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Moving Words Honorable Mention

The student poems below received Honorable Mentions in the Moving Words poetry contest in 2004, 2003, 2002-2003, 2001-2002, 2000-2001, and 1999.

Honorable Mentions 2004

LITTLE MIRACLES

Little miracles
Are all around.
Some in the sky,
Some on the ground.
Like how the water sparkles and shimmers,
Or how the feather of a bird shines and glimmers.
Little miracles,
All around
Some in the sky,
Some on the ground.

Robin Dickey
Grade 1, Tuckahoe Elementary School

FLAG

When a flag is
not flapping in the wind
it is a sad
face looking down.

When it is flapping
in
the wind
it’s a happy face.

Zack Johnson
Grade 1, McKinley Elementary School

LIKE A WINDY DAY

(Inspired by Like a Windy Day by Frank Asch and Devin Asch)

I want to be like a windy day.
I rustle the leaves.
I blow away fleas on the dogs.
I blow away hats and blow away bats.
I let the horse’s mane flow,
I let my wind blow.
I see spiders’ webs.
I see beds.
I want to be like a windy day,
Until the wind blows away.

Zoe Waide
Grade 1, Tuckahoe Elementary School

POLLON

Yo tengo un pollo
llamado Pollón.
Es muy calmado,
pero muy peleón.
Se pasa los días
practicando división.
Pero no se asusten
de mi pollo, Pollón.
Solo vive abajo de mi sillón.

Gabriel Amram
Grade 3, Key Elementary School

DELFIN

Delfines bonitos y suaves
Ellos ayudan bastante a los niños
Los delfines son muy amistosos
Fotos de ellose hay
Increibles al nadir
Nunca daño te harán

Gabriella Caballero
Grade 3, Key Elementary School

MI MAMÁ

Mi mamá es buena
como la avena
ella es alta
y cuando la veo
mi corazón salta.

Ariana Quesada
Grade 3, Key Elementary School

THURGOOD MARSHALL

Thurgood Marshall was born in Baltimore,
And African Americans were very poor.

Thurgood Marshall was born on July 2, 1908,
And he was fighting against hate.

Thurgood Marshall was born in July,
People would be crying when he would die.

Thurgood Marshall was famous for being the first African American judge,
We don’t know if Thurgood Marshall liked fudge.

Angie Reyes
Grade 3, Tuckahoe Elementary School

FRIES

French fries are smooshy and smash.
I don’t believe they are quite classy.
When they fall on the floor and go splat,
They look like a hat that is flat.
On the grill they sizzle,
And on a plate they wizzle.
French fries make your mouth sing like a bee.
Don’t you agree?

Jazmin Woodson
Grade 5, Drew Model School

Bertrand Guerin-Williams
Grade 6, Kenmore Middle School

WINTER NIGHTS

As we come in from the cold depths of the nights
We light the fire.
The wood begins to burn and we pray a wind doesn’t
blow down the chimney.
Music from the creatures of the night slip and begin to
soften my ears as I slowly drift off to sleep.
The light from the moon brightens a corner of my bedroom
As I lay there solemnly, asleep.

Kyle Thornhill
Grade 6, Kenmore Middle School

Omar Rubianes
Grade 8, Kenmore Middle School

Honorable Mentions 2003

SUMMER

Summer falls,
Summer balls.

Summer plays,
Summer days.

Summer calls
Summer malls.

I like summer.

Francisco E. Sanchez-Vega
Kindergarten, Key Montessori School

TRAIN

Very fast
The train moves
Hard, cold, hot, smooth
Rolls

Joey Cimento
1st Grade, McKinley Elementary School

MY TOP

Spin, spin, spin my top
Twirling all around
Twirling, twirling, twirling, twirling,
All around the town

Madeleine Martin
1st Grade, Taylor Elementary School

BABY CHICK

I’m a baby chick so soft so cute
I look good in my yellow furry suit
When I hatch, I fall over and sleep
When I wake up, I say peep, peep, peep

I’m wet when I hatch, I look funny
But I dry off, and I am as sweet as honey
As I get older, I’m turning less and less yellow
And I turn out to be a big fat fellow

Christine Vincent
1st Grade, Arlington Traditional School

SEEDS

Some seeds can grow into flowers.
Every one is different.
Each day the plant will change.
During Spring, these plants can grow.
Surprises are waiting in every seed.

