, and I hear the rustle of a Palo Verde tree, blowing in the wind, I
hear a few birds, cawing, maybe to say they have found a new house. As day turns
to night, I hear a lone wolf howl in the distance. The desert seems to sing.

The desert has enveloped me, smell, sight, touch, and hearing; I am now truly
alive, part of the desert.

Grade 6:

Cameron Sandoval

Sonora in the Morning

Sonora in the morning
has a crown like a kind
with shimmering gold
and transparent green.

Sonora in the morning
with bird songs so sweet
where the mourning doves mourn
and gamble's quail meet.

Sonora in the morning
the ocotillos dancing
the brittlebushes blooming
saguaros strongly standing

Sonora in the morning
with the summer rain
smell of coursetia
clouds rumble and gain

Sonora in the morning
with animals creeping
with coyotes stretching
from their long night of sleeping

Sonora in the morning
have you ever seen
something so beautiful
something so serene?

If I had the chance
if I could get my way
I would look on all Sonora
morning, night, and day.

What about you?
just to be adjourning
will you stand in awe
at Sonora in the morning?