2012 St. Johnsbury Athenaeum High School Poetry Contest Winners
Once again young poets from around Vermont contributed original poems to the St. Johnsbury Athenaeum’s student poetry contest. This annual statewide contest is for high school juniors and seniors. Over the past four years winners have come from as far away as Bennington and Enosburg Falls. This year’s winner, Lydia Marie Ham, is a home schooled student from Sheffield.
Two Honorable Mentions were awarded from Jennifer Hastings of Monroe, NH and Elizabeth Houde from St. Johnsbury. All three poems are completely different and excellent in their own particular way. Congratulations young poets!
Winner - If Only My Room Were a Sonnet
Lydia Ham - Sheffield, VT
When speaking of my room, I must confess
Despite desultory attempts to keep it neat
The bedroom floor is generally a mess
And entropy has won again. This feat
Should not be so surprising! It is law
(According to some esteem'd scientist)
When I read of this rule, at once I saw
The practical applications that exist
In knowing that the state of messy rooms
Is a thermodynamic side-effect.
In light of this new knowledge I'll assume
I'd make it worse by trying to correct.
So if my bedroom is disorderly
The credit goes in full to entropy.
Honorable Mention - Where I'm From
Jennifer Hastings - Monroe, NH
I am from fall rainstorms,
Leaves plummeting, playing chase
With my slippery hands.
I am from an open book;
Its pages beckoning to me
with the promise of adventure.
I am from my climbing tree
Where I perched with my journal,
And whispered secrets, formed dreams.
I am from Mom's piano practice;
"It Is Well With My Soul" floating up the stairs
To rock me to sleep.
I am Jenny
Full of dreams- cherished, lost-
And God-given hope.
Honorable Mention - Escape
Elizabeth Houde - St. Johnsbury
Put away the bottles, wash away the stain,
But nothing can banish the pain.
Worry leaves its own marks,
It bites with teeth sharper than sharks.
Terror breeds its own lies,
Terror inspires all my cries.
It appears to be as harmless as juice:
Oh, what a cunning ruse!
Knowing the damage this drink will hide,
Nothing to do but go along for the ride.
Clean the glasses the day after night,
Hope and bubbles clear away the fright.
Jokes and laughter mix with crying and tears,
Escape this madness of joys and fears.
Wine, whiskey, Bacardi, and beer,
Joy abandons me as trouble creeps near.
I never complain, I don't tell them I dream of more,
I don't ask them to quit, I just edge a little closer to the door.
