2015 GREENING UP THE MOUNTAINS STUDENT POETRY AWARDS

        Greening Up The Mountains Student Poetry Contest

                                                 April 25, 2015

High School Winners: 

Abigail Zuelch, SMHS, Dianne Gholson

Brittany Davis, SMHS, Gholson

Chasity Bark, SMHS, Gholson 

Kayla Cochran, SMHS, Gholson

High School Honorable Mentions:

Tiffany Bennett, SMHS, Gholson

Kendall Rhymer, SMHS, Gholson

5-8 Winners:

Cierra Wolfe, SME, Faithe Giaquinto 

Anna Ruth Hills, SC, Tara Williams

Taleigh Verrault, SC, Amanda Eichhorn

Shea Wargo, CV, Lora Cox

5-8 Honorable Mentions:

Calista Cruea, CV, Lora Cox

Alice Stephens, CV, Kristin Menickelli

Carson Frady, CV, Jennifer Patten

K-4 Winners:

Katona Fabian, CV, Lori Wright

Tyra Sterling, CV, Gretchen McCue

Lulu Garcia Santiago, CV, Gretchen McCue

Class Poem, CV, Carly Borchelt and Jennifer Powell

Class Poem, CV, Sandra McMahan

K-4 Honorable Mentions:

Zeke Brown, CV, Erin McDaniel

Carly Hester, CV, Drew Solesbee

Elijah Morgan, CV, Gretchen McCue

On display:  poetry and artwork by Holly Rowan’s third- and fourth-graders at Fairview School.

High School:

Winter

And so you lay there,

ragged and raw, bleeding

brown, orange, red, copper blood,

 jagged droplets

that trace a phantom breeze.

There are the evergreens.

They’re watching, mourning.

When the sun sets chill

and snowfall

will forge a frozen casket.

There’s a sort of sleep

that isn’t sleep,

a death that isn’t death.

Shivering and alone

the mind embraces hollow shadows.

But cuts are closing.

You are rocked

by the ice that burns your skin.

It will hold you, 

and kiss your head with ever bluing lips.

Then the snow melts

you will reach

like a flower towards the sun.

Scars cast shadows,

but like the roots only show where you’re coming from.

And if the summer

burns you slowly

and you drown in autumn blood,

breathe, just breathe;

The ice only lasts ‘till the healing’s done.

Abigail Zuelch, 10th grade, SMHS

Comparison

Maybe it was the slurring words of women

Or the meaty hand of a man.

Maybe it was the bruises or stinging skin

Or the dark, brooding skies.

Maybe it was the low self-esteem

Or the hopeless feeling.

Just maybe it could be the laughter

Or the way the sun heats the world with rays.

Maybe it’s the birds’ song

Or the feeling of lips on my skin.

Maybe it’s the tall green grass

or the patter of a horse’s hooves

A mix of both, 

Coating the only world we knew.

Brittney Davis, 10th grade, SMHS

About Rain

It’s dark and cloudy as the rain comes in.

It’s like the sky is crying for us.

The rain is like tears of the small children who have been forgotten.

Hearing the rain hit the roof reminds me of the ticking

clock in a small class room.

The splashes from the cars are like the forgotten children

playing in the rain puddles.

When the rain goes away it’s as if the children leave with it.

Chasity Bark, 12h grade, SMHS

She Is Me But She is Not Me

She has beaten me many times.

She is stronger than me.

She knows everything about me.

Including my deepest secrets.

She takes advantage of my strength.

She has taken the last little bit of voice I have.

She haunts my dreams.

Always lurking in the shadows of every twist and turn.

But no more will I be scared.

I will beat her.

I know her.

I know all of her moves.

Every day I will get stronger.

EVery day I will bring in more light, so she can no longer linger in my dreams.

For she will not be there.

I have pushed away her bad thoughts.

She will no longer control MY life.

I am better than she is.

I will win this time.

I know she will lose, because she is the old me.

I AM THE NEW ME!

Kayla Cochran, 9th grade, SMHS

Honorable Mentions:

Sweet Sadness

It felt like a hand

Was crushing my

heart.

Yet I took it

And welcomed 

An old friend.

Sadness swept

Over me

Like a blanket

Of Snow

on a cold morning.

I did not run.

There was he

Helping this

Lonely depression.

All you can do

Is climb  out of

The black hole or

Slip deeper in.

It is never easy.

It is always there.

Sometimes hiding out,

Other times you let it

Consume you whole.

You do not deserve

This treatment,

But you think

You do.

Tiffany Bennett, 10 grade, SMHS

Luminescent

This is no longer a book;

Its pages have been cut, ripped, torn, taped and painted.

Its stories are no longer here.

But they still live on in the hearts of whoever has read this book.

This book has been transformed into a work of art.

It now holds a new story...

A story about my dreams, my hopes and my hard work.

This book is a stage where my imagination can roam freely.

Where it is allowed to take the form of anything it wants.

This is no longer a book.

It’s a portal to my soul, this is where my soul is illuminated.

This is a window to the workings of my brain the the thoughts

that pass through it.

Kendall Rhymer, 12th grade, SMHS

GRADES 4-8 Top Four:

                   UNTITLED 1-3                                       

                 Untitled #1                                                                                                                                                                                                           

                        Each night Father fills me with dread

                        When he sits on the foot of my bed,                                                            

                         I’d not mind that he speaks

                         In gibbers and squeaks,

                         But for seventeen years he’s been dead.

                         All Monsters Are Human

                         It’s all a nightmare

                         And you can’t wake up

                         Lies like scars on your soul

                         They destroy you

                         Monsters

                         Don’t sleep under

                         Your bed

                         They scream

                         Inside your head.

                        You’re the only light I’ve ever known.