Jennifer Frey
2nd Grade, Arlington Science Focus School

I WISH

I wish I were a little taller.
I wish I were rich and famous.
I wish I were a princess.
I even wish I were really smart.
But I’m just me and I’m glad.

Karen Alvarez
3rd Grade, Campbell Elementary School

SUMMER SUN

So hot
Uncold
More warm
Much swimming
Exit spring
Run around

Snow is gone
Up high sun is shining
No more warm clothes

Alaina Berner
3rd Grade, Tuckahoe Elementary School

TROT AND DOT

Trot and Dot went for a walk.
They went to the candy shop.
They bought 50 lolis, they got so fat…
POP!

Eric Apfelbaum
4th Grade, Tuckahoe Elementary School

SNAKES

SNAKES are as cold as the winter’s snow.
SNAKES are as scaly as a fish swimming through water.
SNAKES coil like a screw driver in a hardware store.
SNAKES hiss like a boiling pot of stew.
SNAKES smell like the burnt wood in the forest.

Adriana Arteaga
4th Grade, Campbell Elementary School

FINNER THE DUCK

There once was a tender duck named Finner
Who tried to run away before dinner
But he was too late
And he got laid on a plate
And became a fabulous dinner

Ryan Barrales
4th Grade, Key Elementary School

COW

There once was a cow from Blum
And he was pretty dumb
In Blum everyone is weird
And everyone has a beard
And that cow loved to hum

Jacob Kaye
4th Grade, Nottingham Elementary School

PEACE

Peace is warless tranquility.

Peace is not crying, lying,
and sadness.

Peace is no noise, no danger,
no war.

Adrian Ferrufino
5th Grade, Barrett Elementary School

Honorable Mentions 2002-2003

A BOUQUET OF FLOWERS

My Mom is a rose.
My Dad is a rose.
I am a rose.
Kathy is a rose.
Barbara is a rose.
We are a bouquet of beauty.

Isabel Ureña-Dones
Kindergarten, Key Elementary School

THE ROSE BUSH

In spring there is a bush full of beautiful, purple roses.
I really want one, but I know if I touch one on the petal,
It will eventually fade.

And I certainly won’t touch one on the stem,
Because I’m almost positive I will get hurt by a thorn.

I can’t get one, because it would be stealing.
The bush I just found out, belongs to the family next door.

It was very nice of them not to build a fence
Just so that I could see their beautiful, purple roses
Every evening.

Christine Rumpf
3rd Grade, Key Elementary School

FLOWERS

Flowers jumping, scrambling up from the ground
Trying to get a glimpse of what’s around.
Swish, boing, popping up
As eager to see the world as a new young pup.
The trees gazing from their high places,
To see what things have come to be,
New flowers,
Glory Be!

Paige Monborne
4th Grade, Jamestown Elementary School

YELLOW

Yellow can be sweet like a lollipop
Or sour like a lemon drop.

It looks like the shine from yellow hair.
It’s the color of the clothes I like to wear.

Yellow highlights important words I need to study.
Yellow is helping me get ready to be somebody!

Yellow sounds like thunder that rumbles far away.
It’s the color of the lightning that comes but does not stay.

Yellow is the softness of my mother’s touch.
It’s a feeling that I love and can never get too much.

Mayra Encinas-Munoz
5th Grade, Barrett Elementary School

WHAT LIES ABOVE

Up high are the heaven gates.
The sun is calmly shining on the white cotton clouds.
A home for every living soul to be led to any day.
Your wishes will be granted: no wheelchair, not even an oxygen machine.
Quiet, listen, the golden horn may be blown any moment.

Kristin Salmon
5th Grade, Taylor Elementary School

SUMMER VAMPIRES

As I sat under the shade of a short tree,
The heat of the day made me doze off.
I fell asleep,
Only to wait for the vampires to come,
The summer vampires,
Are the mosquitoes of a
Hot
Humid
Sunny, Summer day.

Tin Nguyen
6th Grade, Kenmore Middle School

ELEGY

An elegy is supposed to mourn
The death of a famous name.
And though this boy is not well known
I mourn for him all the same.
He represents the hope he keeps
When the rest of the world goes wild:
The setting sun sinks down by his grave
And hope dies with a child.

