SEVEN BRIDGE WRITERS' COLLABORATIVE

Congratulations to the Winners 

of the 2016 

Seven Bridge Writers' Collaborative

 Student Poetry Contest

Painting of Emily Dickinson by William Rock and Calligraphy by Huang Xiang

If I feel physically as if the top of my head were taken off, I know that is poetry. 

                                    Emily Dickinson

A word from this year's Judge, 

Christian Reifsteck, author of Turning Turf

It was an honor and pleasure to be asked to judge the Seven Bridge poetry contest, which had numerous quality submissions.  While it was fun to read your poems, it was difficult to choose the winners because there was something special in each poem that was submitted.  Poems are like people in that way:  each one has good qualities, something special, or a unique way of looking at the world. 

Whether you wrote your poem because your teacher made you or because it was fun or you just wanted to win, I encourage you to keep writing poems.  If you found something special in your experience of writing a poem, then you have found something special within yourself, and fostering that feeling is an important part of life.  Each of us is special, and each of us has interesting things to say, which means that we can all create poems that people will want to read.

Thank you for allowing me to read your poems, and best wishes for your writing!

FIRST GRADE 

FIRST PLACE: 

The Winter Night 

It was a snowy night 

The wind blew and blew some snow away 

A snowshoe hare ran across the snow 

There was a light in a tree the hare was running to 

No one knew why 

Maela Griffin, grade 1 

SECOND PLACE: 

I Like to Move It 

I like to move with the wind 

I like to move with my dreams 

I like to move with my heart 

Lillian Principe, grade 1 

THIRD PLACE: 

Water 

Water, water is a thing 

It is so good, you can drink 

It is the one thing that 

Nothing is better 

Just drink water 

Ryan Carr, grade 1 

HONORABLE MENTION: 

1 2 3 

1-2-3 

Climb a tree 

1-2-3 

Sing with me 

1-2-3 

Will you be my friend? 

Lily Kifer, grade 1 

HONORABLE MENTION: 

1 2 3 

1-2-3 

Look at me 

1-2-3 

The rain is raining down on me 

1-2-3 

The rainbow is shining on me 

1-2-3 

I’m hanging from a banana tree 

Maddy Krikorian, grade 1 

SECOND GRADE 

FIRST PLACE: 

Sick 

I’ve spotted 16 chicken pox, 

Now that’s 17. 

My elbow aches, 

My body bakes. 

I think I have a broken leg, 

My hair is falling out, 

and I’m going blind in my right eye. 

I have a green face. 

What? 

What’s that you say? 

It’s Saturday?! 

Good-bye! 

I’m going out to play! 

Eleanor Daly, grade 2 

SECOND PLACE: 

Dig A Hole 

If you want to dig a hole 

Make it deep 

Make it wide 

Add some water 

Like a tide 

Patrick Lynch, grade 2 

THIRD PLACE: 

Living In Life 

Summer, Fall, Winter, Spring 

So much stuff to do. 

Grow up and up, 

Older and older. 

Be what you like! 

Either you’re a boy or a girl, 

Be what you like. 

Life is just like a time machine. 

Nathan Allison, grade 2 

HONORABLE MENTION: 

The Rainbow 

The rainbow is pretty 

like the red roses. 

The orange is ripe 

as the inside of a sweet potato. 

The yellow is as bright as the sun. 

The green is like the grass. 

The blue is like the sky. 

Last but not least, 

purple is like a beautiful flower, 

big and bloomed. 

Ava Duvarney, grade 5 

THIRD GRADE: 

FIRST PLACE: 

Moonlight on Water 

Moonlight on the water shines so white and bright, 

I see it from my window in the middle of the night. 

Moonlight on the water forms a bridge from shore to shore, 

stretching far and endless to a place I’ve never been before. 

Then a man who is short and rough walks on the bridge 

like a man who’s tough. 

He walks across the bridge and then stops the end. 

He keeps going on, but how? 

He walks on the moonlight, that same starry night. 

Gracie Reisner, grade 3 

SECOND PLACE: 

Horses Can 

Horses can be your very best friend. 

Horses can be ridden well. 

Horses can be your pal until the very end. 

Horses can be showed. 

Horses can be the best. 

If you just listen here, 

I’ll tell you why they are. 

Horses are the very best. 

This is why they are, 

You can love them and care about them, 

And they will surely give you the same. 

This is why they are. 

I hope you agree. 

Emily Schexnaydre, grade 3 

THIRD PLACE: 

Ice Cream 

Ice cream is a nice dream. 

Ice cream makes me scream scream. 

Vanilla and caramel make a very good team. 

Ice cream that’s good makes me beam. 

I like it cold. I like it bold. 

I will even like it when I’m old. 

