AUTUMN
By Miranda Cortez
Family Partnership, Grade 6
Outside are berries, brambles and
bushes
Raindrops that land with tiny
kersplooshes.
Nature is lovely, her birch skin is
fair.
She throws rusty leaves that get
stuck in my hair.
THE YUKON
By Steven Dossat
Airport Heights, Grade 4
The roaring Yukon
Rushes across Alaska
Hissing like the wind
That whips through my hair
Swift as silver salmon
Weaving homeward bound
Its waters sparkling
Like glittering silver and gold
scales
Pulling along birch branches
Polishing granite stones
Smooth as crystals
Forming twister whirlpools
That crash and bash
sticks, stones and salmon
In a fight for life.
ODE TO THE NEW YEAR
By Roxanne Gillam
Kincaid, Grade 6
Just one more minute,
Is all I heard.
Frantic feet, whistling whispers,
panic in the people.
All gathered around that one-
faced two-hand object
on the wall
Thirty seconds they said
Thirty seconds ‘til what, I kept
saying over in my mind.
Tell me, tell me, tell me.
I’m just a dog.
Ten seconds.
Tell me!
9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1
It’s here!
The New Millennium!!!
Oh? I thought to myself,
I thought I’d missed
something important,
Like dinner.
THE DESK
By Whitney Heck
Inlet View, Grade 4
In the desk, the wild desk,
There are books about
here and there.
There are papers flying
and pencils poking
Erasers erasing everywhere.
The rulers measure everything,
don’t stop until they’re done.
Markers marking and binders
binding,
What should I do with this wild
desk?
Should I run?
BLESSING BY THE RIVER
By Cari Jamieson
Ravenwood, Grade 5
Near the banks of North Eagle
River
Dawn shimmers across the icy
waters
A red fox scurries over the
rocks
Pausing to gaze at me for a
moment
That seems like a year.
Its sharp expression softened
As I put down my notepad
Holding out my hand.
It comes to me, as cautious
as a deer on a hunting ground.
I smooth down its fire red fur
Tuning it from a wary beast
to a cunning pet.
When the trance was over
It turned away.
SCREAM
By Nicholas Jordan
Alpenglow, Grade 4
Howling, blustery needles
hitting my face,
Screaming, whistling voices
rushing by me.
Cold
Frosty…
Yet a heartlight warms me up.
I slice the wind, cold freezing
with my breath warm, hot.
The wind screams with pain like
wolves howling.
HOW TO EAT A POEM
By Jessica LaChapelle
Chester Valley, Grade 2
I’d bake and boil delicious dreams
And swallow sweet sounds.
EARTHQUAKE
By Eddie Landes
Kincaid, Grade 6
Today I write the deepest
thoughts of my life
everything is shattering around
me
everything is wrong
my knees crackle
my heart beats like a drum
my fingers are numb
Frightened
Isolated
like no one understands what I
am saying.
The red hot stars shiver as I shiver
the floor shifts snaps cracks pops
Death stalks me
people drop into cracks
I ask myself
am I next?
Earth grabs me
plunges me into the fiery pit
under its crust.
PENCIL
By Brittany Oden
Eagle River, Grade 4
So many words this black mouth
has held
as ever shorter I become
I think I am losing my voice!
THE KENAI RIVER
By Sarah Sherburne
Airport Heights, Grade 4
The Kenai
Sometimes roaring like a mad
lion
Tumbling through eroding
passages
Past its secret doors
Braiding between caribou herds
Facing river dangers with their
calves.
Canoes snake their way
beyond the charging moose
As boulders stand their guard
As the swift Kenai waters
thrash
Constantly hissing in my ear
Whipping at its logs
Looping around the beavers
Sliding off the backs of salmon
The Kenai meanders though
the forest
Slithering like a snake
Wiggling through the woods
Playing around with branches
on its way
And ripples to the ocean.
Winners of the 1999 Margaret Mielke Poetry Awards
Winners of the 2001 Margaret Mielke Poetry Awards
Winners of the 2002 Margaret Mielke Poetry Awards
Winners of the 2003 Margaret Mielke Poetry Awards
Winners of the 2004 Margaret Mielke Poetry Awards
Winners of the 2005 Margaret Mielke Poetry Awards
Winners of the 2006 Margaret Mielke Poetry Awards