Halle Ritter
6th Grade, Swanson Middle School

SOLITAIRE

She’s wrapped up in her own world of solitaire that she never can manage to win.
She owns no mirrors so as not to know how lovely she could be.
If only she would walk into the light and let eyes lay upon her, but she only sees the
      containment of her crystalline solitude
that swirls and makes her too dizzy to stand among us, swirls and blends her into a
      milkshake of a chocolate world and a vanilla girl.
So a milkshake with solitaire is what she remains, only ever seen through dark
      tinted windows,
A white silhouette against her dark brown surroundings.
Her deck of cards is sticky with sweet creamy dreams.

Tess Michelitch
8th Grade, Swanson Middle School

POEM

I slushed in to my dentist’s office the other day
And sat, wondering. Was it possible that I found bliss in this lamp above me?
It sits, pleasantly watching over me in a yellow smile, warming.
When I leave for the clam of the world, I will tramp uncovered from its wooly light.
I will lose a guardian and it will lose a part of me
As I climb out of this unfrequented, pure pool
Searching to see this light again.
Turned off, and left for the next appointment
Who will mistake its gift for something else.
This simple, yellow lamp.

Nora O'Reilly
10th Grade, Wakefield High School

Honorable Mentions 2001-2002

MY BIKE

my bike iS tHe best.
iT TAcse Me Eest AND west.
MY BiKe is Vary Pinck i thinck.

Anna LeValley
Kindergarten, Drew Montessori School

WHAT MY FOOD SAYS

Beat it says the Cheezit.
I’m not going to budge says the fudge.
I’ll give you a poke says the artichoke.
You better be nice says the rice.
If you don’t, I’ll give you lice says the slice of bread.
That’s enough says all the other stuff!!!

Rachel Locke
Grade 3, Tuckahoe Elementary School

KITE

I flew a kite into the air,
With its colors flashing, flashing a flare,
Cause it’s way, way up there, unraveling rope
On a big, big, big slope
Way high in the sky—my, can it fly!
When the wind goes away
For a fraction of a second, it will stop
And then,
Sadly, down,
Bound for the ground

Sebastian Barajas
Grade 3, Key Elementary School

LIFE OF A COLONIAL CHILD

Sitting by the fire
Listening to nature’s soft gentle music.
The wind blowing in my ears.
I listen to my dad
Chopping down firewood.
My family waits for him to join us
And tell us about his hard day’s work.

Tamika George
Grade 3, Drew Model School

A LONG DAY’S WORK

Dusk had just fallen
And I was growing tired
From chopping wood all day.
My arms felt like heavy weights.
Yet I felt peaceful
As the steady wind
Played beautiful music in my ears
And made me forget how tired I was.

Brian Lubnow
Grade 3, Drew Model School

I’M PSYCHIC

I know that
A brick fell on your head
Last week

Jasmine Bernhardt
Grade 4, Key Elementary School

BABY MOUSE

You look so helpless, and scared and alone,
With eyes shut tightly, and your tail half length.
You sit so innocently in my hand,
You are a treasure that cannot be bought,
You are loved, even though you just sit there and look cute.
And Mother bustles so furiously when she sees I have been holding you,
Baby mouse.

Rachel May Brooke
Grade 5, Drew Model School

RAIN

Rain,
Like soldiers marching,
Landing on my roof,
Then jumping dutifully off,
To the ground,
Falling,
Ne’er looking back,
Like soldiers marching,
Rain.

Lauren Kuhlik
Grade 6, H-B Woodlawn Secondary School

WHY

Why can’t you hear me?
I am yelling so loud.
Why can’t you see me?
I am jumping around.
Why can’t you feel me?
I am right here beside you.
Do you even know
Who I am?

Jocelyn Dorfman
Grade 7, Thomas Jefferson Middle School

THE WORLD AROUND ME

Here is the meadow I can see
The beautiful one in front of me
And as I walk along the dirt roads
I try to understand the complex codes
Of nature and color and how things are
And my understanding will take me far
That wars and crime are in the shadow
But in the light a beautiful meadow.

Jason Cates
Grade 8, Swanson Middle School

ODE TO THE METRO

The floor is sticky.
The seats are icky.
Your neighbor may smell.
Oh well!
It gets you where you need to go.
God bless the Metro.