Riley Forhan, grade 3 

FOURTH GRADE: 

FIRST PLACE: 

Books 

A land of stories where tales are told 

lies history and mystery 

of those young and old 

The treasure inside is wonderful 

so give it a true look 

The magic that these tales are 

is called a book 

Sofia Doucette, grade 4 

SECOND PLACE: 

Cape Cod 

Dear Cape Cod, 

The roses and daisies and sunflowers, too. 

I had to leave you a year ago. 

I had to leave 

the beautiful waves, and seagulls, too. 

I had to leave 

the beautiful weather. 

I had to leave 

the bridge that leads to you. 

I had to leave 

the path we always took. 

I had to leave 

the sparkling sand. 

I had to leave 

the sunset colored shells. 

But most of all, I had to leave you. 

Anna McCarthy, grade 4 

THIRD PLACE: 

Geckos 

Geckos, geckos everywhere, 

One might be in your hair! 

Oh, no… one licked Mr. Blare! 

Geckos, geckos, one bit me. 

I think one ate my cricket, Billy Gee! 

Geckos, geckos everywhere, 

45 of them on my chair! 

Geckos, geckos everywhere, 

One at Trump and his hair! 

Geckos, geckos everywhere, 

One is is now president and one flies through the air! 

Geckos, geckos everywhere, 

They took down the human race and are keeping pace!! 

Geckos, geckos everywhere, going to Mars, 

And that one ate my chocolater bar!! 

WAHHHHHHHHH! (they’re coming….) 

Michael DiTullio, grade 4 

HONORABLE MENTION: 

Volcano 

You stay 

asleep all these 

years 

Everyone thinks you’re 

a sleeping giant 

but now you 

Woke up! 

Andrew Malkowski, grade 4 

FIFTH GRADE: 

FIRST PLACE: 

Call of the Mountain 

There it stands, Towering, Menacing, Daring us to climb 

Standing there all alone against the sunrise 

It’s snow capped peak points up to heave 

There it stands, there it stands, all alone, there it stands 

There on the mountainside a river flows 

Swiftly down as the pale sun gleams 

Over rock, cliff, and packed down earth 

There it flows, there it flows, swiftly down, there it flows 

There the plants and trees will grow 

Tall and high as the sun spikes 

They will the water, ground and sky 

There they grow, there they grow, tall and high, there they grow 

There the birds and beast all sing 

A mournful song as the sun begins to set 

Of times long ago and yet to come 

There they sing, there they sing, a mournful song, there they sing 

There the song will never end 

Though sound will cease and night will fall 

There the song goes on evermore 

Never end, never end, there the song, will never end 

Jonathan Castner, grade 5 

SECOND PLACE: 

Dragon Wings Glitter Bright 

Dragon wings glittering bright 

A thing of glory, of strength, of might 

As the shape flies overhead 

Its fire drains the dark from night. 

Hunting at the break of dawn 

A massive shape within the sky 

There at first and, after, gone 

Grasping prey and filled with pride. 

Eyes filled with a yellow glow 

Heating scales burn through the snow 

Twist and glide about cirrus clouds 

Mountains, rivers, far below. 

Allie Hunter, grade 5 

THIRD PLACE: 

To Make A Poem 

To make a poem, 

you need to walk through your door, 

you need to listen to the elephant trumpeting, 

To make a poem you need to ride the elephant’s back. 

To make a poem, 

you need to walk through your door, 

you need to listen to the waves, 

To make a poem you need to swim in the salty ocean. 

To make a poem, 

you need to walk through your door, 

you need to listen to the trees sway, 

To make a poem you need to climb up the tree. 

To make a poem, 

You need to walk through your door, 

You need to walk with the tall giraffes, 

To make a poem you need to ride on the neck of the giraffe. 

To make a poem, 

you need to walk through your door, 

you need to listen, 

To make a poem you need to imagine. 

Emily Cote, grade 5 

HONORABLE MENTION: 

Summer 

Summer 

Summer what 

a bummer it is the 

fourth of July. Family 

promised to make a pie they 

didn’t. Summer Summer what 

a bummer my god we had to 

plummer. My little cousin shot an 

ILLEGAL 

firework down the toilet the water is 

boiling the water is broiling now all we 

have is scorching hot water my family is 

good my family is great 

all good families make 

some % bad % mistakes 

Zack Frommer, grade 5 

MIDDLE SCHOOL: 

FIRST PLACE: 

Bag of Dreams 

She carries a bag of dreams for sale, 

and she leaps across the land of mind 

managing our nighttime thoughts. 

People unconsciously buy them 

night after night... 

until we are left broke 

and all that is left of our slumber 

is a black blur of nothingness. 

We are left without the remembrance 

of our dreams 

sold by a girl who leaps 

across our thoughts. 

A blur of a night, 

at the beginning of a day, 

because of the little girl, 

who ran away. 

