People Watching*

2006 Walk Award
By Danika Lauderdale, 10th grade

Friends, family, neighbors, strangers
All in our circle
The circle of our community
The momma with the babies
The old woman who lives with cats
36 exactly
the man who smells funny
the little boys playing baseball
the girls playing house
teachers at our school getting us through
friends to talk to when we need it most
parents to love us
to raise us
so many different faces
so many different places
I couldn’t live without my community

*Copyright 2006 by Danika Lauderdale. This poem appears in POETRY WALK: Sue C. Boynton Poetry Contest – The First Five Years. Info: Book! Placard design by Egress Studio.

quoting the poets…

“A poem is at once the most primitive and most sophisticated use of language, but my emphasis is on the former.” Stanley Kunitz

Kivulana (Boy)*

2008 Merit Award
By Misun Bishop, 11th grade

Habari ya asubuhi! The boy says
He’s speaking Swahili or something
I don’t understand, so I just say hello

Jina lako nani? The boy asks
He’s trying to start conversation or something
I don’t understand, so I just introduce myself

Unatoka nchi gani? The boy asks
He probably wants to know me or something
I don’t understand, so I tell him where I’m from

Ni muhimu, the boy says
He’s probably trying to say something important
I don’t understand, but I nod and listen

Ninataka rafiki, the boy says, smiling
He probably wants to be my friend
I think I understand, so I smile back

*Copyright 2008 by Misun Bishop. This poem is included in POETRY WALK: Sue C. Boynton Poetry Contest – The First Five Years. Info: Book! Placard design by Egress Studio.

Falling Apart*

2010 Walk Award
By Kevin Murphy

*Copyright 2010 by Kevin Murphy. This poem, a version of which can be read here, appears in POETRY WALK: Sue C. Boynton Poetry Contest – The First Five Years. Info: Book! Placard design by Egress Studio.

Heart Song*

2009 Merit Award
By Taylor Knutson, 8th grade

A young heart, flying through the winds of life.
The only thing keeping it from falling are
Love, hope, curiosity,
And imagination.
On a mission to explore every
Object and idea,
Every feeling and dream,
The heart soars without skipping a single beat.
The amount of faith and bravery the heart has
Keeps it on top of the world.
When it is above the ground all that
Is heard is the calm, steady beat of
Love, hope, curiosity,
And imagination
Being pumped through its veins.
The heart yearns for
Passion and trust.
Longing to be pure and just.
All that is needed is patience and determination.
Love, hope,
Curiosity, and imagination
Carry the young heart higher than any bird or plane
Ever could.

*Copyright 2009 by Taylor Knutson. This poem appears in POETRY WALK: Sue C. Boynton Poetry Contest – The First Five Years. Info: Book! Placard design by Egress Studio.

Chemistry*

2007 Merit Award
By Cece Briggs

My father is a drip artist
likes to think of himself
as the next Jackson Pollock
except he went straight
to abstract — was born there.

I met him at the airport,
a black Stetson floating
up the elevator —
smell of metallic paint
on his lips — Marlboros —
Mountain Dew.

*Copyright 2007 by Cece Briggs. This poem appears in POETRY WALK: Sue C. Boynton Poetry Contest – The First Five Years. Info: Book! Placard design by Egress Studio.

Rotting Wood*

2006 Merit Award
By Jeremy Voigt

Each board put down doesn’t like its neighbor,
but is attracted to the sound of water below,
and the squeal of metal nails hitting home.
Each board of this bridge aspires to squeak
one day under the weight of people, and to make
the travelers nervous in their travels, putting their
minds on what is below their feet for a moment
rather than what is so far before them it cannot be seen.

*Copyright 2006 by Jeremy Voigt. This poem is included in POETRY WALK: Sue C. Boynton Poetry Contest – The First Five Years. Info: Book! Placard design by Egress Studio.

Too Busy Growing Up*

By Sue C. Boynton

This business of growing old
        bothered me once
            when I was fifty-five.

But now at threescore years and ten
        (plus five)
            all fears concerning age are gone
                and I’m just glad to be alive.

To be alive!
        To find upon the table of each day
            a brimming cup of challenge
                to go on.

So…I’ve stopped growing old—
        Too busy
            growing up!

*This poem is included in the volume Heart on My Sleeve by Sue C. Boynton, Hope B. Friedmann, ed., copyright 1976 and 1980.

words on poetry…

“Poetry can communicate the actual quality of experience with a subtlety and precision unapproachable by any other means.” F. R. Leavis

You can’t have it all…*

2009 Merit Award
By Stephanee Henderson, 11th grade

However, you can have the beautiful memory of watching
the bright, yellow sun come up after a long night of fun
with your best friends. You can have the imagination to
dream up adventurous stories to tell your playful nieces.
You can have the high pitched meow of your fluffy,
orange cat and the rambunctious playing of your small,
smelly pug. You can have love, though often it is
confusing and mysterious but all the while worth it in
the end. You can have cheesy Gordita Crunches, Fiesta
potatoes, and a medium Baja blast from taco bell at 1
in the morning. You can be grateful for make-up, the
way it paints your face & enhances you to your finest.
You can be grateful for weeping willows, their big,
beautiful way of life that brings a smile to your face,
and gives you a pang of sadness just for a second.
You can have baking lessons from your loving grandma
but all the while she is teaching you a deeper meaning
of life. You can be grateful for shampoo, the way it
cleans your silky hair and leaves a wonderful scent
after you wash it away. You can have sailboats,
experience the way they rock with the wind and waves.
You can be grateful for leaves, as they turn different
colors in autumn and then fly away from their homes
soon after. You can’t have it all; however you can be
grateful for what you do have.

*Copyright 2009 by Stephanee Henderson. This poem appears in POETRY WALK: Sue C. Boynton Poetry Contest – The First Five Years. Info: Book! Placard design by Egress Studio.