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SOMERS, N.Y. – Seven youngsters from Somers Middle School won honors for poems they entered in the prestigious Scholastic Art and Writing Competition of 2013.
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Somers’ Silver Key winners were Michelle Croen and Grace Dashnaw. Lauren Chiriboga and Sophie Goodwin earned Honorable Mention.
The Gold Key winners were Margaret Groton, Rachel Mendelson and Mary Kate Murphy. Here are their Gold Key poems:
Utterly Edited
by Rachel Mendelson
I am Photoshop. I started editing myself a long time ago. The tools changed who I am. I made my smile large, I look happier. I made my eyes larger, I look smarter. I made people around me look like they're laughing, I look like I'm hilarious. If you click the history tool, and go back to the unedited photo, I look different. I am alone. I am quiet. I am not hilarious. My smile is faint, and I don't look as smart. I try to show people the unedited photos, but all they care about are the fake ones. The real photo is hidden, underneath my skin, behind the password. I sit behind my life, and continue to edit myself. No one ever wants to see the real photo.
Scarf Closet
by Margaret Groton
My collections of words are a closet of scarves They cover me When I need a little hiding From the eyes that see through me But masquerade as stares. My collections of words are a closet of scarves They forge my name Under descriptions That I can only dream Will once belong to me. My collections of words are a closet of scarves When I am cold they shout and scream and create warm tears That red my cheeks and force creases in my lips That reaches to my eyes That are lit with false flames. My collections of words are a closet of scarves My mountain of shelves and hangers keep me here In the factory of thoughts That suffocate under the fabric.
Rise and Fall
by Mary Kate Murphy
I am the waves That roll in And then out, In, And then out again. These waves that rise Only to fall Are a piece of me That is nearly Impossible, To understand. For when my anger— My sadness, My despair— Forms within me, I am a wave Mightier than the rest. In that moment, That second, In which my mood Is invincible, I am atop The crest Of anguish. There, my blood Is replaced with stinging sea water Each particle A wrath of pain. Such pain Is the towering monster within Allowing me to see clearly All the emotions That support my position Of raw superiority Upon this beast of my own. But in an instant, I crash. I am no longer the queen Of a land without hope Nor a girl whose insides ooze with a salty taste. Now, I am level with the rest of my body— The vast ocean— And blend into its calmness. My home, no more a wave of danger, But instead a wave that cools the toes Of those who stand on the edge Of my foamy surf. I am at last the waves That roll in And then out, In, And then out again.
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