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More Winning Poems from Alpha Public School’s Blanca Alvarado
By Riley, ACE Poetry Contest Mascot and massive tail wager for poetry, assisted by who? Oh, yes, Martha. She types.
Riley here. These poems are about our world.
Today we have the 6th Grade, 7th Grade and 8th Grade ACE Poetry Contest winners from Blanca Alvarado. These are great poems that create amazing and lovely worlds, observe and comment on the world’s issues, and one is even kinda grumpy about poetry. But the poet won a poetry contest, so we sure showed her how great poetry can be.
Next week is full of more winners from Alpha Public Schools, and I hear San Francisco International High School (SFIHS) is going to have their Poetry Slam on Monday where the winning poems and poets will be chosen. Max, the SFIHS Legend and ACE Poetry Contest Mascot will be announcing the winners soon.
Congratulations to the winning Alpha: Blanca Alvarado poets and here are their poems. Arf, arf, arf. Enjoy.
6th Grade Contest
First Place: Joy Ngo
Have you ever had the feeling of
Being a husk in the wind,
Where everything you do feel like sin,
Feeling constant pain in every dimension
Waiting for any sort of direction
I’ve started crying when there’s no reason for tears,
I’m in panic when there’s nothing to fear
It hurts inside when nothing has happened
And I don’t want to wake up in a world
Where they call murder an “accident”
I laugh in pain as tears stroll down my face
But I sit in wonder as they leave no trace
This world is a pain to deal with
Right now I’m just counting down until my last breath
We pass the days as doom draws near,
Our emotions becoming what we fear
I’m stuck in a void of loneliness and suffering
Longing for a feeling of assurance
Trying to have a taste of sureness
This world is slowly falling apart
But what can we do?
This question aches my heart
But I know what I need to do.
The better question is: do you?
Second Place: Moses Lopez
Thud,thud,thud. . .
I could feel so many footsteps
It is getting so heavy
Ready, Ready.
Whoooosh.
Take off on our way to Honduras
Beep!,Beep!,Beep!
Everyone put your seatbelts on when we are about to land.
Screech! Rubber flying
Everyone waits to be called to get off. . .
Finally, I get to go rest at my hanger.
Third Place: Kenny Nguyen
Here Where the World is Quiet
I’m in a place
with purple grass
and a couple of
orange and green trees.
This is where the world is quiet.
There are crickets chirping
and birds flying
worms digging and
butterflies gliding.
This is where the world is quiet.
The night sky is beautiful
and the stars are shining,
in the distance is one singular house,
one that I call home.
This is where the world is quiet.
7th Grade Contest
First Place: Emmanuel Vazquez
Box
Box, you keep the memories and pictures
from another world
Box, you keep the hopes and dreams
and the failures too
Yet, you sit her confined to a wooden
prison filled with emptiness and cobwebs
Hoping to be taken to more adventures
to LA or New York, but you have worn
Some rips and tears on your cardboard skin
You’re slowly forgotten, full yet, somewhat empty,
and feeling overwhelmed, by the silence of your prison
So you try to remember when you were
younger, when you were several layers of thick
paper, firm and rigid
But you’re still Alone and frightened that
you been abandoned with all the memories
and the secrets in the dark and cold attic
alone and afraid…Forever
Second Place: Khanhlinh Tran
I have the right to dream
I have the right to protected
I have the right to respected
I have the right to loved
I have the right to be fair
I’m not a bad guy
I never harmed anyone
I also do nothing to affect your life
Why do you stigmatize me?
Just because of the color of my skin
Or because I’m Asian
I am like many people
I also have my own feelings
I also know happiness and sadness
I also know to loved
I just wanted to be your friends
I wanted to live in peace with you
So why don’t you want to be friends with me?
Our Asian skin color
Is the color of our ancestors’ skin
Just like your skin color
Is also the color of your ancestors
So please do not be racist in terms of my skin color or human origin
Let’s make friends and live peacefully together
And create close relationships with each other
So that our next generations will follow
And they will continue to maintain this fine tradition forever after.
Third Place: Nataly Saldivar
My Grandfather
My grandfather is a smart man,
He taught me many things,
How to ride horses,
How to go deep when I sing.
