I am a computer…
By Christian Benedetti
Northern Lights ABC, Grade 3
I am a computer
Very, very hungry!
Does anyone have any
computer chips?!
I AM
By Felisha Daniels
Kasuun Elementary, Grade 6
I AM
a Jew who has a life,
I wonder when this life will ever end,
I hear babies crying for food,
I see children dying,
I want to go home,
I am a Jew who has a life.
I imagine my dead dreams coming alive,
I feel useless,
I touch the rags that cover my body,
I worry about my future,
I cry when I watch one of my own kind die,
I am a Jew who has a life.
I don’t understand why people hate each other.
I say "Why" when someone dies before my eyes,
I dream for freedom,
I try to make things better,
I am a Jew who has a life.
Ode to the New Year
By Roxanne Gilliam
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.
ssssssuper ssssscaly
By Jim Knoll
Chester Valley, Grade 2
ssssssuper ssssscaly
shiny as a diamond on a
bright summer day
ssssuper sssssun lover
thin as a pencil
longer than four men
ssssssuper sssssqueezer
sssssheds hissssss ssssskin
poor sssssssight
great sssssmell
has pits
carnivore
cannibal
side winder.
Stuffed Up
By Megan Lepley
O’Malley, Grade 5.
Nose oh nose
I hate you
When you’re stuffed
You hurt, you run
I can’t go to sleep
You make noises, you squeak—
A turkey sandwich
that I can’t smell
You screwed up my lunch
oh, well
I blow and blow
I can breathe
I’m so happy
But then I sneeze—
Kleenex and Vicks
Oh such a mix
Nose oh nose
you give me the fits!
The Mighty Yukon
By Thomas McIntyre
Airport Heights, Grade 4
The mighty Yukon
Roars out loud
As it flees
Its landlock bounds.
Braiding through snowy mountains
Making driftwood dams,
Tumbling over rocks.
Its waters glisten in the sun
As it winds through villages
Where native people fish its depths.
An endless river journey
Searching for the sea.
For My Mom
By Charles Miles
Muldoon, Grade 3
I love her,
short black hair,
brown eyes,
laughs at the sentences
I make in my homework.
She spends time with me,
watching movies,
eating dinner,
taking me to her work.
I try to make her happy,
giving hugs,
saying nice things,
helping around the house.
Happy Valentine’s Day, Mom!
There is an animal inside me…
By Sarah Potter
Eagle River, Grade 4
There is an animal inside me
Its black hair and brown eyes mirror my own.
It runs fast as the wind and
hunts its prey in tall trees.
In this time
the two of us as one,
we are on the loose—
free,
fierce,
wolves.
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 the salmon
The Kenai meanders through the forest
Slithering like a snake
Wiggling through the woods
Playing around with branches on its way
And ripples to the ocean.
Baseball
By Aaron Troutman
Airport Heights, Grade 5
You’re up to bat!
So slap on your hat,
Seize the bat
And stride to the plate
Steady your stance
The pitcher hurls
The ball, it swirls
You fix your aim
You swing the bat
You hear a crack
You drop the bat
You race to first
Sprint to second
Dash to third
They’ve dropped the ball
There’s time for home
You tell yourself
Slide on home.
The crowds,
They cheer.
We win once more.
Winners of the 1999 Bell Benton Poetry Award
Winners of the 2001 Bell Benton Poetry Award
Winners of the 2002 Bell Benton Poetry Award
Winners of the 2003 Bell Benton Poetry Award
Winners of the 2004 Bell Benton Poetry Award
Winners of the 2005 Bell Benton Poetry Award
Winners of the 2006 Bell Benton Poetry Award