Gennie Clarkson
Grade 8, Swanson Middle School

NIGHT

The sun is gone,
The moon is home.
Up in the sky,
She is not alone.

Here come the stars,
Each one a light.
Singing out in the darkness,
On this beautiful night.

Mia Lewis
Grade 8, Swanson Middle School

JESSICA AND I

There is flour all over the kitchen floor,
There is sugar all over your hair…
You are licking the chocolate off your fingers as I come in,
Your eyes gleam with mischief as you look at me,
There is not an ounce of guilt in you as you run toward me.
I try to keep a stern face but you are already laughing,
And I have to laugh with you.
You know I’m not going to punish you,
I try to scold you but it’s hard with you rubbing flour all over me,
I throw some flour up in the air and join the fun.

Pushpa Neupane
Grade 8, Kenmore Middle School

Honorable Mentions 2000-2001

A Girl Named Mollie

There once was a girl named Mollie,
She was so jolly
That she went to bed with seeds in her head
And turned into holly!

Katie Roberts, Grade 2
Arlington Traditional School

Summer

ItÌs summer and itÌs raining
Dragonflies glide through the night.
How can I measure the distance they travel?

Afroza Hossain, Grade 4
Abingdon Elementary School

True Riches

One day I woke to find a spider web
stretched upon the fence.
The rain had sprinkled it with jewels.
I was rich.

Amber Dawn Robey, Grade 6
Swanson Middle School

Honorable Mentions 1999

Night

The house is quieter than it was before.
I bathed in darkness, but I was bright.
My shoes are polished by the door,
Warm and wet I say goodnight.

Peace to my parents who slumber on,
Plump arms meshed in a known embrace.
Peace to this house and the coming dawn,
And peace to my sister's angel face.

Emily Churchman, 11th grade
H-B Woodlawn Secondary Program

The Seal

Slow
Sick
Seal
Sees his
Sister
Slow down.

Jackie Saravia, 3rd Grade
Oakridge Elementary School

The Coyote Trot

Dart, trot, jog
A coyote will fight.
Dart trot jog
A coyote will bite.
Dart, trot, jog.
A coyote takes flight.
Dart, trot, jog.
The coyote’s out of sight.

Elizabeth Tedder, 3rd Grade
Drew Model School

Aquamarine

Aquamarine is the ocean waves gently lapping the shore
It is the last raindrop before the rainbow
It is the teardrop from a newly-widowed woman
It is the taste of the sour, salty ocean water
It is the song of the waves in a more colorful form
It is the sky after the rainfall
It is the smell of the early morning dew
It is the crystal that signifies the ocean
It is the feeling of a rose, dampened in rain.

Kristen Koopman-Aizacorbe, 4th Grade
Abingdon Elementary School

Alice The Scallop

I’m a scallop
I live in the sea.
I’m one of the smallest creatures to be,
And though I have no eyes to see
Snails and worms taste good to me.
In the afternoon I sleep in the sand
In the morning and evening I swim
And dance
I live by myself.
I hope you never find me on your
Grocery shelf.

Renee Ricera, 5th Grade
Glencarlyn Elementary School

Love

Yapping, barking wildly, straining to be off the leash.
Everything bursts open, butterflies emerge, everything is tingly inside.
Reminding me of turquoise oceans, the sky during a thunderstorm.
Warm cinnamon swirls around, joyful and sweet, chocolate cakes, delicious.
Nothing wrong, clear, blue, sparkly water, perfect, 70 degrees always, trees
with flourescent green leaves swaying under a diamond blue sky.
Guitars, soft twanging, playing rhythmic beats, chiming.
Soft dough, like butter, finely diced cheese in the savory middle.
Thankful, always helping, made to help people in need of aid.

David Mayo, 6th Grade
Williamsburg Middle School

Fire Kiln

Outcome of smoldering mass
Kin of Fire peek from every niche
First to come…Cobalt, Eye of Fire
Amber, Dark Imprisoner
Rust, King of Aging
Crimson, Searing End
Mahogany, Last Flicker
Then…Chalk White, Clean as Snow
Steel Gray, Signal Smoke
Ebony, Last of Last

Eric Wolinsky, 6th Grade
H-B Woodlawn Secondary Program

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