He has much wisdom,
He had just one dog,
Its name was Star,
She played hard.
He will always be my hero,
And always be my friend,
He is way more than a grandfather
He’s someone whom I can depend.
8th Grade Contest
First Place: Natalia Salas
Underwater
I was drowning.
Fighting for air,
My air was replaced with water as it filled my lungs.
I couldn’t fight it,
Something was bringing me down.
I tried to float, but I sank down,
I tried to breathe, but I always choked.
There was no escape.
That was until you came for me.
You helped me cut loose.
You taught me how to swim,
You taught me how to fight,
You taught me I could breathe,
You gave me life and purpose.
And then you changed your mind.
Was I not brave enough?
Was I not smart enough?
Was I too much for you?
Did I love you too much?
Did I care for you too much?
Did I hurt or scare you?
Why were you so afraid?
Afraid of change
Afraid of us
Afraid of how we felt
Afraid of distance
Afraid of my happiness
Afraid of letting me love you.
You left me.
Now i’m drowning.
Underwater.
Fighting for air,
Fighting to swim,
You keep me from breathing,
You keep me from floating,
And there is no escape.
I could never forget you.
Your words bring me down like an anchor,
Your touch paralyzes me,
I’m crying for help but there’s no escape.
No one can see me,
No one can hear me,
And you won’t save me from drowning,
Underwater.
But still… I love you.
Second Place: Miranda Lopez
For Her
I know how much you wished,
That someone who truly loved you,
Was there for you, instead of hurting you.
I know how much he hurt you,
I know that he’s the reason that your afraid,
To love someone.
I know how scared you are,
About messing up and hurting,
That person who loves you truly.
I know how you often wonder,
If those events with him will,
Repeat themselves.
I know a lot but one thing I truly know,
Is that I would never hurt you the way he did,
For only I know how much I truly love and care for you.
I will always protect you I promise,
And if there’s ever a day you feel unsure,
Well I am ready to reassure you.
Cause you mean a lot to me,
Your like my summer in a winter day,
My joy in my saddest moments.
I wrote this for you to show you,
How much affection I have towards you,
The real amount will truly remain a mystery.
For my amount of love towards you,
Can never be described by all the words,
In the english language.
But everyday I shall give you,
The same 3 words “I love you.”
Hoping it’ll help convey my message,
And finally finding the one I call my own.
Third Place: Lucia Chavez
Why I hate poem’s
Poems sometimes have to rhyme
They sometimes take my time
The patience I have is shorter than a line
Confusion is what I have
As for others they dont suffer
I just want to go to supper
I want to take cover
Time for Poems from Blanca Alvarado – Lots of ACE Poetry Contest Winners
By Riley, ACE Poetry Contest Mascot, and Martha who keeps plugging away at the keyboard. I keep telling her I can help but she says I’ll type extra letters
Riley here. Did you know that Blanca Alvarado was Alpha Public School’s first school? My buddy John would always take me to the office and that’s where I met Martha and we started the ACE Poetry Contest.
Big arf-out for these students and the poems. Oh, the teachers too. They are very cool.
The first set of poems are class poems (check out the pictures,) and each class will receive the prize money to spend on supplies for the students. The second set is from the 5th grade class and they range from cakes to bravery. Martha says to read the cake poem in the broad sense of society and how the different “cake” colors should always unite. I tell her she sometimes reads too much into poetry.
Congratulations winners. Arf, arf, arf. Still more winning poems next week.
Whole Class Poem – Kindergarten
We love everything
We like homework
And learning
We use our computers
And color
We are nice
Some like math
Some like ELD
But we are all learning how to read
We love everything
Whole Class Poems – First Grade
Here’s some sample poems:
By Jacob
Tasty
Chocolate
Crunchy
Bunch
Done
Sweet
Treat
Sassy
By Alxis
Skittles, bittles, kittles
dittles, wittles, so
much is yummy
honey, hard, hardy
crunchy, hunchy, hunchy
Whole Class Poems – First Grade
Topic: Springtime fun – here’s some sample poems.
