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LET THE POETRY BEGIN

  • click HERE to submit your poem(s) to the 2025 Vision+Voice Poetry Contest
  • this contest is open to all K-12 students in the ACC service area
  • deadline for submissions is February 2nd, 2025
  • poets may submit as many poems as they’d like
  • any topic or form is welcome (rhyming is NOT required!)
  • all submissions will be published on this website
  • winning poems selected by the ACC Liberal Arts: Humanities and Communications Division will be paired with artwork from an ACC student to create poetry posters

We can’t wait to read your poems!

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And the Winners Are…

The judges have made their final decisions and we are thrilled to announce the winners in the 2024 Vision+Voice Poetry Contest.

As you you read these winning poems you will see that there is a lot of variety – some are funny, some are sad, some are mysterious, and some are beautifully simple. All of these poems succeed in presenting a vision or a feeling of the poet’s world in their own special way.

The poems are judged based on these 6 criteria:
Theme – Does the poem give readers a specific idea or perspective on a subject?
Originality – Does the poem offer a new or different way of thinking or feeling about that idea?
Language – Are the words precise and does their arrangement create a unified impression?
Imagery – Does the poem use figurative language (simile, metaphor) to create a vivid description and appeal to readers’ senses and imagination?
Impact – Does the poem evoke an emotional response from readers?
Technical Details – Are spelling and usage appropriate to the poem’s subject?

Judging poetry isn’t easy, and our judges take this task very seriously. There were hundreds of wonderful poems to choose from, and we are confident that these poems are a great representation of the best entries in this year’s contest.

THE 2024 VISION+VOICE WINNERS ARE:

1st Grade

Tennis by Remington R. / Ridgetop Elementary

Ode to Cats by Esme M. / Ascent Academy

Pickle Dog (a Haiku poem) by Enzo R. / Ridgetop Elementary

2nd Grade

My Amazing Family by Eva A. / Ridgetop Elementary

My Brother by Charlotte B. / Ridgetop Elementary

3rd Grade

The Snow Leopard by Taj M. / Doss Elementary

Sunflower Fields by Calder M. / Doss Elementary

Fire by Gracie H. / Boone Elementary

Books by Gracie H. / Boone Elementary

Words that Rhyme by Thomas E. / Boone Elementary

4th Grade

I Dream a World (Inspired by Langston Hughes) by Aria S. / Brentwood Elementary

My Friend Pencil by Cora T. / Ridgetop Elementary

Nature by Chloe C. / Ridgetop Elementary

They Call Us… by Isla P. / Brentwood Elementary

5th Grade

The Power of Words by Aida B. / Brentwood Elementary

I Am by Owen M. / Brentwood Elementary

Broken Hearts by Stella E. / Capitol School of Austin

6th Grade

The Ocean May Seem Beautiful by Renee K. / Gorzycki Middle School

FORGOTTEN by Lucia G. / Gorzycki Middle School

Scout from Shadows Thin by August W. / Gorzycki Middle School

Moldable by Avishka C. / Gorzycki Middle School

7th Grade

Observations of an Immigrant by Leelah V. / Lamar Middle School

Blank Page by Ivy A. / Lamar Middle School

Goodbye Toby by June P. / Lamar Middle School

5 Ways of Looking at Grief by Annikea E. / Lamar Middle School

8th Grade

Pirouette by Wren V. / Lamar Middle School

My Hobby Hullabaloo by Zeena H. / Gorzicky Middle School

Poems Hide (After Naomi Shihab Nye) by Lucy C. / Lamar Middle School

Looking For Hope by Em S. / Murchison Middle School

9th Grade

Threadcatcher by Stella S. / Ann Richards School for Young Women Leaders

Yesterday Girl by Asa W. / Austin High School

10th Grade

Versions by Brynn G. / San Marcos High School

After the Rain by Phineas E. / Austin High School

Nature by Bri H. / Stephen F. Austin High School

Just a Kid by Isabela M. / Stephen F. Austin High School

11th Grade

Silent Smoke by Sarah Y. / James Bowie High School

Dragon by Gabriela Mc. / James Bowie High School

Wildflowers Don’t Dance by Janani E. / Liberal Arts and Science Academy

Please Don’t Leave Me Shattered. by Kennedy A. / Austin Highschool

12th Grade

A Pennies Worth by Angelina M. / Austin High School

The Weeping Wood by Andrew B. / Stephen F.Austin High School

Blowing Sand by Locke S. / Austin High School

A Noise in the Woods by Deven N. / Stephen F Austin High School

Congratulations to all the poets, their teachers, and their families!

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2023 Vision+Voice Literary Festival

This will be a huge event to celebrate all the K-12 poets who participated in Vision+Voice. This year for the first time, we are combining the K-12 event with the other literary competitions that ACC runs. The festival will include food & refreshments, literary goodies, music, open mic, spoken word and several writers and educators from our community.