Sophia Atkins, grade 6 

SECOND PLACE: 

Treasures 

Don’t let looks deceive you: 

there are treasures hidden underneath, 

Small relics, 

From Mother Nature herself, 

as hands reach into the cold, dark sand, 

digging up a thousand memories. 

Don’t let looks deceive you: 

there are treasures hidden within, 

the currency of memories, 

catching fireflies under a blanket of stars, 

the hot sand burning our feet, 

our sun-kised faces from rebellious “no sunscreen” beliefs, 

are worth a thousand lifetimes. 

Bridget Bailey, grade 6 

THIRD PLACE: 

Drink of Your Dreams 

It sits there 

Silent 

Still 

Shiny 

It sits there 

Empty 

It wasn’t always empty 

But it is now 

It was once filled with 

The drink of your dreams 

A smoothie 

Some juice 

Even a soda 

Whatever it has to be 

But it’s empty now 

Haley May, grade 7 

HONORABLE MENTION: 

Imperfections 

We fall 

We scream 

We cry 

We wish 

To the point where our soul shatters 

Broken into a million pieces 

We seek for others to pick them up 

But when we search too long and hard 

The pieces begin to melt 

They burn it into our souls and mind that the world is nothing but 

Forsaking Darkness 

We’re lost in the unfairness of it all 

Nothing is fair 

We all break 

Fall on our knees before our past 

FallScreamCryWish 

We want people to carry us away from it all 

But it is not until we realize that only we 

Can be be the ones to carry ourselves through life with a smile 

That our imperfections make us whole 

Margo Sonia, grade 6 

HIGH SCHOOL: 

FIRST PLACE: 

glaciate 

don’t let it subside while drifting off 

while a dream takes flight 

feeling like a ball of yarn left on a shelf 

from a few winters back that can’t seem to make a scarf 

but kept because the hope always (always) lingers 

maybe it’ll turn into something someday 

useful instead of contained in this knot of angst and comfort 

cold breezes are the best debaters: convince you of things that hadn’t even been said 

but maybe they were whispered in winds 

where you left your jacket 

in pursuit of something warmer, love perhaps 

but settled for acquaintanceship which can’t keep a bitter winter out 

Like feathers piled under shiny fabric 

there’s no grey when piles surround you 

sheets of paper cannot be refuted 

by snowflakes of your love 

even 

if everyone is unique 

I understand if I’m your winter and come springtime; a new time 

I will be left to shovel ashes of letters into piles 

that will never melt 

Isabel Stringfellow, grade 10 

SECOND PLACE: 

Circadian Rhythm 

she admitted she wasn’t a little girl 

when she couldn’t recall 

the consumption of a full meal 

without guilt that 

like some mental illness 

rooted in gaunt aspirations 

was to be worshipped 

instead 

she had a mirage of dreadful quirks 

she would shake at times 

she constantly contemplated numbers when in distress 

she preferred a shroud of secrecy to human facades 

depression is not an abnormal condition 

for a form partitioned between existences 

she agreed to compromise: the gesture of a people-pleaser 

to soothe her beloved and compulsion 

yet soon enough each 

would shrilly scream in gripe 

unwilling 

Isabelle Susi, grade 12 

THIRD PLACE: 

The Shadows 

The trees were bent and seemed to twist and turn to face the light 

As it strove to burn the shadows up and sanitize the night. 

The pause, the wind, the rolling wave, the echo of “fire next time” 

From the cloud-base sunset, ever so still, a breeze and a brief daytime. 

Now trees are printed on the ground, calligraphy in ash 

The script of life, once written here, was written far too rash. 

The forest floor is bleached and burned, there’s only shadows left 

Lives erased, writ down again, a human palimpsest. 

Here people walked beside a wall - a frieze in black and white. 

Here this one saw the mirror shine – a strange daguerreotype. 

The people who stood, and stared, amazed, but knew what lay in store 

A wisp of smoke, a shadowy grave, and, with luck, something more 

They watch the sun go up again, and think of brighter things - 

For all that breath is certain death, a longer life it brings. 

Alexander Mills, Grade 12 

HONORABLE MENTION: 

Ghost Town 

No one would sleep in that town, deserted as a doorframe; 

Ghosts groan at its gates, searching for souls lost long ago; 

Dust scattered and settled, 

Covering slowly all that was left behind, 

Trailing behind, lost, forgotten, broken memories, like shadows. 

And what a lonely piano! - 

Notes wailing as last words, 

Isolated sounds, friendless, homeless; 

Houses, saloons, hotels, struggling to stay alive; 

All hanging onto their history: 

Even the tumbleweeds have a story to tell. 

Hannah Castner, grade 10 

Writing is brave work, sharing that work is even braver. SBWC celebrates all the students, teachers, and our judge, the poet Christian Reifsteck, who take our heads off with their love of poems and poetry.