A Poem A Day » student

Goodbye to Grandpa

Marcia — Thu, 24 May 2012 11:00:41 +0000

Photo by curlywurlygurly

There is a photo of me fishing with my grandpa,

standing by the water, throwing the rod,

cows eating grass behind us.

There is a photo of me talking to him,

surrounded by my family, smiling,

pictures of past generations on the wall.

There is a photo of me visiting him in the hospital.

He wanted to be in his own bed.

There is not a photo of me saying goodbye to him,

Grandpa lying on a bed,

eyes closed,

trying to sing an old song.

By Ramiro, 12th grade

Filed under: family, illness, loss, memory, poetry, student, writer, writers in the schools, writing Tagged: Grandparent

Fire Escape Writing Contest

Marcia — Wed, 23 May 2012 11:00:58 +0000

_MG_4614 “Fire-Escape” (Photo credit: Michael Menard)

Here is a contest that will appeal to many Houston youth that have at least one parent born in another country.

The following information comes from Mitali Perkins, an author who navigates the border between her Bengali roots and her California upbringing. For more information, please visit her website:

Do you love to weave words together?
Were you and/or one or both of your birth parents born in another country?
Do you live in the United States or Canada now?
Are you 13-19 years old?

If you answered yes to ALL of the questions above, YOU qualify to enter the 2011 Fire Escape Writing Contests! Submit an original, unpublished poem or piece of prose (fiction or non-fiction) that reflects some of the joys and struggles of growing up between two cultures in America. Mitali’s Fire Escape will only consider one poem and one piece of short fiction per person, so send your best work.

Contests

Poetry (up to three poems)

Short Fiction or Essay (up to 1000 words)

Prizes

Winner in each category: $50

How to submit an entry

Paste your poem or story into an e-mail message and send it to
contests – at – mitaliperkins.com. I will not open attachments.
Proofread thoroughly and keep your presentation simple. Entries with spelling, grammar or punctuation errors and funky characters/fonts may be disqualified without notice. Do not include any clip art, images, or photos with your entry. Words only, please. Fiction longer than 1000 words will not be considered.
Include your name, age, and e-mail address in your e-mail. Also include your countr(ies) of origin. You and/or ONE of your birth parents must have been born outside North America. If you were born in Puerto Rico and are now living in one of the states or Canadian provinces, you qualify.
Current U.S. or Canadian residents only please, and previous winners are not eligible.

To qualify, your entry must be received by June 1, 2012.

REPEAT: You must be an immigrant or internationally adopted teen (or a teen with one immigrant parent) currently living in the United States or Canada.

NOTE: Failure to follow all of the contest guidelines will disqualify your entry.

Winning Poems and Stories will be published on the Fire Escape. Winners will be notified by July 30th. If you do not hear from us by September 15, 2012, you can assume that your entry was NOT a winner. Prizes must be claimed by September 30, 2012. Please note that editorial or any other personal comments will not be provided for contest submissions. The Fire Escape reserves the right to award no prizes if no entry meets the judge’s standards.

The Fire Escape seeks the following permissions from young authors: permission to publish your work on the web site, and permission to include your work in online archives after publication. Authors retain the copyright to their work. Once selected, winners must send their school information and a mailing address so that the Fire Escape can validate the entry and send the prize. Read the Fire Escape’s privacy policy for more information.

Filed under: contest, creativity, education, essay, family, poetry, story, student, student writing contest, writer, writers in the schools, writing Tagged: Mitali Perkins, Short story

Dreams

Marcia — Tue, 22 May 2012 11:00:20 +0000

Bunte Leichtigkeit (Photo credit: Ela2007)

Someone is trying to explain and spread feelings out.

Red, blue, angry.

Black, red, happy.

Red, pink.

I see my dreams every time I wake up.

The sketches are still there in the morning.

They remind me of somebody I know.

It seems as if it was all real and golden.

Is it so?

It must be something haunting me from the past.

By Allenique, 3rd grade

Filed under: imagination, memory, poetry, student, writer, writers in the schools, writing Tagged: dream, Dream Journals

Ish Poem

Marcia — Fri, 18 May 2012 11:00:44 +0000

Little Window-detail2 (Photo credit: rosedeniz)

In the dark-ish night, deep in the

city, the sunset made blue-ish, orange reflections

in the calm river. The boats were heading

to the nearby dock. The tree in the

field with the ruffled shadow became clear.

The smoke from the burning bridge fell to peace.

By Michelle Smith, 5th grade

Filed under: creativity, nature, poetry, student, writer, writers in the schools, writing

A Poet

Marcia — Thu, 17 May 2012 11:00:38 +0000

Calligram by Guillaume Apollinaire. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

When a poet stares at time, everything stops.

When a poet loves, he freezes,

and his heart bursts open like an over-ripe banana.

When a poet thinks, he is so happy he will melt of happiness.

When a poet is angry, he will go crazy.

When a poet is sad, he will cry to death.

When a poet travels to a new land, he gets lost.

When a poet imagines, he sees himself as an astronaut

and then becomes one.

When a poet writes, he believes nothing is wrong

because he is at his best.

By Saadat Makki, 3rd grade

Filed under: poetry, student, writer, writers in the schools, writing Tagged: poem, Poet, poetry