Earth Day Poetry Contest First Place Winners 2017
Kindergarten
By Juaquin Anzinger (Overall Winner for grades K-3, tied)
Rain
Wet, fresh
Clean, Clear
liquid
Drips
By Urijah Clinkingbeard (tied)
I Need to Do Work in the Desert, but I Don’t
I was going to do my homework,
But I was distracted by a roadrunner I wanted to chase.
I was going to clean my room,
But instead, I wanted to catch a snake.
(I don’t really want to, because it might bite me.)
I was going to feed the dogs,
But instead, I wanted to find lizards.
I was going to feed the horses,
But instead, I wanted to climb rocks.
After I play in the desert, then I will do all my work.
Grade 1
Horney Toad
A horney toad has horns on
his head. A snake comes by
and then he has fled.
If his horns don’t work he
stands up tall, so he doesn’t
look so small.
Since his predators have gone
away he can search for his prey, now
that he found some yummy ants
he can do a boogey dance.
Grade 2
I HEAR THE THUNDERSTORM,
I SEE THE RED HAWK EYESI see owl eyes in the night,
the moonlight in the dark sky.
I feel the sweet air
blowing in my hair.
I watch the still rain
entering the soft sand.
I wish that I could be free,
to be who I am.
I hear the thunderstorm
going boom, boom, boom.
I see the red hawk eyes.
Grade 3
Gila Monster
A gila monster pink and black
looking for a tasty snack.Walks around in the afternoon,
right before the harvest moon.A roadrunner’s nest is what he sees
in the desert evening breeze.With his beady, scaley leg,
he goes right in and grabs an egg.His belly is full,
he’s homeward bound,
to his home underground.
By Aryana Clinkingbeard (tied)
A Thorny Problem
Why do cactus poke me?
Why do they grow spines?
Why do some grow large and thick
And others, small and fine?Cactus make a tasty meal
For predators and prey.
But thorns protect the juicy plant
So they will stay away.Cholla thorns grab everything,
Like animals and man.
They drop off in a different place
And grow roots, if they can.
The desert sun is very hot.
The cactus need some shade.
Big leaves make water evaporate,
That’s why thorns were made!So cactus thorns are worth it.
We just need to take care.
The desert needs its cactus
So birds can have a lair.
Grade 4
By Amelia North (tied Overall Winner for grades 4-6)
Elf Owl
Brown feathers,
burning eyes,
flying fast across
the sky.Crickets, grasshoppers,
Moths. Yum!Snakes, coyotes,
bobcats,... RUN!Sleep in the morning,
awake at night.Small but
sneaky.
Silent flight.Heading home
to its boot.Listen for its
haunting hoot.
Grade 5
The Tarantula Rap
Every time I get bit by a venomous spider
My mama tells me you got to be an awesome fighter!
Don’t let anyone control you, don’t let ‘em, don’t let ‘em.
You got to suck it up and fight this spider venom.
Everyone thinks a tarantula is poisonous,
That’s why everyone knows to never give them a kiss!
I always put them in a bin
Because I get creeped out by their hairy black skin!
There’s a lot of spider’s names –
I’m not going to name those names.
I’m just going to drop this game!
Everyone knows tarantulas are the best.
They’re without fail better than the rest.
Questions
Last night, at dusk, you could hear them howling –
They sang the song only they know the words to. A song
couldn’t you?
Couldn’t you?
I could.
that travels back in time, and prickles our skin as we
remember. Can’t you remember?
Can’t you?
I can. That song is one of love and family. There is bond, too,
and it is like some unbreakable metal: it will never be
severed. It seemed as if they knew you were there. Did they?
Did they?
They did. The song stopped and they locked their starry eyes with
you. Their music still rings in my ears – does it for you?
Does it?
Grade 6
By Maia Stark (tied Overall Winner for grades 4-6)
The Owl's Song
In the darkness
in the deep evening
a song is heard, ducking
under coyote yips and soaring
on silent wings over
chitters of other animals.
A low, lovely lilting little melody
played once by one, then
answered, higher pitched, by another,
The exchange continues, broken
only when one of the pair leaves
its perch to fly closer to the other.
Impossible to recreate on the violin,
piano, cello, horn or drum. A soft
sound from a sharp beak, a tune
woven of wonder and wisdom that
cannot be described by “hoot.”
Many great musicians have
lived on the Earth, but their
compositions cannot compare
to the Great Horned Owl’s tune, singing out in
the night. A melody beautifully simple, yet
impossibly complex. Does the rabbit, bounding
across the ground below, hear their predator’s
song? Do any other
creatures, besides me,
stop to listen to this
nighttime exchange?
The tune that swoops
on silent wings, ducking
under coyote yips and
soaring over the desert.