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The Cambridge Public Library

and

Cambridge Tree Project

Fifth Annual

Poetry

Awards

May 22, 2003

May

In May it’s always a

happy day

Because all the kids

have fun and play.

I see a blue jay!

Tajwan

Martin Luther King, Jr. School

First Place, Kindergarten

Arribe en un árbol

de almendra,

Maribel la perra almuerza

mientras su amiga

La gata,

de hambre

se queja

Earven Ovalle

Amigos School, Fourth Grade

First Place, Spanish language, Upper Elementary Classes

Rain

When it rains you can smell it

the damp air raising up and up

rain

it goes tapping on the roof

tap tap tap

rain fills mother earth up with joy

Rain

Victor

John M. Tobin School

First Place, Sixth Grade

When

Anger is made

Reality

Lillian A.

Amigos School

Third Place, Sixth Grade

The Small One

The small one is short.

Anybody who makes fun of him, he ignores

He is smart and has wonderful hazel eyes.

He is not a follower nor a leader.

He tries to make friends but no one accepts him.

He speaks but no one hears.

He stands out. He knows he is different from everybody.

He does not want to be cool. He is small but inside he knows his heart is

BIG.

He does not experience love, but he has feelings.

The people that try to make his life miserable do not succeed because he

takes it as a challenge of life.

He is not emotional, but that day will come very soon.

He has never hated anyone or hurt anyone. He is a peaceful and nice person.

Not many people like him because he does not fit in.

Anthony Soto

Tobin School

First Place, Fifth Grade

WAR

WAR ISN’T FOR THE

THRILL OF A KILL

REVOLUTIONS HAPPEN

BECAUSE THERE ARE NO SOLUTIONS

WAR IS LIKE A BIG PILE OF POLLUTION

Byron

Amigos School

Third Place, Third Grade

Seashore

The windy breasy following past the ocean

The peaceful sound of the sea.

Birds chirping on the hot sand

on the relaxing seashore

The peaceful waves

following on and off the sand

Washing water on the hot and sandy shore

Paul

Harrington School (Ola)

Honorable Mention, Fifth Grade

A Mountain

rising beyond

Runs hiding

the great green

Expanse

Little paths

Coming to

old places

fallen roves

stony walls

Excitement building

Waltzing through

Doors

Built

In another age

Looking

toward

the mountain face

Alone in the night

of

Wonders

Hopelessly lost in

Joy

Scarce trees

And Amazing

Ruins

A Mountain

Rising Beyond

Jake

Fayerweather Street School

Second Place, Sixth Grade

Peaceful thoughts that

Originate from feelings and

Emotions and bring

Meaning to life.

Jeffrey

Amigos School

Third Place, Sixth Grade

Mi Amiga

Amor Seguro.

Luz del sol.

Imagen clara,

Como el agua.

Estrella brilliante.

…así es mi amiga.

Melodie

Amigos School

Second Place, Spanish Language, Primary Grades

He is

Everyday

he’s on my mind.

I’m always

thinking, dreaming, and

wishing.

Thinking about him,

dreaming about him,

and wishing

Someday he will be mine.

He is beautiful in many ways.

he touched my

heart

from the day

he walked into

my life.

He is mine more than anybody else’s.

No one could replace

or take him away.

Don’t even try to

change that

because you wouldn’t

be able to. We go out.

He loves me like no one ever did before.

I love him too.

I’m heartbroken

he’s not mine.

He never will be mine

ever

I mean ever, ever again.

He lied to me.

He doesn’t love me.

He doesn’t know

what love is.

He is a beautiful person but has

an ugly soul

and ugly mind

and a horrible

future.

He’s not mine.

You can take him.

I

don’t want him back.

Ana

Amigos School

Second Place, Seventh Grade

Martin’s Words

Martin was a hero and a patient man

It did not matter about color, white, black, or tan.

Martin wrote a speech that was called

“I Have a Dream”,

Martin got all the people to be a team.

Martin wanted the people white and black to be great,

Martin did not want people to hate.

Martin wanted all people to be fair;

Martin wanted people to care.

Martin got shot and died,

People listened to Martin’s words and tried.

Anatalia

Tobin School

Second Place, Fourth Grade

Storm

Wind, Wind

Howling wind

howling, screaming, thrashing

at the window.

Wind, Wind

Roaring wind

thrashing, bashing, slashing.

Rain, Rain

Splishing, splashing

falling with the wind.

Thunder, Thunder

crashing, booming in the sky.

Lightning, Lightning

Blazing

like fire in the sky.

Lightning, lightning

up in the sky.

Kinari

Cambridgeport School

First Place, Third Grade

La Muerte

La muerte llega algun dia.

No es una fecha, no es una hora.

