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Water was our most popular theme yet: 131 poems from 24 states, which is 35 more than in the spring. We got oceans, lakes, rivers, sprinklers, bathtubs, rain, snow, ice, tears, a fish tank, a leaky faucet, a broken water bed (we laughed for five minutes), and one very serious poem about the water in a goldfish bowl from the goldfish's point of view. Thank you to every child who wrote. Here are the ten poems that the three of us couldn't stop talking about.
Ages 6 to 8
FIRST PLACE
The Hose
When Dad turns on the hose
it coughs first
like it just woke up.
Then it is a snake
made of silver.
I put my thumb on it
and make a rainbow
on the side of the garage.
The rainbow only lasts
as long as my thumb.
My thumb gets tired.
That is the only bad part
about rainbows.
Katelyn, age 8, Ohio
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SECOND PLACE
Bath
I am the captain
of the bath.
My boat is a soap dish.
My mom says the water
is getting cold
but captains do not
get out.
Carter, age 6, Texas
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THIRD PLACE
Rain on the Car
Rain on the car roof
sounds like
a million mice
tap dancing.
My sister says
mice can't tap dance.
She has never been
in our car.
Darnell, age 7, Georgia
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HONORABLE MENTION
Puddle
I saw the sky
in a puddle.
I jumped in it.
Sorry sky.
Catherine, age 7, Vermont
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HONORABLE MENTION
The Ocean
I have never seen the ocean
but my grandpa says
it is like the lake
except you can't see
the other side
and it tastes like
crackers.
I want to see it
when I am 8.
Trent, age 7, Nebraska
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From the judges:
Katelyn's poem won because of its last three lines. We have all made a rainbow with a hose, and not one of us had ever thought about how tired your thumb gets. That's what a poet does: notices the thing everyone else forgot. Mary says Carter's poem is the best argument for staying in the bath she has ever read, and she raised four boys. Darnell's sister may be right about mice, but she is wrong about the poem. We read "Puddle" out loud at our meeting, and Roy said "Sorry sky" three more times that afternoon. And Trent, we hope your grandpa takes you. When you get there, write us about the crackers.
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Ages 9 to 12
FIRST PLACE
What the River Knows
The river behind my aunt's house
has been going the same way
since before there were houses.
It doesn't know about my aunt,
or the dock my uncle built crooked,
or me, sitting on the dock crooked
with my feet in it.
It doesn't know it's July.
It just knows down.
Down past the bridge,
down past the town,
down to some bigger water
that doesn't know about it either.
I put a leaf in
to see how fast down is.
It was gone before I finished
thinking of a name for it.
Laurie, age 12, Minnesota
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SECOND PLACE
Swimming Lessons
My little brother hated the water
the whole first week.
He held on to the wall like
it was going to leave him.
The teacher said
let go, I've got you.
He didn't believe her.
On Friday he let go
for one second
and came up spitting
and yelling I DID IT
like he invented swimming.
I guess for him
he kind of did.
Josue, age 11, Arizona
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THIRD PLACE
Ice Cube
An ice cube is water
that is trying very hard
to stay still.
In my lemonade
it gives up
a little at a time
and clinks
like it is saying
okay okay okay.
Sean, age 9, Washington
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HONORABLE MENTION
Dry
My dad watches the sky
like it owes him money.
The corn by our road
is the color of a paper bag.
We can't water the lawn
so the lawn gave up.
When it finally rained
my whole family stood on the porch
and nobody said anything
and my dad
took off his hat.
Krystle, age 11, Maryland
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HONORABLE MENTION
The Water Fountain at School
The water fountain at school
either barely comes up
so you have to put your mouth
right on the metal (gross)
or it hits you in the eye.
There is no in between.
My grandma says
that is life.
She was laughing
so maybe not.
Alice, age 10, Louisiana
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From the judges:
This group was the hardest we have ever judged, and Laurie's poem was the only one all three of us put first. A river that "just knows down" is a thing we will each be thinking about for a long while, and the leaf at the end, gone before it has a name, gave Roy goose bumps. Josue wrote about his brother instead of himself, which takes a generous heart, and that last line is perfect. Sean's ice cube saying "okay okay okay" is the sound of summer. Krystle wrote about this summer's drought back East in eleven lines and never once used the word, and the hat at the end says more than a page of explaining could. And Alice, your grandma is a wise woman, and so are you.
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