[Art by Kathy Clarks 3rd and 4th grade, St. Francis-St. James United School]

Grade 3

1st Place
Penguins
Frozen creatures
Living on land
Beautiful animals of life
Silent
by Megan Malone, SFSJ

1st Place
Loneliness Haiku
The cold gentle mist
So smoothly crosses my face
There’s nothing out there.
by Katie Nichols, SFSJ

3rd Place
The Last Battle
People died
Some alive
Hurt
Horses killed
Swords in hands
Animals everywhere
Kings and queens
Blood everywhere
People and people
The battle is over.
by Yvonne Luna, SFSJ


Grade 4

1st Place
Look in Front of You
Look in front of you
And
No one is there,
Look in back of you
And you are
Scared.
Look on either side
Of you
And your friends
Are always
There.
by Anna Contreras, Four Seasons

2nd Place
Oceans Haiku
Silk blue ocean waves
Like a blanket of bubbles
With marvelous fish.
by Sarah Anderson, SFSJU

3rd Place
Yourtise
His legs are stumpy
And wrinkly too,
Neck extends for stars,
Shell loaded with shapes,
Eyes beaming,
Completely of love.
I’m drowned with excitement
To believe he is mine.
Because he’s the one,
Because he’s the only,
Yourtise the Tortise.
by Jasmine Nurnberg, Four Seasons

3rd Place
Gerald
Gerald was a boy with a giraffe neck
Every person who walked by said, “What the heck.”
He felt no joy
and wanted to be a normal boy.
Then he meets this dude.
I think his name was Jude.
Jude gave a little wink
and Gerald’s neck began to shrink.
The neck got smaller and smaller.
When it was gone, Gerald gave Jude a dollar.
by Nico Lonetree, Four Seasons


Grade 5

1st Place
The Poetry Poem
Oh, poetry filled with words
the letters drift along,
along with the birds,
your words chirp
and chirp with the letters of thee
come poetry and sing your words with me.
Oh, poetry I read your lines,
lines filled with cautions and
things to find, your words
are a small hidden mystery
please poetry sing your words with me.
Oh, poetry your words are a secret,
a secret spoken soft, I swear I’ll
keep it, quiet, mysterious puzzles
that I see.
Yes, poetry your secrets are safe
with me
by Nikita Antonia Salovich, Capitol Hill

2nd Place
Spring
Buds blooming
As winter slowly creeps away
Leaving snowmen as puddles
Never to come back and play.
Birds chirp with joy
Happy to return.
Eggs hatch
Baby birds ready to learn
How to fly
In the big blue sky.
My favorite time of year.
I go outside and run around and cheer
Spring why can’t you always stay
Here?
by Amanda Fiedorow, Four Seasons

3rd Place
Dear Mecko
I absolutely love the way
you make that cute little
clicking sound when you are
mad.

I love how you gobble
up your raisins.
I love how you groom your hairs.
I love how you squeak when you
have a scare.

I love how you love to cuddle.
Oh, how I love to pet you day and night.
Yes, it is true that I love to sway
to the music of my cello

But I love you the most because
you are cute, fluffy, fat, and a chinchilla.
Love,
Me
by Nate Blumhoefer, Four Seasons

3rd Place
A Poem of the Insects
Cicadas and Crickets
are two very different things
but they both
sing.
Pouring out their
hearts to you
on a Summer’s Eve.
Yet they are different.
Crickets chirp
and Cicadas hum.
But they both
sing.
If we would be like
them,
and sing for everybody,
then the world
would be filled with
joyous noise.
Cicadas and Crickets
are two very different things.
But they both sing.
If only we could be like them.
by Flora Klein, Four Season’s A

3rd Place
North Dakota
February 14, 2008
Hold on, we’ll be there soon.
Just look for the big, bright, round moon.
Look for an orange light,
On a cabin you might see in sight.
Stuck in this van over night,
The large long trees made it a fright.