Cuando sera tu hora?

Tu crees en tu mente.

Es depression.

Es vida.

Es emocion.

Es color rojo.

Es color azul.

Death

Death will come some day.

It’s not a date, it’s not a time.

When will be your time to go?

You are thinking in your mind.

It’s depression.

It’s life.

It’s emotions.

The color of red.

The color of blue.

Liana

Peabody School

Third Place, Eighth Grade

I AM

I am whatever I want to be

For instance…

I could be a mother I could have a daughter

I could be a teacher

I could be a singer of songs or be a musician

Maker of songs.

I am whatever I want to be that is what people tell me

I am everywhere in my mind

Because I have an imagination

But don’t forget that I am smart with

Two arms,

Two legs,

Two eyes,

One nose,

Two ears,

And lots of hair.

But that does not change who

I AM.

Vaughn

Maria L. Baldwin School

First Place, Fourth Grade

Thank You, Tree!

Thank you, tree!

Thank you for the

Clean air you give to me,

The air helps me to breathe and be

Healthy!

Thank you tree!

Thank you for the foods

You give to me

I like to eat your delicious

Apples, peaches, cherries,

Bananas, oranges, nuts

And tangerines!

Thank you tree!

Thank you for the leaves

You give to me

I like to read

Books under your cool shade!

Thank you, tree!

Thank you for the things you give to me

Pencils, desks, chairs, paper,

Books, wooden homes, shelter,

And jewelry!

Thank you, Thank you tree!

For all the things you give to me!

Joo-Hee

Martin Luther King, Jr.

Honorable Mention, Third Grade

Green

Green is the color of bushes and pears

And Ms. Andrea’s chair.

The color of cabbage

—which I don’t like to eat—

But that fruit from California,

Is green and it’s sweet!

Green is the grass where Molly plays,

And my cousins played

With me.

Green paint spilled and splashed

And made

My green shirt green.

Green is cabbage, pears, Ms. Andrea’s chair,

Spinach, and lettuce, and Christmas trees.

Hannah

Amigos School

First Place, First Grade

Halloween

Wolves howling,

Ghouls growling,

Witches flying,

Aliens spying,

Ghosts moaning,

Mummies groaning,

Thunder crashing,

Lightning flashing,

Banshees screaming,

They’ll really be an awful fright!

I think I’ll stay at home tonight!

Nathan

Morse School

Honorable Mention, Fifth Grade

My Mother

Mom,

You are pretty

As a flower.

Sweet as honey,

White as snow

And

Bright as the sun.

José

Amigos School

Second Place, First Grade

Trees are Stupid

Their useless endeavors always strike me as strange.

I offer suggestions, but they’ll never change

They’ve got their flaws, and they’ll try to hide them

By growing taller than those positioned beside them.

A needless ascension into an empty expanse,

They’ll never change; they’re locked in their stance.

Neighbors are competition for sunlight success

Living illogical lives, but I digress –

How easy their life would be for them if they just,

Acquired some faith, a mutual trust!

So listen up trees cause here is my plan:

(See, I am much smarter. I am a man.)

Don’t grow up, grow sideways instead

That’s the only way that you’ll get ahead.

You won’t need to do work; you’ll be one giant mass,

And no verve will be wasted, while trying to surpass.

That’s the only solution, and I know that you can.

See I am much smarter. I am a man.

Stephen

Matignon High School

Second Place, High School

Tree Colors

Trees have green leaves,

Trees have red.

Trees have all the colors

In my head.

Amanda

Martin Luther King, Jr. School

Second Place, Kindergarten

Oh How I Love Trees

Oh how I love trees, I watch as they sway in the breeze,

I like them big or small,

I like them stubby or small,

I plant a seed, and tomorrow there is a surprise

I can’t believe what’s in front of my eyes

A beautiful tree

A wonderful tree,

It’s sitting there, awaiting for me,

They are part of our world

We should treat them respectfully

They bless me,

Oh how they bless me,

I love trees, I love trees

They’re a big part of me,

They fill me with passion and wonderfully glee

They’re an example to be brave and strong

They bless me, oh how they bless me!

Nathaniel

Morse School

Honorable Mention, Second Grade

Our eyes never meet

I see you

out of the corner

of my eye

I watch you

trying to memorize

your

every

move

I wait

in the shadows

just watching

you

never notice

me

as you

talk with your friends

When you laugh

I smile

but our eyes

never meet

Serena

Amigos School

Third Place, Seventh Grade

Yo soy…

Doy mucho cariño.

Amigo sincero soy.

Niño obediente.

Nunca por vencido me doy.

Yo soy Danny.

Así soy yo…

Danny

Amigos School

First Place, Spanish Language, Primary Grades

I’m Danny, the Artist

I wake up early.

