Anna students among poetry winners

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PIQUA — Students from Anna Local Schools were among the top prize-winners in the Piqua Public Library Youth Poetry Contest in April.

Contest Coordinator Robin Heintz said entries were received from students at Upper Valley Career Center and schools in Piqua, Tipp City, Troy, Anna, and Sidney, as well as from home-schooled students in the region.

This year’s contest concluded with a Poetry Night Awards Reception at the library, April 24. Award winners were given the opportunity to read their works aloud, and cash awards and certificates were given to participants.

First-, second- and third-place awards were conferred in four grade divisions. First-place winners earned $50, second-place poets earned $25 and third-place winners earned $10.

The library also selected a poem for the “Library Staff Favorite” award, with that poet also earning a $50 prize. The 2018 winner of this award was Brandon Hemsworth, an 11th-grader at Anna High School.

Other winners were as follows: Kindergarten to third grade: Lily Young, kindergarten at Washington Primary School in Piqua, first place for “My Dog”; Jake Kipp, third grade at Anna Elementary, second place for “Football”; Elijah Cantrell, first grade, home-schooled in Piqua for “Summertime Finally Arrives.”

Fourth to sixth grade: All winners in this category are sixth-graders at Anna Middle School: Zandria Platfoot, first place for “Jared”; Mara Cathcart, second place for “Donna Jean”; Lucinda Furgeson, third place for “Ava, My Beautiful Friend.”

Seventh to ninth grade: Elisa Brubaker, ninth grade at Troy Christian School, first place for “Arlington”; Benjamen Romie, ninth grade at Covington Exempted Village Schools, second place for “Tomorrow Night”; Lauren Thornhill, eighth grade at Anna Middle School, third place for “Leaving For The Military.”

10th to 12th grade: Kirsten Brunswick, 12th grade at Anna High School, first place for “My Prayer for the Class of 2018”; Shiann Russell, 12th grade at Upper Valley Career Center, second place for “India Ink”; Abigail Walker, 12th grade at Tippecanoe High School, third place for “Night Driving.”

The top-winning poems by Anna students follow:

“Bittersweet”

by Brandon Hemsworth

An unspoken past, drenched with sorrow and pain,

has all been expunged to be arid and plain.

The rainstorm of old now resembles a drip,

for monotony strangles with unrelenting grip.

The taste of the sun, with its bittersweet rays,

is shadowed from man by a transparent haze.

The sweetness of sour perseveres on the tongue,

while a craving for more has already begun.

On a path life-depleted, looming out of a pit,

on the horizon sits uniformity, threatening you to submit.

One glance behind, and another ahead,

makes you fancy the pit over future’s pure dread.

The crumbling path, with its blisters and sores,

restrict you from tasting your identity anymore.

The taste of the sun, with its bittersweet rays,

has no place on the path where we all fall astray.

My Prayer for the Class of 2018

by Kirsten Brunswick

Together, we will walk through these doors for the last time. The last time we sit in the courtyard for lunchtime. After today, we will all go our separate ways. And before we meet again, it might be days. Some of us will have sons and daughters And some of us will cross the floodwaters. Some of us might find the cure to cancer And some of us might become famous dancers. The world knows not what we may be. But all of the possibilities are laid out in front of me. May we all believe in the beauty of our dreams And never forget to always work as a team. Class of 2018, for this I pray That we never forget where it is we come from each and every day. May we learn to love without ceasing And may our faith in each other every day be increasing. My wish is that we never forget the people that helped us grow and reach our full potential. May we be an inspiration to others in their lives and be influential. My hope is that we all go on to achieve great things And spread our wings. May we be the change we wish to see on the Earth And that we never forget our worth. Let us never forget that life is a gift to be cherished and protected And should never be neglected. I hope we never take the little things in life for granted And always work hard to grow the seeds we have planted. Class of 2018, we get to write our own stories and this is not the end. Our stories are only beginning and we have just picked up the pen.

Jared

by Zandria Platfoot

I never got to see you,

but yet I’ve always known you.

I have tears run down

Like rays of sun

but not as bright as you.

A little angel from heaven

Well, not so little anymore,

Once told me not to cry

For my Lord will soothe you.

Mom and Dad miss you

They want to hug and kiss you.

No goodbyes said

You were gone before we knew it

And only God knows the reasons why.

I would like to tell Mom and Dad

Do not cry, we are not saying goodbye

Just a simple see you later.

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