Earth Day Poetry Contest First Place Winners 2019

Kindergarten

By Zahra Rafiyath (tied)

Untitled

The mountains are tall
The coyotes call

The ocotillos are small
Then they grow tall

The saguaros are green
And sometimes lean

In the mountain’s cave
Fruit is what bats crave

I love the desert, the sun shines on me
There are gila monsters, quails, and so much more to see!

By Kiran Hobson (tied)

The Elf Owl

With soft brown feathers
and with a beak
has BIG EYES
and it says “HOOT” to me
it goes to us and says “HOOT” again
and then it flies
back to its nest
and lays its eggs
then they hatch for me

Grade 1

By Ana Olivas (tied)

Kangaroo Rats

Kangaroo rats,
You hide in the desert
Outsmarting predators
With tricky twists and turns.
You have to watch out for
Snakes and hawks!
You hop around
To outrun them.
You are not a rat or a mouse!
You can carry fleas
With a disease.
You live in North America.

By Minnie Phares (tied)

The Sunset

The sun sets,
The owl hoots.
The stream acts like magic as
The sky turns to red
To blue
To pink
To purple.
The mountain lion yawns
Before she eats her supper.
The wind rustles the leaves.
I yawn too.
I say, “Good night, Desert.”

Grade 2

By Lynneah Maskey

If I Was A Saguaro

If I was a saguaro
I would drink with my toes
If I was a saguaro
I would have birds living in my belly
If I was a saguaro
my hair would be spiky
If I was a saguaro
I would give you flowers with my arms
If I was a saguaro
I would live in the Sonoran Desert

Grade 3

By Priya Hobson (overall winner grades K-3)

Hummingbird

In a place with sunsets glimmering
With saguaro blossoms in bloom
I see a creature quick as lightning
Zipping from cactus to cactus
As I move closer, a rainbow of colors:
Scarlet, pink, shimmering green,
Sparkles that seem to move and groove around
And a hint of blue and purple catch my eye
When it stops to get a sip of nectar
I go closer to the tiny fairy
That I can’t quite identify
Now I see its sparkling eye
And the shiny, long beak and tongue
Its wings beat so fast
Like helicopter propellers about to take flight
Now I know the mysterious fairy
that twirls his wand of color in the air
The swift hummingbird
So cute and fluffy, and which will sleep
In his dainty nest and wake up
In the bring morning sunlight

Grade 4

By Lucy Mayberry

Cactus Dance

I can feel the time is coming
So I start to stretch
And lean against the flowing wind
Bobbing my many arms up
and down
For this parched night
We shall beg politely
for rain to come
with our Cactus Dance
So we shall drink the precious water
Now the time has come
And now we sway
bend and bow
clouds gather and watch
the wind carries us along and abruptly stills
then we stop in unison
the end of the dance is here
The clouds thunder their applause
and start to weep for our silent grace
We thank them by soaking up their miracle tears
Then as they disperse the sun then rises
And praises us with its warm and welcoming spotlight

Grade 5

By Jezekiel Gonzalez (tied and overall winner for Grades 4-6)

Snow-Capped Cactus

Snow-capped cactus, a surprise.
Rarely seen or imagined.
Desert mountains, hill, and valleys
Dressed in winter white.

People visit from afar
In summer apparel unprepared
For the rare event of desert snow.

The sun comes out, the clouds depart,
The flakes from heaven that fell like manna
melt to nourish the arid desert land.

By Sonali Hobson (tied)

Wildflower

Walking in the desert
A sweet summer breeze softly blows
Across my face as the scorching sun blazes,
A yellow-speckled rosette catches my eye
With petals neatly tucked in from the center
And symmetry all around
It is more appealing every second,
And scattered across the hill in the yellow
A baby rabbit lays nestled taking his mid-day nap
Dreaming of wildflowers

Grade 6

By Julia Yellott (tied)

Sparrow - A Kyrielle

A scitter of rocks in the day,
a little bird in the sun’s ray.
Looking for food, pecking at bread.
Sandy wings and a chestnut head.

The rustle of feathers, dead night,
a silhouette in the moonlight.
Sparrow in cactus you in bed,
Sandy wings and a chestnut head.

Hot clouds sailing cobalt blue sky,
our little sparrow soaring high.
Quickly speeding plane, scarlet red,
Sandy wings and a chestnut head.

By Penelope Mayberry (tied)

Desert Night

i am jumping over cacti racing home
into the confines of my safe dome
as I hurtle through the stars

i can hear the monster panting coming
closer
and closer
it wants to feed and wound tonight
i run faster
it can’t find me
if it can’t see
in the darkness of the
sandy sea