Celebrate National Poetry Month this April by voting in Agawam Public Library’s Poetry Contest! Poets of all ages have submitted their original poems for the chance to win a prize, and now it's time for you to vote on your favorites!
There are three categories: Grades 1-4, Grades 5-8, and Adults. Each category will have a 1st place and 2nd place winner. Winners will receive a $10 Barnes and Noble Gift card and book of all of the poems entered in the contest.
Voting is open until Saturday, April 29th at 5PM, and may be done in person at the library or on this page. Please vote only once per category!
Grades 1-4 Poetry Category
1.
"Erasing Meanness"
Am I the only one, who can see?
Money is making people worse,
Wouldn’t we be better off without it…
Wouldn’t it be nice,
If everyone would barter?
Just like in olden times….
My mother says, and I know that it is true,
Then there would be an end to,
All the hoarding in the world too…
Yes it can, but if we could just get,
Meanness of the list…
I got a little rush, and saw,
Meanness all around the World,
I wanted to remove it,
Didn’t know how?
If I had the choice to erase it,
That’s what I would do indeed…
It was not long when I saw it,
spread-spread-spread,
Just like jam in my bread…
You have to stop it, from spreading out
You need to tell the truth…
Even if it offends….
Yes, you need to be little smooth,
For the world around you to chuckle,
To drop meanness of their list…
I wanted to remove it,
I started from my house,
To release it all, bit by bit…
For A bright World would dawn soon….
2.
"My Shadow"
My tall shadow!
My tall shadow!
So tall can it be!
Whenever I take a step,
it takes a step with me!
My tiny shadow!
My tiny shadow!
How tiny it can be!
When I hop and skip and jump,
it hop-skip-jumps with me!
Grades 5-8 Poetry Category
1.
"Lost: A Mummy Tale"
Lost, underground.
Where it will not be found.
Trapped inside a little box.
Trying to connect the dots.
WAIT!
Hope is here.
Humans working dawn and dusk.
Work so hard they might combust.
Closer… Closer… here they come,
but then they find the day is done.
YES!
I have survived another day.
Two thousand years,
in so many ways.
2.
"Spring Has Won"
From the frozen ground and snow,
Comes a warm and sunny glow!
Everyone does not want to see,
The cold snow and ice that used to be.
The geese fly home; they are so bold!
(Because it’s still a little cold.)
A sudden burst of warmth comes out,
Spring is here without a doubt.
Little pink buds burst open on trees,
Then come birds and bumblebees.
Again, rebirth and rain has come,
Winter has lost… Spring Has Won!
3.
"Another World"
Words are like musical beats and rhythm.
Beats are felt.
Rhythm is heard.
Emotions are felt.
Words are heard.
Music puts some into a wondrous state of Mind, life is a
difficult climb.
With music I can live.
People’s words can be abusive.
Rhythm is heard, words will hurt.
Beat is felt, and in a snap happiness can melt.
Let music take you into another world.
A world of wonder, calm, and imagination of your own.
4.
"The Forest"
Beyond the busy city
Past the meadows green
Lays in its puddle of pity
Though it seems serene
Deep within, the center will growl
The bark so sharp it’ll prick your finger
With coyotes and wolves that start to howl
You should leave quickly, you mustn’t linger!
5.
"Flaming Hot Cheetos"
Spicy Cheetos
Flaming hot,
Crunchy goodness
I like them a lot!
I like them so much
They make me sing,
I could eat them
On almost anything!
On my spaghetti?
Oh, yes please!
I even like them
On my Mac & Cheese.
I could eat them
Everyday,
I may get messy
But that’s ok.
I can eat them
Anytime,
My love for them
Even makes me rhyme!
If you try them
You will agree,
And if not
Then the more for me!
6.
"Dance"
Dance puts me into a trance of imagination and creation.
When I dance It just feels like all of my struggles and worries go away.
I could dance for a whole day and do ballet.
I wish I could stay in that state of mind forever.
When I have to leave it feels worse than ever.
I try to grasp the state of mind and keep it there but sometimes things are just too hard to bear.
Contemporary makes me feel so airy when I jump and glide across the stage.
It’s like turning a new page to a book whenever I try a new type of dance.
It’s fun to give new types of dance a chance.
I absolutely love doing jazz.
Especially when the dances have pizazz and sass.
When I do a solo I feel so alone, but when I dance with my friends my loneliness ends.
Oh how I love to dance, it adds an expense of happiness to me.
Some people say laughter is the best medicine but the real best medicine is dance.
Adult Poetry Category
1.
"Sky Drops"
The wonders of a puddle
Mysterious, mesmerizing, seducing
Mirroring the sky on its superficial surface
Different shapes and shadows
Constantly changing
As the wind ripples across
Or object breaks the shallow depths
Puzzle pieces push to form a canvas
Forever transforming, shifting, fluctuating
This subtle perplexity of an ambiguous entity
Constantly changing
How many raindrops are needed
To create shapes that make us ponder
If the heavens miss each droplet
That discovers a new terrain as it lands
Constantly changing
To some who may not contemplate
This perplexity of a phenomenon
We becomes only a nuisance
As each sky tear slowly drips on skin
Constantly annoying
There is nothing more enticing
When fact meets yielding liquid
A colorless kaleidoscope begins anew
To create versatile design
Constantly changing
Where does this entertaining happening disappear
When smiling sun peaks out once again
To announce the tantalizing game is over
Only the profound universe holds this secret
Of bewitching transformation
Always changing
2.
"The Eagles"
They brought in an eagle whisperer
to prepare the airport for eagles.
