Teen Poetry Contest

With a grand total of 110 submissions our winning pool was increased to better represent all the submissions we received from our Lewiston teens. With eleven judges each judge was given ten poems to pick their winning poem. Below are all the winning poems written by our talented Lewiston teens.

Poem by A.G Untitled

The only life that stirs

belongs to the humans on top.

We observe bird-like shadows

created by moths.

Something curious in the window.

An alliance or a light.

Or the unspoken agreement we both exist tonight.

Tonight on this planet

with war and with love

we find gifts from the people

below and above.

The daylight, so shining

Gives us much less to see;

For by night, it’s just everything,

nothing, and me.

Poem by J.S Untitled

As the future resides in front of me, a shadow I cannot trace.

A thousand rounds. Hundreds of doubts.

All flashing through my mind at once.

As I try to calm the concerns, they rush in like relentless waves.

What if I fail, what if I fail, what if I fail, what if I never find my place.

But somewhere within the noise of fear, A truth very silent breaks through.

The future isn’t meant to scare me, it’s meant to be walked into.

Poem by M.P “Smartphones”

Phones are really lovely things

They’ll take away your life

They’ll make you angry, sad, and mad

They’ll fill you up with strife

Suicidal Tendencies

Will be with you each day

You’ll probably waste your money

On the latest iPhone tray

You’ll accidentally use your butt

To dial other phones

You’ll look at all your online friends

And still you’ll feel alone

If only you can get a phone

And start to text your friends!

You may forget you had a life…

Who cares? Now just press send.

At night you put your phone to bed

You tuck it in- so sweet!

And then you go to bed yourself

And happily you sleep

You have an app to wake you up

But long before it rings

You’re up to check your phone again

You must have heard a ping!

But maybe it was just a dream

And so you slink away

Ten minutes pass and then you’re back

This happens every day

And when at last you fall asleep

You dream of your sweet phone

But it is in the other room

And you feel all alone.

Poem by R.B “The Real Goal”

I’m not sure why it is so hard to try something new,

Maybe it’s the people watching,

Maybe it’s all in my head.

Starting something new is frightening.

I start to feel the

-anxiety-

Taking over.

Clouding my thoughts

Paralyzing me.

Anxiety makes me the back seat drive of my mind.

The goal is so close

The goal is-

Real. Tangible. Empowering.

Isn’t it more than a-

Suggestion? Than a hope? Than a want?

Is the only thing holding me back from the goal

The fear of the failure that I seem to hold?

Suddenly I

Need

To reach that goal-

To take back my own mind-

To tell anxiety no.

I am no longer

Stuck or paralyzed.

I am-

Free. Elated. Emancipated.

I am no longer weighed down by

Anxiety.

I have reached my goal-

I have overcome the fear,

Despite my own doubts.

I have taken back the wheel that is guiding my life.

Poem by T.V “Paper Skin”

They call me by the stranger’s name,

Like I’m the one who’s lost the game.

I smile, pretending it doesn’t sting, but

Silence has a sharpened wing.

Each word they say cuts through my chest,

Their laughter turns my turn to just.

They see a girl I’ll never be, and

Never stop to look at me.

My mirror lies with sliver grace,

It shows a ghost that wears my face.

I beg the glass to set me to set me free

To show the boy I’m meant to be.

My chest still fights the shape they knew.

My voice betrays the man I grew. I bind, I hide, I hold my breath,

Each morning feels a small, sort dream.

But still, I dream in shades of blue,

A name that fits, a life that’s true.

One day I’ll walk and they’ll all see,

The boy I’ve always been- not she.

And if my tears must carve the way.

Then let them fall- I’ll bloom someday.

For though I’m cracked, I’m still alive.

A broken seed that dares to thrive.

Poem by M.B “Voice of Nature”

The morning sun is a fiery king,

He stretches high with golden light,

His rays, like fingers, warmly cling

And chase away the shadows of night.

The trees are soldiers standing tall,

Their branches reach saluting the sky,

They whisper secrets, one and all,

As clouds drift by in quiet sighs.

The river speaks in rushing tones,

It’s voice as loud as thunder’s calls,

A heartless heart that’s made of stones,

It never stops, it moves through all.

The stars are dreams that never sleep,

They wink and wink and softly glow,

Each one a wish we’re meant to keep,

Like secrets only night can know.

Poem by S.H “Quaked”

The ground quaked beneath the morning light,

Walls crumbled, swallowed by fright.

Voices echoed through dust and stone,

Calling for loved ones now unknown.

Windows shattered, streets ran bare,

Fear hung thick in the trembling air.

Footsteps faltered on fractured ground,

Life hung fragile, hope still found.

Night descended with trembling cries,

Stars seemed dim in sorrowed skies.

Yet hearts held fast, refusing to break,

Strength grew in every hand we take.

Poem by M.H “The Breeze and it’s Effects.”

The breeze is harsh

Pulling me towards the screams and terror

It feels like an all consuming marsh

Endless dreaming of something fairer

With roots dragging me down

There’s no escaping the inevitable future

It makes those surrounded frown

This must be endless torture

Everything is dark

I’m afraid to pull everyone down

And the recurring fear of missing my mark

Maybe disappointment is just something to own.

Feelings are dull

Interactions can’t cut through my thoughts.

Soon everything will go into the pull

Everything is a collection of lost plots.

Poem by M.L “My City”

I remember…

The first steps I took

In the warm dust of Viana,

Where the sun burns strong,

But the heart burns even stronger.

I remember my mother’s voice,

Telling me that life is a battle, but also a blessing.

I remember the difficult days,

Those when the world felt heavier than my shoulders could carry,

And still, I continued.

I remember everything…

Not to stay in the past,

But to honor the child I once was-

The child who survived.

Poem by D.M “I don’t Remember”

I don’t remember where the path began, or the first note of the morning song. A mist has settled on the distant land, where older, clearer memories belong. I don’t remember the taste of the rain on the summer days when I was young, nor the soft comfort that eased the pain of every sorrow the heart had sung. The faces of the friends who used to call are all blurred like watercolors in a storm. I can’t recall their voices, one and all, or the simple shelter of a uniform. But in the quiet spaces of today, a feeling lingers, warm, strong and true: though yesterday has wholly slipped away, a steady part of me still remembers.

Poem by Y.Y “the beginning of morning”

The sky falls asleep above the calm sea,

A soft light touches the morning.

Shadow more slowly,

Like a thought drifting away.

The trees stand still and quiet,

Their leaves move in the gentle air.

The stars fade behind the hill,

Like dreams disappearing.

When the earth wakes up,

The wind sings a light song.

The world comes back to life,

Carried by a small but strong hope.

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Starting on November 1^st and concluding November 25^th the Lewiston Public Library will be hosting a poetry contest for local teens. Submission forms will be available in the Teen Room and at the Reference Desk, both located on the 2^nd floor. Voting will take place from December 1^st to December 5^th where two winners will be picked, and winners will receive gift cards to businesses around Lewiston and Auburn.

More information on the contest is available by contacting the Lewiston Public Library at 513-3135 or LPLReference@lewistonmaine.gov.