The League of Minnesota Poets Presents

The Manningham Poetry Trust

Minnesota Student Award Winners

2015

Foreword

The Manningham Student Poetry Contest is designed to promote and encourage poetry in

middle and high school students. The Leauge of Minnesota Poets hosts this statewide competition. The

winners receive an honorary membership to The League of Minnesota Poets as well as inclusion in this

publication. The winners are then entered into the National Manningham Student Poetry Contest,

sponsored by the National Federation for State Poets Societies. Full rules and guidelines for the contest

are outlined at the end of this publication.

I would like to congratulate the winners of this year’s contest as well as all the students who

entered the 2015 Manningham contest. We are honored and proud to have students willing to take a

bold step and submit their poetry to our contest. We appreciate all the time and effort the students put

into their poems and into advancing their own craft with words.

I would also like to thank the teachers who have taken the time to share and encourage

participation in this contest. Without their effort of teachers everywhere working with their students on

writing poetry, this would not be possible, and we would not have such a pool of talent in the

competition.

I would like to thank Rosemerry Wahtola Trommer for judging this year’s contest. We

appreciate the time and effort you put into reading and reviewing this year’s poems.

Sincerely,

Peter William Stein

Youth Manningham Chair

Copywrite 2015 by the League of Minnesota Poets

All rights remain with the original authors of the poems

Senior Division

First Place

Until We Are Washed Away

I put faith in sand castles,

the childhood kingdoms, downfall of man,

just as I put faith in you and I.

For we appeared on ocean tides

and I know not what I cannot do,

but watch and wait and will to.

And you, like me, you cannot be

anything more than a foe

lost within the distance.

They did shape us so, the souls.

I crumbled in their hands

like the matter we are made of.

And so I grow upon the beach,

structured of wasted rock and glass,

torn beneath a crystal wake.

Until the storm brings rain

to wash and tear and triumph

over me, the broken she, becoming not-me.

I lie across the warm white sand

and add designs and grooves

until the waves wash them away again.

Why can I not join the fish,

the sirens, the silence, the sea monster?

Forced to only witness, and ever hurt.

So I put faith in sand castles,

the tortured curses of the human condition,

because I am one.

Sydney Lo

Sartell, MN

Second Place

Mine Alone

That night her eyes, Caribbean blue

and the black essence of the sweat-distorted mascara dripped down her face

and roses had kissed her cheeks leaving faint, delicate echoes of their scarlet hue

and cascading like an unfurling sail, her golden hair tumbled down

free from the tight constraints of her worn extravagant coiffure

and being in a lovely state of exhaustion, she said

“I just look like death, don’t I?”

Grinning, I said

“But, death doesn’t smile”

Then, that time I was playing the piano

and she sat down next to me

“Can I play?”

“Be my guest”

She began slowly, but soon her fingers began to flow and dance over the keys

Her song, more elegant, more complex, more beautiful than mine

But.

It didn’t compare to her, nothing could.

The ease and focus in her eyes, the timid biting of her lip, these habits of beauty,

they all contributed to the magnetic pure grace that emanated from her

the pure grace found in all her moments.

But.

There is still that moment that has not occurred

I can neither conceive nor visualize the hour or sanctuary.

But.

I can see the innocent bliss in her eyes

I can feel the wild hope bounding in my blood

I can hear a pleasant silence observing us

I can see her porcelain skin and the curves it envelops

I can feel the desire formerly withheld

I can hear her sharp deep breaths

I can see the comforting darkness

I can feel her velvet lips and satin skin

I can hear my heart speed up to catch the beat of hers

But.

Never have I seen these sights, felt these things, heard these sounds

All of this that I could experience is only mine

mine.

and mine alone.

