2007 Poetry Contest Winners
BookFestWindsor extends a special thank you to all who submitted entries, and our enthusiastic congratulations to our 2007 Poetry Contest Winners!
A special award was also presented to the English Department of Vincent Massey Secondary School, represented by Elizabeth Dagg. Four out of the top five winners in the age 14+ category were Massey students—well done Mustangs!
Award Winners, Ages 10 - 13
1st Place: Megan Noel (Princess Elizabeth Public School), "Side by Side"
Side by side we dance
Peering through the small holes
Of our coloured masks
As our rough feet push
Against the cold stage
We move to the sound
Of the mysterious music
Red feathers fall to the floor
With the freedom to dance
We lunge
Arms stretched out wide
Like a fledgling dreaming to fly
We walk
Weightlessly
In the footsteps of a dancer
Performing our dreams
Our friendship in motion
But always
Behind the mask
2nd Place: Amy Ives (St. Thomas of Villanova), "You're My Best Friend"
From the time we were little
To the time we are old
We will still be friends
No matter where we go
No matter what we do
We will still stay together
Forever
We could go our separate ways
But we'll try to work it out
This is what the poem's about
When I wrote it
I wrote it from the tip of my toes
To the top of my head
My body is filled
With our great friendship
When I was writing this poem
All I could think about was
The sun
The moon
The stars shining bright
Our friendship is
A bright flower
Just starting to bloom
In this sweet weather
Forever and ever
We will always stay together
3rd Place: Calvin St. Gelais (École Georges P. Vanier), "I Hate Bugs"
I hate bugs.
Some live under the rugs.
Others live under my bed,
But most of them are dead.
Bugs live everywhere,
Even in your hair.
Some have claws and stingers,
Others have little wingers.
I'm not afraid of all those bugs,
Just the ones that are "ughs."
Sometimes I use them as bait,
And they get me a fish that is great.
Award Winners, Ages 14 & up
1st Place: David Shi (Hon. Vincent Massey Secondary School), "If words were gold, and minds a garden"
If words were gold, and minds a garden
Rich beyond words, endless in wonder,
Inspire your mind, a treasure to find.
Were I your friend, we'd walk together hand in hand,
plumb the depths of earth, to some foreign land
glory of a time gone by, a journey, time to fly.
If I were your tool, sharp points you'd make
daggers you'd speak, your arguments my life I'd stake,
conviction through me, your speech freed.
Were I the thing you loved to hate,
A text with many words but nothing to say, about a ton I would weigh,
locked in a steel cage all the time, I speak in riddles and rhyme.
If I was something you'd never need to see,
but still had an interesting story
to tell you in a different way, cryptic what I had to say,
two eyes see but are blind,
closed eyes grope in darkness but my words you'd find.
Flip through my contents and try to find
Anything that is on your mind,
But without you I'm just ink and paper, though to your brain I'd cater,
I hope I tug at some fiber in your chest, maybe an encore you'll request,
Turn the page, let it start, words for your head
meanings for your heart.
2nd Place: Kyle Reaume (Harrow District High School), "Split"
Clear as plastic
Vaseline
She fit right through the crack
A mind for spoiling
Plasticine
In normalcy, she lacked
She took the stone
The bottle cap
And pressed it to her lips
Swam out to sea
The social trap
And knew the noose would fit
Thin as silk-string
Tainted ink
She drained the paper well
Refilled the bottle
Below her sink
And sent them all to hell
The sword and pen
The footing place
She knew it like her hand
She searched for beach
The vacant face
And sunk into the sand
Clear as water
Dripping ice
I won't look back again
Splitting diamonds
Won't knock thrice
This ending has no mend
3rd Place: Hira Khan (Hon. Vincent Massey Secondary School), "Flipping Pages"
I didn't see Van Gogh's paintings,
Portraits that hung in empty halls,
Nor did I see frameless heads on nameless walls.
I didn't see the flaming flowers that brightly blazed,
Nor the swirly clouds in a violet haze.
I didn't see Vincent's eyes of China Blue—
The lonely eyes so sad, so true.
I didn't look at ragged men in ragged clothes,
Nor the silver thorn, a bloody rose
That lay crushed, broken on the virgin snow.
I feel the world in black and white
I swim in dreams empty at night
I hear people talk, laugh and have fun,
Sadly, I sit here and see no one.
By fate, I walk in realms no hope of light.
Sounds of these pictures caress me so tight.
Blessed are the ones who are able to see
And can gaze upon the wonders
Instead of flipping pages like me.
Honourable Mention: Nora Abdel-Nabi (Hon. Vincent Massey Secondary School), "An Ode to My Rag"
[Based on Arms and the Man by George Bernard Shaw—Louka the maid's point of view]
Power to my rag!
Languid and grey,
Woven into the earth
Innocent of stain.
Born immaculate,
Meant only to wipe imperfections
Of rich girls, theater queens.
The surface is perfect;
My rag receives no glory.
Hidden from the world,
Removed from display.
My rag holds the key
To hot lies, decay.
O silk, satin seas of superiority!
Sing your praises to my rag
As she now walks among you,
Breaking through the harsh interior
Of your wicked barriers of silence.
Caress the beauty of her filthy blemish.
For the world you once knew
No longer exists.
Honourable Mention: Jiayi (Jason) Fan (Hon. Vincent Massey Secondary School), "Dream Read"
Crickets chirping, nightlight buzzing,
Thousand strokes of black ink started flying.
Visions of words became foggy and when focused again,
Entered an ancient scene mind-blowing.
War drums beaten, battle cries shouted,
From ten directions an ambush sprouted.
Broadswords and spears, arrows fed with fire or poison,
The unprepared force untenably routed.
Unification and segmentation, usurpation and coronation,
Three rivaling kingdoms in a tripod situation.
Armies marched not in thousands but hundred times such mass
No match for a general's keen perception.
Three realms merged into one grand union, by the war's art,
Then the magnificent panorama started falling apart.
Suddenly awaken from an immersed dream,
A Chinese novel the story from start.
Author's Note: Romance of the Three Kingdoms is a historical novel written in the 1300's about the events of the end of the Han dynasty, the Three Kingdoms period, and up until the beginning of the Jin dynasty, between 220 and 280 CE. It is considered one of the Four Great Classical Novels of Chinese Literature.
All poems on this page are the copyright (© 2007) of their respective authors, and may not be reproduced without permission.