On the Turtle Mountain reservation,
To get there it takes hard determination.
Wild rez dogs surround us through the night.
Let’s all hope they do not bite.

27 below.
It’s colder than the snow.
My feelings aren’t clear, you see.
But all that matters is that I’m with my family.
by Angelica Chanslor, Open School

Grade 6

1st Place
Sad and More Sad
Crying on a crazy day
Sad because my son’s away
Wailing at the waving flag
Wailing cause the war’s a drag.
by Carmen Palmer, TCA

2nd Place
Terrific Teig
Time bomb waiting to explode with
Energy
It’ll be so bright the whole
Galaxy will see me glow.
by Teig Hutchison, TCA

3rd Place
Scuba Diving
As I dive into the cold blue, I sink and swim to explore the unknown below, exploring the reef, even below the reef. My breath breaking up the sound of gentle waves above me, I’m scuba diving, I am a scuba diver. Silky colored fish swim past me on the reef, what I’m finding is unbelievable underneath this blanket of gray blue waves of silk. I check my air, I don’t have much time to see everything...but that is what makes it so special.
by Mariko Akimoto, TCA

3rd Place
I’m Not Too Young!
You need to tell me!
I’m not too young!
You must tell me now.
What will you do when I find out?
Why won’t you tell me?
Please tell me now
No! I’m not too young!
by Jacob Rodgers, TCA


Honorable Mention

Grade 3
Anna, Josie Guernsey, SFSJ
Lexi, Hannah Peterson, SFSJ
Grade 4
Storm, Anastasia Morgan, Four Seasons
The Game of Basketball, Andre Cross, Four Seasons
My Puppy Pug, Ebony Thompson, Four Seasons
My Old Friend, Xavier Lindsey, Four Seasons
Rainy Day, Madison Johnston, Four Seasons
Grade 5
The Sky, Yang Youa Xiong, Open School
The Favor, Ronald Corbett, Open School
A Mystical Night, Chloe Friesen, Four Seasons
The Night, Jaymes Jackson, Open School
Grade 6
My Dog Ate it, Madeline Mercil, TCA
Darkness, Gib Christensen, TCA
You See that Girl, Jasmine Bolden, TCA
My Terrible Horrible No Good Gnat, Rose Gerdes, TCA

Thanks to all our judges
West Seventh Librarian John Ohr, Community Reporter Board Members Julie Borgerding and Rachel Gorski, Maureen Sackmaster-Carpenter and Willi Brennaman from the Red Balloon Bookstore. We appreciate your kindness and dedication to our neighborhood youth and our area schools.

Thanks to all the 116 students who took the time to write a poem. Thank you for your poetic expressions that bring joy to our lives. Participating schools were St. Francis-St. James United, St. Paul Open School, Four Seasons A+, Twin Cities Academy and Capitol Hill.

Thanks all to the teachers who encourage poetry writing in their classrooms:
Kathy Clark, Grade 3 & 4, St. Francis-St. James United
Camille Simpson, Grade 4, Four Seasons A+
Elizabeth Mena-Larsen, Grade 5, Four Seasons A+
Jack Mills and Robin Stryker, Grade 5, Open School
Sharon Saunders, Grade 5, Capitol Hill
Gina Czech, Grade 6, TCA

Thanks to our sponsors
We’d especially like to thank Frank Junghans and the City of St. Paul for their generous grant donations, Milkweed Editions for their contributions and many years of encouraging writing projects in the West Seventh area, and the Red Balloon Bookstore for hosting our event and discounting the prize awards. We’d also like to thank our many advertisers who make our newspaper possible.

Come, CELEBRATE!
A Community CELEBRATION will be held on Sunday, May 4, 2 p.m. at the Red Balloon Bookstore, 891 Grand Ave. St. Paul. All those who were published are invited to read their poems and receive their prizes and please, bring your family and friends to the celebration.