Jack Cordero

St. Paul, MN

Third Place

Daniel

A deer wandering the autumn forest

Walks into a trap too strong for a bear

A deer with the grandest heart; the purest

A creature with pain, but too humble to share

He limps below the fading moon

Noticing the change in his heart, his mind

When the leaves slowly fall with autumn’s ruin

And the dreams are of a different kind

He comes upon a vast and deep divide

A vale stretching endlessly each way

He questions to jump to the other side,

For it seems he cannot bear another day

He turns to recall the world behind him

His soul weeps for this place and its allure

And praises his time like a joyous hymn

But such beauty, with these eyes, remains obscure

He prepares, Eyes agleam, alive, and bright

Then he leaps through the fog to live in light

Aidan Speckhard

Sartell, MN

Junior Division

First Place

Yǔ

“She’s here again,” I whisper,

From behind the refuge of the window pane;

Floating lightly downward,

Slowly cascading

Drifting down from the heavens

Some say she is a gift,

Full of life and vivacity,

But what she brings

Depends on her disposition,

Like that of a capricious being

Today she is merry,

Effervescent,

Joyful, and free;

Exuberant like a young child

Who is knowing life for the first time

Fluttering and lingering just above the ground

As if to tease the motionless cement

She glistens, lying there

Only to do it again

With newfound excitement

My face is pressed to the glass

As she dances outside;

“Join me,”

Says she

“For who knows when I’ll be gone?”

I tentatively take

A few steps

Into the drizzly realm

Where time stops

For just a moment

She starts to leave,

Little by little,

Gathering her translucent beads

And then…

Vanishing

“’Till we meet again,”

She says

With a smile,

Leaving a trail

Of colors

Kayla Chan

Woodbury, MN

Second Place

Black, Night Sky

Stars have a way of piercing through the sky.

I wonder if their mother is the moon.

They come out at the same time,

Lighting the black, night sky for each other.

Who does the sun watch after when present?

Does it only shine for us?

Give off warmth for us?

It lets us know that light comes after darkness.

Who do the planets have to look to?

They only have each other.

Playing an endless game of tag,

Up there in that black, night sky.

It may not appear like it,

But they are all always up there.

They are simply given spotlights

Even if only for a couple of hours,

Up there in that black, night sky.

Abby Feuer

Woodbury, MN

Third Place

Perspective

You think you're a hero,

One who saved the dame,

You think you're a savior,

Make your claim to fame.

You think you're a hotshot,

You think you're so cool,

Well I think I'm a genius,

And I think you're a fool.

So welcome, my friend,

For you're in my story,

Where you are the villain,

And I have the glory.

Isabella Wu

Woodbury, MN

THE LEAGUE OF MINNESOTA POETS

Twenty-Sixth Annual Manningham Poetry Competition

State and National Awards for School Year 2015-2016

www.mnpoets.org

Contest Entry Rules

1. There are two divisions;

Grades 6-8 [Junior Division] and Grades 9-12 [Senior Division]

No Entry Fee

2. Poems must be original but may have been published and/or have won previous awards.

3. All students in Minnesota attending public, parochial, private schools, and home-schooled are eligible.

Only one entry per student is allowed.

4. Submit two (2) copies of each poem.

On both copies include (in upper left hand corner) the division, Junior or Senior. No Name or identifying

information on this copy!

One copy only must also contain in the upper right hand corner, the following:

1) the student’s name and complete home address

2) student’s grade and division-junior or senior,

3) name, address and phone number of the school and

4) the following signed statement: This is my original work, student’s signature

5. The poem is to be typed or computer-generated. No Handwritten copies will be accepted. No poems more

than 50 lines long. If the poem continues on more than one page, staple the pages together.

6. Please no large print, illustrations, unusual typefaces (Gothic, script, etc.) or colored fonts. Be considerate

of your judges. They love to see your work, but it needs to be in the prescribed format to make their work

more efficient.

7. Students may email submissions as long as they follow the rules outlined above. Poems may be

electronically signed, or signed and scanned, but the signature must be present.

8. Cash prizes will be awarded to the winners in both age divisions. $30 for first place, $20 for second place,

and $10 for third place.

Nationally recognized poets judge the contest. The top ten poems will be selected at the Minnesota state level for

submission to the National Manningham Contest. There they may win cash prizes and publication. Poems selected

at the state level will be published in a chapbook, which will be forwarded to the student authors and to participating

schools.

Mail entries to: Peter Stein, MN Manningham Poetry Competition Chair

2029 103rd Ave NW

Coon Rapids, MN 55433

Or by email: pwilliamstein@yahoo.com

ALL SUBMISSIONS MUST BE POSTMARKED OR EMAILED BY January 15, 2016