Friday, April 28
5:30-8pm
6101 Highland Campus Drive

5:30-7pm: food & refreshments, music, open mic, spoken word and several writers and educators from our community

7-8pm: formal award presentation

Please invite your friends, family, teachers, principals. Everyone is welcome to the party. We can’t wait to see you!

Here’s a short video on how to get from the parking garage to the Vision+Voice event space at ACC Highland.

joy of music

In music, peace is found in the endless soundwaves
a sound with a heartbeat, lost in song
pabletating in the people of the brave
gone in ecstasy of music.
A drug that overtakes the body
controlling us like puppets
we dance like there is nobody
till our feet give out or the trumpets stop.
We make music with our voice
a shout of praise or of grief and failed love
we rejoice in the power of music
We use it as a tool to get through tough times like the wings on a dove.
Music is a drug like no other it can make you fly
higher than the heavens past the earth’s sky.

Black and White

Once in a world without a name
Without a color
Without a shade
They all lived in black-and-white

And gray

Newspapers had a dreary taste
The clothes were all in plain
Expression is forbidden here
Everything remains the same
White and black, and back again.

We all forget eventually
Stars will die
But Earth keeps spinning
When something’s different, call it wrong
Point it back to white and black
Forget about original.

There is no just start and end
There has to be a story
And when we change the order
We get gray.

Once there was a world
Of black and white and gray
All because of one brave soul;
All because of difference.

Dandelions

Walk with me in this world
only the stars can live forever
let’s plant our seeds and hope they grow
we never know what will outlive us
take me down to where the roots can’t reach
we’ll play our music up to God and hope She likes it
most days life is just a waiting game
until then, come drown in our sunlit rains
put down the weight of the world for a while
I promise to be your everyone

Only the stars can live forever
In your eyes I see the sky

Sinking

Someone, not seeking to be saved,
Like the setting sun in mountain’s embrace.
Outstretched hands, an earnest try,
But reaching, impossible, despite how nigh.

No way to touch, no way to hold,
In dusk’s descent, a tale untold.
He, elusive, beyond life’s brim,
There was no way to reach him.

Echos of Absence

From the day of my birth, my mother never left my side
Her glowing face was the first I had seen since I arrived
We had many cherished moments and she always gave me a chance
She was compassionate, and always listened when I cried
Her soft touch blossomed throughout my body in a trance
The beach was a realm we both admired, and we wanted to see it once more.
Tingles crawled down my back, each time the wind brushed against the hairs on my skin.
The waves were in an endless rhythm, as they gracefully swept onto the shore
The sea, and the wind, swayed to the enchanting melody of the violin
Suddenly, I was left without a farewell too fast
I was too young to face solitude and became engulfed in my bad mood.
pleasant moments never last I thought.
Why can’t you understand that, who are you?
Was I not enough, Was I not the daughter you asked for, Was it fair to leave me so soon
Was I being too dramatic, I thought
Or should I leave my emotions to rot
I felt selfish and alone
But when would she be coming back home
She is doing the right thing, she had a purpose to leave
But still, this selfish part of me takes over
And all I can do is grieve.

Life

Life
My life had been guided by fear
fear is an enemy
a tormentor
I felt like I’d been pulled down underwater by dread
fighting every second for one breath of air
Depressed, no stressed, yes
Watch who you trust
They’ll leave u in disgust
The world on my shoulders
every second, the discomfort bears more
Is freedom real
will the claws that had been engraved in my flesh and blood
finally, release me from their grasp
Pick up my phone
relay the bad news
My friends hold me close as I tell them my problems
Words flowing out my mouth like a waterfall (pause)
Mindset
a negative mind will never give you a positive life
Instead of looking at the hole in the donut, I began looking at the whole donut itself
It was then that the truth was found
Something I’d been seeking for so long had been blinded by my very own brain.
Hidden behind the walls of stress and fear
Freedom
Something that is taken for granted until you don’t have it anymore
Thus, I understand the true meaning of it now
The only real prison is fear, and the only real freedom is freedom from fear.

He walks in beauty

(inspired by, She Walks with Beauty)
He walks in beauty as a beam of radiance,
Through a cage encompassed in an eternal shadow.
Though his piercing gaze is no short of a glare of wrath,
Nothing but purity and tenderness resides behind it.
O’ if the warmth of one’s heart was measured by rays of sunshine,
His would contain both the luminosity and comfort of the entire solar system.

A citrusy aroma, a hint of musk,
His fragrance is beyond captivating.
His structure that of a Greek God,
Yet blended alongside the humility of the ordinary.
He stood with pride,
But never a touch of arrogance.
And despite all thrown towards him,
He walks with beauty,
Despite it being unknown to him.