Runways were stripped down
into necessary parts: a road
and some lights. Those little men
with their light-up cones distract
the eagles from important work,
and so were shuttled somewhere
private. Baggage check was stocked
with mice and snakes, enemies
to each other, but both eagle-prey.
With eagles here, they’d behave.
People had to be prepared, too.
The eagle whisperer was there
at each ticket sale, determining
which of us was worthy
of the eagles. “You,” she would say
and pull someone out of line. “You,”
she would say, and security
would take someone back to the terminal.
There was no anger or judgement
when the eagle whisperer spoke.
There was only understanding.
She was there to ensure all
was eagle-ready. Some of us got to
see the eagles. Some got to touch
their feathered crowns. One of us,
a man near the end of his life,
asked the eagle whisperer
why the eagles had come.
“They got tired of watching us fail,”
she said, and we all nodded,
desperately trying to look
as if we understood.
3.
"Cycle"
Birds on the ground
Seed all around
I host a meal
Squirrels on heel
Cardinals at door
Bluejays and some more.
Birds come and go
Delight me so
Next, pansies in a pot
Smiling at me alot
Gifts are a sure blessing
Glad winter left guessing.
Red-headed woodpecker, doves, sparrows
galore
Red-wing blackbirds, titmice, wild turkeys,
robins soar
Flitter, flutter, land, chase, fly away, return to feed
Next year when cold comes, I will provide even
more seed.
4.
"Low Tide"
Tiny treasures
dotting moistened, shiny brown beds…
homes for broken shells left behind.
Occasional cries of gulls
searching for morsels of food
currently visible on their naked plate.
Webbed prints of ocean creatures
leaving paths between indentations
formed by watery worn channels.
Pieces of wood
drifting in from passing ships
laying idly between shoreline’s rocky fence.
Sun’s rays catching glimmers
of dazzling glass shards…
remembrances of jovial times by nautical crews.
Just hours to enjoy
this natural palette
before a new tide brings another day’s display
of fragments from the sea.
5.
"My Own Poem About Lilacs"
inspired by the poem "Lilacs" by Amy Lowell (1874-1925)
First come the leaf buds.
Tiny spots of bright green
peak out from brown shells.
Next come the coveted flower buds,
small, dark, and hard.
One suddenly appears,
causing my eyes to widen.
I gasp, “There it is!”
and scan the bush eagerly
for more, the way I
look for chocolate chips
in a cookie.
The manner in which these buds transform
is as miraculous to me
as caterpillar morphing into butterfly.
How is it that such tight little clumps
carry on in the windy, not-quite-warm,
sometimes-rainy, sometimes-sunny
month of April,
to eventually unfold,
soft and scented,
full and fetching,
in the joy that is May?
I don’t know.
But I am glad of it,
and press the blossoms
against my face
(being careful of bees,
who love them as I do)
to inhale that sweet
essence of Spring
that is gone too soon.
6.
"Gone Away"
I’ll never understand it,
Why did this have to be?
Why were you meant
To be taken away from me?
It’s hard to be strong
When pieces of me are scattered,
It’s hard to remain
When my very core is shattered.
I’d give anything to turn back time,
Back to better days,
And even though you’re gone
Time keeps passing anyways.
How can I move forward
If I can’t even accept it?
How can the world keep spinning
Without having you in it?
They say time will heal
But I sadly disagree,
As time only seems to take you
Further away from me.
I want to break the divide,
If only I could find you,
If only for a moment
To once again be beside you.
We knew this day would come,
I guess I still wasn’t ready for this,
And even though I know you’re in a better place
These feelings of sadness and regret still persist.
I try to hold it together,
To smile and go about my day,
But inside my heart is aching,
A feeling that just won’t go away.
I’d give anything to see you again,
If only to tell you how much I love you,
Deep down I know that you knew this,
I would only want to remind you.
This feeling of sadness continues to grow
With each passing day,
Things can never be the same
Now that you’ve gone away.
7.
"Mom's Life"
Life is puzzle play
Lots of pieces lay.
Fitting together so
Smooth as years go.
Stump us with difficulty
Hard times become history.
Mom spends puzzle time
Pieces make spirits climb.
Good times happen
Bad times sadden.
Mom continues in life
Making puzzles in strife.
Sitting at the card table
Piece by piece as long as able.
8.
"Music was its Name"
Some say it was sweet.
Others called it neat.
No matter how great the feat.
Jimi Hendreix had them all beat.
he was free and wild,
but often times his voice was mild.
beating the hell out of this gee.
Often times in no particular key.
When Jimi was on stage,
Many thought he was enraged.
He regularly played in weird attire.
baby believe me he set the world afire.
9.
"Season Change"
The sun shine
The moon glow
Days are mine
Spring time show
Tulips in a row.
Daffodils smile
Going the mile
Peepers make sound
Again around.
Spring has finally sprung
Winter has long been flung
My heart begins to sing
For warmth of spring does bring.
10.
"In a Glass of Cider"
It seemed i was a mite of sediment
That waited for the bottom to ferment
So i could catch a bubble in ascent.
I rode up on one till the bubble burst
And when that left me to sink backward reversed
I was no worse off than i was at first.
I’d catch another bubble if i waited.
The thing was to get now and then elated.
11.
"Reach Up"
Just reach up and know I’m
here to take your hand.
Find the courage to walk the
path on which you stand.
Just believe the darkness will
fall away,
And embrace the light so that
you may;
Surrender your heart and all
you are,
And continue the fight that
fragile men depart.
Just begin again and gather
the good and worthy around.
Reach for my hand and together
we will walk bravely upon
that ground.
Poetry Contest Voting 2023
Voting has now closed for out 2023 Poetry Contest!
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AgawamPublicLibrary