By Damian
Sun
Play
Ride my horse
Ice cream
Nice flowers
Green grass
By Lucid
Spring
Playing in the grass
Running in the sand
Ice cream
Nice day
Going to the beach
Fifth Grade Contest
First Prize: Melissa Villavicienco
The Cake
You are round.
You are squared.
You are yummy.
When I celebrate you are always there.
You are colorful.
Your frost is delicious.
You can be
Vanilla
Red- Velvet
Chocolate.
Layers upon Layers
You will always unite
Second Prize: Erick Toledo
The Light of the Universe
every morning they are beautiful
And when I wake up I look outside
with the heat of the sun, my body is strengthened,
my soul and my spirit
A new day has arrived!
this is a great joy
everything becomes radiant
in this new day,
but, as the hours go by
everything fades away, and seeing
when the sun goes down
I go out to watch the sunset
letting see now, one by one
the stars come out
oh beautiful sky! Your light
light up my existence,
when contemplating, its beauty.
La Luz del Universo
todas las mañanas , son bellas,
y, cuando despierto, miro hacia afuera.
con el calor del sol, se fortalece mi cuerpo,
mi alma y mi espíritu
¡Un nuevo día ha llegado!
esto es una gran alegría
todo se vuelve radiante
en este nuevo dia,
pero, al paso de las horas
todo se desvanece, y al ver
cuando el sol se va ocultando
salgo a observar el ocaso
dejando ver ahora, una a una
las estrellas se asoman
!oh hermoso cielo! tu luz
alumbra mi existencia,
al contemplar, su belleza.
Third Prize: Andrew Carillo
I am Poem
I am helpful and brane!
I wonder what I am going to do when i grow up
I hear lots of crying
I see me crying a lot when i was a lil kid
I want a nice house when i grow up
I am helpful and brave
I feel mad all the time
I worry that my grandpa is going to get hurt
I dream that im gonna have a nice house when i grow up
I try to be good at school
I am helpful and brave
Arf, Arf – More Winning Poems and Poets from Alpha Public Schools
By Riley, ACE Poetry Contest Mascot, helped by Martha who did a lot of poem typing this time. But she’s cool.
Loving these poems.
We’re finishing up Alpha Cornerstone Academy’s contests, this time the 5th and 7th grade contests. Our winners explored the emotions and the pressures from this past school year, and they are smart, great poems. Martha insisted that even the poem about flowers is about the strength it took to handle this last year because of the last part: It’s up to you to wait for the flowers to bloom again.
Congratulations to the winners. You are awesome. And we look forward to announcing the next set of winners from the Alpha Public Schools. Stay tuned.
5th Grade Contest
First Place – Yaritza Zamora Carrillo
Darkness Brought Me Into a Light
Looking at the screen waiting for my class to start
I feel my face getting warm, and the racing of my heart
Will I understand what we are going to learn today
Or will I fall behind
These types of things make me anxious
They continue to stay in my mind
I know it is not only me who feels this way
I see my sister and friends go through it everyday
Anxiety is something of the mind that you can’t control
When things get rough, it’s something that you hold
To let go is something that would be difficult to do
Because after all, this anxiety was here for you
It was here for you so now that’s all you know
“Just let go” is something that people say to me
But if I do that, what will there be?
So many voices running through my head
“Yaritza do this, do that”
But at the end of the day, it helps me face the facts
It helps me face whether I did good or bad in school
“In life sometimes you have to put the fun on pause
And finish school for a good cause”
If you know deep down in your heart that you tried your
Best that is okay
Because no matter what you will always be like blooming
Flowers in a bouquet!
Now I realize anxiety was not a part of me
It was the cause of me breaking down
But it has now brought me back to the healthy well-being I am now
Let it be clear that you are not alone
Anxiety so many people
It shakes them to the bone
But don’t be afraid to let go
Cause if you let go of your anxiety you can reach your goal
Anxiety can control you in so many different ways
But don’t let it be the reason that ruins your days
Second Place: Andy Mac
Flowers:
They grow late in winter
They are most noticeable when blooming in spring, where
everything is filled with energy. Japan is one place to start.
In summer their power can give off a large food bank for butterflies
and bees and other insects, and just fun for us (and allergies).