Everyone in my house is sleeping

I walk quietly to my sala.

I get out my paper and paints

And I paint.

All alone.

La sala is where I like to paint.

All the books are there

For me to look at

And help me to paint.

I painted a tiger

Orange and black

With pointed teeth.

We’ll go to the Art Museum this year.

Maybe I’ll see a painting of a tiger or a horse.

Everyone knows that I’ll be a policeman someday.

Not everyone knows that I’m already an artist.

Danny

Amigos School

Third Place, Third Grade

Home

Look at me

Look at these tears

Look at my face

Can you all see my fears

I’m a little girl

Who is afraid of this world

I’m full of secrets

And no one knows

I have all these feelings that I want to let go

But I’m afraid if I do

My whole world will unfurl

So I sit in my corner all alone

With nothing to say

Except, I want to go home.

Rany

Castle School

Third Place, High School

A Sliver of Paint

A sliver of paint

Boards my brush

And begins its journey

A sliver of paint

Waits on my brush

For its journey to end

A sliver of paint

Steps off my brush

Onto my paper

More paint comes and

Adds up to that

Until it makes a

Picture.

Hannah

Shady Hill School

Second Place, Second Grade

Black and White photos

I have always loved the yellowing old black and white photos.

Telling of a different time then the bleak present I see in front of me.

Glowing with antique light that shines from the glossy surface.

If only I could glide onto the faded colors, skate across the shades of

inky black, stone-gray and purifying white.

The photos evoke emotions that scream from the paper. Tearful pigments of

black and

white.

The emotions spill into my veins and expel from it's gray toned beauty and

leaving

me breathless

To climb into the Black and whites of yesteryear, of flappers and civil war

grimaces.

To mingle with the worrisome faces of the forties, and dive into the gravel

gray

oceans of the 19th century

If only I could live in the photos I admire, to swim in the lakes and rivers

mapped by

Lewis and Clark

To dance on Broadway in the roaring twenties with glittering white and

velvet blacks to

drape myself in.

To submerge myself in the Blacks, ebonies and coal bark nights in the

photos I love.

To relieve those gray skies, slate smooth skyscrapers and pain-filled gray

faces.

To graze the pure white clouds, ivory porcelain dolls and snow white

days.

To jump off the crystal clear gray water falls or sing in the smoky black

jazz clubs in

Harlem

To feel the gritty gravel gray against my hands and melt into the energy in

the black shadows captured in the photos of million words.

Black and White photos

Patty

Cambridge Rindge and Latin

First Place, High School

One Candle

One Candle

Burning Bright

Burning Freely

Through the night.

Like hope in many ways

Shedding light in dark places

Giving temporary optimism for once.

Shining somberly in empty space

And, eyes filled with joy,

People reach for what they cannot possibly have

For just one baleful breeze

And the light goes out

One Candle,

Must always

Burn out.

Frank

Amigos School

Honorable Mention, Seventh Grade

One Shot

One shot left

the last of the last,

shoot it quick,

the fast of the fast.

One decision,

make it now.

Hurry up, listen to the crowd.

They’re impatient shoot now!

This is the most important shot,

hurry now, are you ready or not?

Watch out your on the spot,

choose the end, you make the plot.

If you miss this shot it won’t be the worst,

if you make this shot it will quench your thirst.

This is your time you’ll be the first,

I missed the shot, I THINK IT’S A CURSE!

Joey

Robert F. Kennedy School

Third Place, Eighth Grade

Minal

Peabody School

Third Place, Fourth Grade

Puerto Rico

I see beautiful blue-blanketed

Water and weltering waves

Splashing

Spontaneously

Into the striking star fished shore

As the kooky kids play

The soft

Smooth sand

Is warm

Yielding yellow

And springing to clean clothes

And there are

Terrific tropical trees of all types everywhere

You can’t hear

The clamoring coquis cracking the quiet,

But later,

When my powerful polite people

Are suddenly sitting down

On crisply cut chairs,

Talking

And tinkering

At the topsy-turvy table, while watching T.V.

Then

You happily hear

How delightful days went

And

What plausibly pissed the patoonies

Off their pants

As they wait for

The sweet stationed smell

Of the yellow yelping rice

And brown beans,

And perfect platanos with Yummy yucca

To come richously real

Until you can tangibly taste

That tenacious taste

Of pork,

Chicken,

Ham,

Mofongo

And then

You’re at a point of peace

Feeling

The mouth-watering warmth

Of a well-cooked meal

Resting Inside in

Your stuffed up,

Stocky stomach

Until it’s time

To slip away

And sleep

Until the next vacation comes

Max

Amigos School

First Place, Seventh Grade

My Tree

I grew a tree in Monterrey, Mexico

I grew a tree to be my friend

I grew a tree to be a part of this world

My tree is growing high

in the sky

“my tree”

my tree is touching

way up high

touching the moon

touching the sky

my tree is telling me

it’s feeling better than before

the moon is feeling like cheese

the sky ticklish

just like me

Ronald

Amigos School

Third Place, Fourth Grade

Trees

Standing like a giant

Reaching for the sky

Flying birds take a rest

On It’s branches high

Don’t cut them down!

