Thank you to everyone who submitted to this year’s Vision and Voice K-12 competition. We saw a lot of amazing entries and have announced our winners. Well done, Poets!
What is it that makes a good poem? One of the most beautiful (and frustrating) things about poetry is how subjective it is, how everyone who reads or writes it has a different idea of what it means. Below are comments from this year’s judges on what made some of our winning poems outstanding and insights on how they might apply to one’s own writing.
Judge Ysella Fulton-Slavin
On Mila G.’s Blue: “Love the use of the color Blue paired with tangible adjective.”
Using words that relate to the five senses allow poems to feel more tangible, more relatable, and more real.
On Lily G.’s Day Time Monsters: “ Very powerful poem–especially the line, ‘I am a child,/ do not say I thought this was a game.’”
Poems don’t have to be pretty. They can be used to make powerful statements.
On River M.’s chamomile: “I really love this poem–so full of wonderful, tangible images.”
Images are the building blocks of poetry; what the words make our minds see.
Judge Christina Brunson
On Leon S.’s Oculus: “The title caused me to look up its definition on my phone. A brilliant beginning to an interesting piece of work. Well done!”
A poem’s title can be just as important as the poem itself.
On Rainy B.’s The Sunbath of Glory: “The elusiveness of which animal is being described is fun in this poem. Well done!”
Describing something without saying what it is can be very interesting and gives room for the reader’s imagination.
On Marina A.’s Vovo: “I cried when reading this one. The innocence of this child’s love and adoration was well described. The sights, sounds, and smells are outlined beautifully. Awesome job!”
Memories can be full of emotion, detail, and can be an inspiring place to write from.
Judge Juniper Maldonado
On Sydney M.’s Snow, Heat, Cold: “The simplicity of this poem is really effective… I love how the meanings of simple words are shown to be both constant and multifaceted.”
Words can have different meanings in different contexts, like different shades of the same color.
On Farrah K.’s Paper Planes: “The imagery of the paper plane as a parallel to the commentary on childhood is interesting. Good use of a semicolon.”
Punctuation in poetry can be confusing, but can help keep things organized.
Judge W. Joe Hoppe
On Inez G.’s El avión de papel: “Excellent flow and imagery–feels like a paper airplane floating down the page. Lovely idea and metaphor.”
Focusing on a single image or theme can be really effective.
On Alexander D.’s GRITS: “Nice image and smooth flow–kind of like good grits.”
Flow is all about how well words go together, how they sound out loud and in our heads.
On Aden P.’s A sad background: “Poet uses personal history to make art (I assume it is autobiographical). Very glad that they are now loved and cared for.”
Poems can be used to express intense feelings and let your readers experience feelings along with you.
On Katelyn O.’s Monopoly: “Thoughtful and class conscious. Good points made in an interesting way.”
For as much as poems can express emotions, they can also be calls to action. They can be revolutionary.
