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Our "If All of Rochester
Read the Same
Book..." Sponsors
Fred
& Floy Willmott Foundation
University
of Rochester President Joel Seligman
& Dr. Friederike Seligman:
underwriters for A Novel Evening with Ann Patchett.
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"Its Good to be Home" W&B/ESL Poetry Contest Winners
ESL Federal Credit Union and Writers & Books announced today the winners for the poetry contest, “It’s Good to Be Home,” sponsored by the two organizations and held during March-May. Area students, in grades one through eight, from the Greater Rochester and surrounding areas participated in the contest. The purpose of the contest was to mark the occasion of the credit union’s move this spring to its newly constructed home at 225 Chestnut Street.
Entrants were asked to address two central ideas: “what does ‘home’ mean to you and how can you relate to the idea of returning home.” Young people were asked to use the power of their words and imagination to produce a unique poem that celebrates their perception of home. A team of published writers judged the entries. Entries were placed into three separate age categories: first - second grades; third-fifth grades and sixth-eighth grades. One winner and one runner-up were selected from each of the three categories. First place winners received a $100 savings bond provided by ESL. Both winners and runners-up received a letter of commendation, had their poems recorded in the “ Poetry Booth” outside of Writers & Books on University Avenue, and had their poems published online.
First-second grade age category: first place winner, Jenna Prosperi, second grade, Brooks Elementary School, Fairport; runner-up, Avery Garratt, first grade, Council Rock Primary School, Brighton
Third-fifth grade age category: first place winner, Yawen Ding, third grade, French Road Elementary School, Brighton; runner-up, Anna Raynor, fifth grade, Iroquois Middle School, West Irondequoit
Sixth-eighth grade category: first place winner, Taisha Marrero, seventh grade, School of the Arts, Rochester; runner-up, Lauren Morehouse, eighth grade, Union Springs Middle School, Union Springs
Click here to listen to an introduction to these great poems.
 Jenna Prosperi (Winner, 1st-2nd Grade)
Brooks Hill Elementary, Grade 2
Click here to listen to this poem!
Home
Comfort
Familiar voices
Familiar sounds
Home
A place where your
Troubles
Fade
Away
In a trusty
Place
Like home
You can believe in
Everything you’re told
The people you love
Tell them to you
In your home
You live with the
People you
Love
***
Avery Garratt (Runner-Up, 1st – 2nd Grade)
Council Rock Primary School, Grade 1
Click here to listen to this poem!
Home Sweet Home
I climb the trees so high, so high, to a branch that is nice and comfy.
But that is not my home. I lay down in the grass so soft, so soft, and I go under a shady tree.
But that is not my home either. I run inside and there is my Mom with hot chocolate and cookies in her hands. I devour them and then I turn to my Dad.
He gives me a hug and a kiss and then I go to bed.
And that is my home sweet home. ***
 Yawen Ding (Winner, 3rd – 5th Grade)
French Road Elementary, Grade 3
Click here to listen to this poem!
It’s Good to be Home…
Home is the place I love most so far
with birds singing in our front yard.
I go home and climb the tree and see,
not one, but two nests in the tree.
I go inside and feed the fish,
they welcome me with a splash,
saying “we want our dish.”
I go to my room and get my paints,
how to use them? Who knows?
There are so many ways.
Home is like a leaf on a branch,
a petal on a flower, or a horse on a ranch.
Like mother and daughter, sun in the sky,
and friends who stand together, by and by.
And so you see,
this is how important home is to me.
***
Anna Raynor (Runner-Up, 3rd – 5th Grade)
Iroquois Middle School, Grade 5
Click here to listen to this poem!
highly annoyed
from the point of view of a^pet cat
Alright.
What’s up with the disgusting food,
the month-old kitty litter,
the fact that you won’t let me outside?
I am a creature of nature, and even if you aren’t, I still am, and so,
I DON’T BELONG IN THIS HOUSE!
You might, but I don’t, and that’s the fact, plain and clear.
Yes, I belong outside, getting frostbite, sunburn (on my nose), and all those
other nasty things you try to protect me from.
So WHAT if I die of a horrible disease, an awful fight, etc, etc, etc?
Outside (not inside) is my home, and that’s where I’m s’possed to be.
Do you hear me?
Put me out, right now, ‘cause that’s where I should be. Where I need to be.
Outside is my ‘cute l’il bungalow,’ my ‘daaaaaaaaarling country cottage,’
and I plan to live out in the forest. If you let me out of this house of yours.
I’m fed up with the cheap food, the terrible living arrangements (how come I
only get one thirty-sixth of the entire house?), you kicking me off the sofa, and everything else! If I haven’t told you this already, my home is outside.
It’s just not natural for a cat to be cooped up in a box (which is what a house
really is).
But it is natural for a cat to live out, in the wilderness, fighting to survive. Yes, hunting and fighting to survive, that’s perfectly natural for a cat to do.
That’s the way life is.
My home is outside, a black and white fact, and yours is inside, for some
pointless reason. (Why would you choose to live in a box?) Outside is
much more interesting for us cats (that’s why we like to live outside; it
feels right), but maybe inside is much more appealing to you human beans.
Maybe inside, to you human beans, is the ‘right place’ to live.
That’s the way life is.
And now that I’ve told you that my natural home (the good ol’ wilderness) is different from yours (the boring indoors), and that I belong in my natural home (like every other organism in the whole wide world, including the lowly dog), won’t you let me outside? (Meow.)
***
Taisha Marrero (Winner, 6th – 8th Grade)
School of the Arts, Grade 7
Click here to listen to this poem!
Home is Good
Home is my isla del encanto
Home is where I’m from
Home is arroz con habichuelas
Home is who I am
Home is hanging out with the fam
Home is hot and sunny
Home is really sticky
Home is la playa
Home is ice cream de coco y parcha
Home means the salty water
running through my skin
Home is all the memories
which I have of my family
Home is all the people
that I have in my heart
Home is being there for each other
Home is everything
I have ever wanted
Home is good
Home is good
***
Lauren Morehouse (Runner-Up, 6th – 8th Grade)
Union Springs Middle School, Grade 8
Click here to listen to this poem!
Home is when you are surrounded
by people who love you;
and when you can curl up and
relax by yourself, that’s home too.
Home is when you are perfectly happy
and you don’t have to wish for anything more;
and home is when you are begging your siblings
to leave you alone and shut the door.
Home is not a place, it is a mental state of being;
and home you have to know, not hear, touch, or see.
Home is listening to grandparents’ stories,
who are now old and wise;
and listening to little ones’ ignorance,
and soothing babies’ cries.
Home is splashing and swimming around,
on a dead hot summer day;
and dragging your brother to the bus,
because he’d rather stay home and play.
Home is not peace, it is the chaos of being human;
because with your family, you are home.
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Monthly Story Slam
Tues., May 15, 7-8:30 p.m.
Free and open to the public
More Info
Lunch Break Book Talks
Hosted by Steve Huff
May 16, noon-1 p.m.
Free and open to the public
More Info
Book Discussions at Valley Manor
May 16, 1:30 – 3:00 p.m.
Facilitator: M.J. Iuppa
Free and open to the public
More Info
The Culinary Reading and Discussion Group
Hosted by Sandy Bosworth & Kathy Pottetti
Thurs., May 17, 6- 8 p.m.
Free, Donations to the Adult Scholarship Fund accepted.
More Info
Click here for more May Events...
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