Many can frolic in the flowers, but they let the bees have lunch first.
Butterflies are the ones who frolic with the people, mainly children.
And by fall, they go home and hide, like children when summer
break approaches.
They stay in their homes, letting wishes to make time execute faster
fill, like players in a popular game.
But at the time of winter and frost, no one will be at the door to
open it.
It’s up to you to wait.
For the flowers to bloom again.
Third Place: Celia Do
School or on Zoom
Learn on zoom or go into the classroom, i can’t choose
Learning on zoom is kinda hard
I wake up in the morning and brush my teeth
I put on clean clothes, hoping class hasn’t started
Learn on zoom or go into the classroom, i can’t choose
Learning in the classroom is kinda hard
I wake up in the morning and take a quick shower
My teeth get brushed and i rush to the door
I walk up to Ms. Dickle; knowing she has all the power
I walk into the school floor and into my classroom i go
Learn on zoom or go into the classroom, i can’t choose
Learning on zoom is kinda fun
No need for papercuts my assignments are online
I don’t need to grab anything, so no need to run!
Lunch is never late, it’s always on time
Learn on zoom or go into the classroom, i can’t choose
Learning in the classroom is kinda fun
At recess i run to the monkey bars
Talking to my friends is really fun
Learning isn’t really that bad
Learn on zoom or go into the classroom, i can’t choose
Learn on zoom or go into the classroom, i know what to choose
I like both zoom and going to the classroom
But it’s time i’ve made my decision
I’ve looked around and i have a vision
I know what to do, and i know you do too
7th Grade Contest
First Place: Thomas Tu
It’s been a year now since this so-called pandemic started.
Doors closed,
Masks on,
Panic ensued.
2020 was going to be our year?
Race, ethnicity obstructed.
George Floyd
And BLM.
And uneasiness settled in.
Headlines bombarded with grotesque,
Brutal,
And violence.
It feels like a world…returned to zero.
Loneliness and dread,
Gnawing at my skin.
Tears,
Flowing,
Drenching.
I never felt so
Confused,
Torn up,
Shooken,
Although becoming.
I met new people,
Friends keeping me company.
Family holding my shoulder,
Tightened their grip,
Told me that I still
Had love around me.
I don’t know about you,
But I’m tired.
I’m just going to sleep.
Second Place: Maria Zuniga
Explaining Teen Depression:
One day my problems are as big as a fly
In the palm of a bear
Next it is the bear.
I sit and wait for the bear to leave
But the longer i wait the hungrier it becomes
When it finds me
It tears my hope and faith apart
No one knows how i feel
When they ask i shut them down
With “i’m fine” or “don’t worry”
Today was really a struggle
The bear had grown ten times bigger
Now it uses my mind as a toy
Tossing and turning it
Making me feel unsafe, uneasy
Worried, and overwhelmed
A volcano
Ready to explode with all of these emotion
That day a girl came up to me
“Are you okay”
Couldn’t find it in me to smile
She looked me in the eyes
Her gaze had pierced through the mask
That shields me from the world
Holding back my words
Tears threatening to fall
My heart felt as if it was
Going to burst out of my chest
Until finally she spoke up saying
“It’s okay, you can cry”
And those words instantly broke me
Tears race down my face
Without out warning
She embraces me
This was the day
The day someone finds me vulnerable
I couldn’t hide my emotions anymore
I was broken and i had to accept it
Third Place: Christine Le
This is how I’ll Live
A baby at first
A toddler the next
Then a kid is born
And they could make such a wreck.
But still lovable,
And so sweet
Until the day,
They turn thirteen.
Soon puberty hits
Mood swings fly by
The teen grows more,
And their hearts start to cry
I’m talking for the child,
Not the parents.
For their perspective,
I do not know
But soon I will
Because we’ll always continue to grow.
Months of learning,
Years of fun and pain
Is it all over now?
No, we’re still being tugged by a chain.
College,
Work,
And being an adult is here.
But having to work for the rest of your life,
Is my biggest fear.
Even with all these chains,
Pulling me,
I want to think positively and live freely
I’ll work if I have to
And I’ll study to survive
I’ll live up to have experiences
Until the day I die.