                         Untitled #2

                         Growing up is a scary, scary thing

                         The real world is a scary, scary place

                         I’m starting to wonder if anyone is actually

                         Prepared for real life.

                         Untitled #3

                         Beauty is also

                         About the way you

                         Move, speak and

                         Express yourself.

                         It’s about good health,

                         Warmth, spontaneity

                         And charisma.

Cierra Wolfe, 8th grade, Smokey Mountain Elementary

She

She was beautiful

in her very own way

She never cared what others

Had to say

She dreamed and

with the flowers she would sway

She thought of places 

Far Away

And just like pollen

in the summer breeze

It would pick her up

And carry her away.

Anna Ruth Hill, 8th grade, Scotts Creek School

The Whispering Trees

The whispering ttress high in the mountains

If you listen you can hear

why I gallop to and fro, why do I, you ask,  well...

Here’s a little secret

For the whispering trees well

You may know them as the...

 Smoky Mountain Trees.

Shea Vargo, 5th grade, Cullowhee VAlley

Wonders of Spring

The grass so green

The sky so blue

Wonders of spring

For me and you

The mist fades away

The joys of spring we share

Flowers start to sprout

And bloom everywhere

As the sun goes away

The moon will come out

Crickets start to chirp

The fireflies fly about

This was the end

Of a perfect spring day

But maybe next time

The sun will come and stay

Taleigh Verrault, 8th grade,  Scotts Creek School, 

Honorable Mentions:

Prayer: for the Mountains

Sometimes I wonder why bears are bears

and why fish are fish, but I love the mountains, that’s all

I got to say.  I love the mountains every day.

Sometimes I can’t help sticking my toes in the water

    and eating the honeysuckle blossoms.  

      I love the mountains and the birds as they sing. 

       I love watching my dog leap and be free

     And watching my sister run away from the bees!

Calista Cruea, 5th grade, Cullowhee Valley

The Smoky Mountains

These tall giants tower over us like skyscrapers.

Their rich soil grows lush plants and trees.

These mountains protect us from the dangers of the storms.

They give us humans and animals shelter.

The see these mountains as just chunks of land

but they are more than that, they are a part of our heritage.

These are the Great Smoky Mountains.

Carson Frady, 6th grade, Cullowhee Valley

Mountains

They live taller than a skyscraper!

   I grew up in the mountains.

They can be GIGANTIC and they can be small.

But the most beautiful thing about them is 

    that they are not man-made.  They grow by themselves.

    It doesn’t matter about their size or beauty.

   I just matters that we keep them healthy

and not throw trash on the ground of our beautiful mountains.

    So please don’t mess them up!

 Please help them stay how they are

so they can keep their beautiful animals and rivers

           trees and grass!

     Please love and take care of them!

Alice Stephens, Cullowhee Valley

   

  

Grades K-4: 

Song for the Mountains

                                            

             

I laugh

I cry

I dance around the mountains

I run

 I play

I sing a song for the mountains

I live

I love

I love the mountains

 Lulu Garcia Santiago, Cullowhee Valley

My Stinky Feet

My feet  my feet  my stinky feet

I light and I play on

My feet All day

Nothing can stop me oh not today

I go to the mountains

To play all day

I go to my bed and shut my

Eyes and go to sleep

And then pet my sheep.

Katona Fabian

Cullowhee VAlley, 3rd grade

The Mountains

I run

I play

I dance all day

I laugh

I cry

I sing a lullaby

I roll in the grass so fine

I wish it could be mine

All these things I do are fun

I do them in the mountains

Tyra Sterling, 4th grade, Cullowhee VAlley

My Mountains  (Class Poem)

Make Me Happy

Oh I love the Mountains

Under the Shiny Stars

Never stay the Same

The Mountains are Beautiful

Amazing to Mee

It’s Spring on the Mountain

New Leaves on the Trees

Sometimes Blue

Mrs. Madill & Mrs. Irwin’s Kindergarten, Cullowhee Valley School

MOUNTAINS  (Class poem)

Morning fog

On the river going by

Under the cloudy sky

Nothing else comes

They are so beautiful

And the sun peeps through

I love mornings on the mountain

Never stays the same

Stars come

Mrs. Borchelt’s & Mrs. Powell’s Kindergarten

Cullowhee Valley School

Honorable Mentions:

The Smoky Mountains

The Smoky Mountains are home to many rivers

but none like the Tuckasegee.

I love to play in the river because

it brings back many memories

of when my papa George used to play

   in the river,

but he died of cancer.

I fish in the river where I caught my first fish.

But when the rain raises the river, it can get very dangerous.

   When my life is done, I’ll ask the Lord

for me to see one last river

and it will be the Tuckasegee.

Zeke Brown, Cullowhee Valley, 3rd grade

I HEAR MUSIC

I HEAR MUSIC ACROSS THE STREET.

I START TAPPING THE BEAT

WITH MY FEET

I HEAR “OLD JOE CLARK AND THE CRAWDAD SONG,

                           THEN I GET MY GUITAR AND PLAY ALONG

                                  FIDDLE, BANJO, MANDOLIN TOO,

               THE SONG IS SO HAPPY SO WHY ARE YOU BLUE?

THE SONGS ARE TRADITIONAL, YOU CAN SAY THAT AGAIN.

I HAVE TO END AND SAY GOODBYE, 

BUT I WILL KEEP SINGING TILL MORNING IS NIGHT.

CARLY HESTER, 4TH GRADE, CULLOWHEE VALLEY

Flowing in Gloryland

I step into the rushing water,
    As I feel the scales of fish, I start to slip on a wet stone.
         Swept to the edge I know I must jump!
             Leaping from that spot I soar with the eagle...
             My winged warrior
             My guide to salvation
       He leads me home

Elijah Cooper Morgan, Cullowhee Valley, 4th grade