Winners of the 2022 Seattle Children’s Poetry Contest.
We invited young people up to eighth grade to participate in the Seattle’s Child Poetry Contest in honor of Poetry Month, April 2022. We received 108 entries this year!
Wow. You’ll really want to spend some time with these starters. They are creative, emotional and stimulating.
Selecting the winners shouldn’t have been easy for our judges: Bryan Wilson from the Greater Seattle Bureau of Fearless Ideas, Alicia Craven from Seattle Arts and Lectures, Amira Wilumson, poet from the Greater Bureau of Fearless Ideas and Zinnia Hansen 2021-22 Youth Poet Laureate with Seattle Arts and Lectures.
Here are the entries from the top winners: Aliya D., Bella L., Mira J., Ehecatl M., and Ema P.. Find more amazing work here: Honorable Mention Winners.
Our thanks to all who participated. Keep up the good work!
A friend’s good
By Aliya D.
Level 5
Seattle
Tell me your story
And I’ll tell you mine
We’ll tell stories of misery
And some good times
We’ll share laughter and tears
We will drink tea and eat bread
And at night we will have dreams
About the fun we had
We will have good thoughts
Until our days give way
‘Cause a friend is all you need
And all you have
If you find duct tape
By Bella L.
8th grade
Puyallup
If you find tape
Go out and try to fix something broken
You can’t heal a broken heart or fix anger
But you can start by putting two things together
Whether big or small
Try to fix everything
‘Cause if you find tape
You can help glue the world together
School supplies for a sister
By MiraJ.
6th year
Edmonds
A sister is a glue stick
She sticks to you
And bother you all the time
But she’s also counting on you
She wants to date you and wants to get stuck in your hands
but all you want to do is talk to the gang. Adhesive tape is similar to glue stick,
but it’s easier to use.
A sister has fun with you like the glue you stick to your hands in the
Grade 3 just so you can peel it off. Glue repairs paper when it tears,
but the paper cannot reciprocate, just as a sister mends a saddened person
heart. Eventually the whole stick will run out of glue and the left piece
of plastic is discarded.
crash, knock
A sister is an eraser. Though she erases mistakes, she smudges them
too. She laughs at you for an incident you do, smearing the
pen writes, making it stay forever. A sister is all around you. You
can find her in a supply box or on your back, quickly turning around
upside down just to help you find your mistakes.
A sister is a sharp marker. It is bold, but dark, and not useful for
filling a shape. A sister is bleeding through. But she also makes you
constantly who and what you are. A sister sets you apart and
although she always appears to be black, you can find her in other
the colors too.
Mi Language
By Ehecatl M.
8th grade
Seattle
My language is my identity
mexican ser
Respectful,
Enchiladas and mole in mi boca,
Un futuro de ser rico y feliz
Con amigos leales
My tongue canta Lil Rob
Summer nights, smile, what can I do, I can barely get by
Mi lengua se viste con jeans y playeras negras y blancas
Pro-Club, Levis
Mi lengua antigua habla náhuatl
Tlaloc, Quetzalcoatl, Ehecatl and Huitzilopochtli
Palabras of my dad
“If haces algo,
hazlo well” and “Haz buenas decisiones”
Mi lengua está manchada con sangre chicana
Lowriders, música chicana, cultura y ropa chicana
Amigos, Family
My language is my life.
My language (Translation of the poem above)
By Ehecatl M.
8th grade
Seattle
My language is my Mexican identity
Respectful
Enchiladas and mole in my mouth
A rich and happy future
With loyal friends
My tongue sings Lil Rob
Summer nights, smile, what can I do, I can barely get by
My tongue is dressed in black and white t-shirts and jeans
Pro-Club, Levis
My ancient language speaks Nahuatl
Tlaloc, Quetzalcoatl, Ehecatl and Huitzilopochtli
My father’s words
“If you do something, do it well” “Make good decisions”
My tongue is stained with Chicano blood
Lowriders, Chicano Music, Chicano Culture and Clothing
family of friends
My language is my life
Under the moon and on the cliff
By Emma P.
Level 5
renton
Under the moon the golden-haired maiden stood
Above the cliff where no one could cross the wood
Under the moon, she made her last fight
Over the cliff she fought and a victory she would demand
Under the moon she fell and screamed
Over the cliff she sailed, her soul redeemed.
Under the moon she lay misunderstood
Above the cliff yet she was no more
On the moon she was lying like before
Under the cliff and yet somewhere in between
Again, she had to be seen.
The curve of the stairwell
Still, it was time for his true form to shine
Her wings sprang from her spine
Her hair melted silver and wolf ears sprouted from her head
A slowly curved tail
And she could finally accept that she was dead.
So the new maiden ran up the stairs as she quickly slipped
their
And arrived at the gates sealed by a jewel
They opened at her touch and as she landed lightly
The ground under her feet widened and she was able to breathe fresh air
Under the moon and over the cliff again.
See more poetry from our 2022 Seattle Children’s Poetry Contest.