They’re living

Just like you and me.

Take a look

What do you see?

Animal homes!

Trees do many things

Even if they don’t move

It doesn’t take a super-hero

To see how great

A tree can be

It’s up to you and me!

Priyanka n

Longfellow School

Second Place, Third Grade

Thugs

Thugs

Streets, Trouble,

Stealing, Scaring, Threatening,

They Hurt, They Fight, I Talk, I Calm

Debating, Listening, Resolving

No Threat

Me

Arnaldo

Amigos School

First Place, Eighth Grade

Soothe

I went on a boat ride

with my dad

the day

was sunny, hot, sweaty.

We pushed the rusty boat

into the water

clear

cool

It rocked back and forth

as we collapsed into it

Get the oars

start rowing

move us to the middle of the lake

Silence

The wind swayed us

from side to side

loving us

Put the oars in

float

for a long time

We turned rusty red

we didn’t care

Laying in the sun’s hands

or

at the bottom of the cold metal boat

with our eyes closed

loving this place

The water moved us

we just stayed

forever

Till the sun left

till the earth stopped turning

That moment

when you believe everything stood still

That time

sunset

The boat held us in its arms

Surrounded

by trees,

birds,

miracles

The chilly night breeze pushed us

back to shore

I snuggled

into my dad’s warm arms

and watched the stars rise

Honora Jean

Amigos School

Third Place, Fifth Grade

Sunshine

Sunshine

is like a gold rays of never ending beauty

Like melted butter

in a bowl.

A wondrous gold light

Shines bright in the horizon

The blazing sun

sparkles

as flocks of birds fly by

it seems to smile

like a yellow god it shines

Forever.

Emma

Maria L. Baldwin School

First Place, Second Grade

Night on Zhong Shan Road

Two statues of Buddha stand veiled in a glass case.

Youth and old age – one same face.

In Taipei, I can always feel my grandmother’s religion,

It’s not just the drum, the bell, and the chanting,

The clock on the wall incessantly ticking,

The fan in the guest room happily twirling.

The hands of the clock, the arms of the Buddha,

The wings of the fan dance, leaves fluttering from a tree.

The clock ticks loudly in the night,

The fan mimics the moaning wind,

The ancient refrigerator makes the most palpable noise,

The dull droning of a continuo.

I feel the comfortable, worn bed,

And the yielding pillow underneath my head.

Colors flash through the frosted window,

Red, green, blue, yellow.

I hear the motorcycles revving up, ebbing,

People across the alley argue above their roar,

Loudly, freely.

I cover my head with my pillow,

But I can still hear the abandoned cats meow and dogs barking.

I can’t help but feel sorry for them.

My sister’s soft snoring makes me drowsy,

And a baby’s crying lulls me to sleep.

In the stuffy early morning I wake up,

The sound of my grandmother noisily intoning rings in my ear.

I feel the presence of Buddha around me.

The windows turn day white.

The noises in the street have disappeared,

But soon, the inside voices will begin.

Elizabeth

Buckingham Browne and Nichols

Second Place, Fifth Grade

Shakespearean Barbie

A smile that sparkles with eternal flair

Blonde hair that flows like shafts of golden light

Smooth skin so perfect, scented with such care

Then why does Barbie cry during the night?

She stands among a million of her kind

In rows and rows of artificial life

Her plastic parts assembled by cold design

Her future doomed to prettified pinkness rife.

For weeks she stands denied a place to rest

Her slender wrists pilloried to a lavish box

Though children admire her beauty at its best

How many can see her poignant paradox?

This creation so flawless, but for one mistake

Barbie, is your smile real or is it fake?

Emily

Buckingham Browne and Nichols School

Second Place, Eighth Grade

Todavia….

Soy Feroz como huracán todavia apacible

como una mariposa.

Soy fuerte como el mar todavia debil como

un ratón.

Soy rápido como vieto todavia tan lento

como tiempo.

Soy inteligente como chimpance todavia

estupido como un burro.

Yet…

I am as fierce as a hurricane yet gentle like a

butterfly.

I am as strong as the sea yet weak like a

mouse.

I am fast like the wind yet as slow like time.

I am smart like a chimpanzee yet stupid like a

donkey.

Ricky

Peabody School

Honorable Mention, Eighth Grade

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