They say that if you look past the moon on a cold April night You might be able to spot the places where the sky stops Believe me, I've tried I've rushed to my windows and counted the stars And I think I might have glimpsed the parts Where the black meets the white But as soon as I pull out my phone To catch the end of the universe on camera The holes close up And I'm left to wonder if perhaps I'm going crazy My father laughs at me when I tell him what I've seen But I hold steadfast to my belief that there is everything Behind nothing And that if we don't use the stars we are given to do good And to live happily, Then we are bulbs that are burning out And then we will just get old and tired I watch the black start to light up And it is then that I am thankful To be alive
Third Place Winner
To My Father Yehudis Bensinger
My memory was born In the white folds of your shirt With a whisper of coffee and smoke And something called love On your shoulders
We sang our ghost song We rooted for Tiger Woods And danced and danced and danced Until our feet hurt
I love the way your eyes crinkle When you smile They say more than words ever could (Especially since you don't like talking)
Sometimes you laugh And tell me you're leaving soon "If I die, let me die" A song upon your lips Because even if you leave You'll always have had me
But I need you To wait with me for hours To go on the Dumbo ride For every story Like Rikki Tikki Tavi and The Boy Who Cried Wolf
I'm not grown up yet
I need to remember Your kiss firm on my forehead The way I nestle in your arms My face turned into your shirt Because when I'm with you The world can't touch me
Passing Henna Zidele
I dreamed of grassy meadows Filled with children The sun was bright and warm air held me I believed in me
I awoke and didn’t hear the children The sun was gone And even the warmth from the meadow Remains a memory
Too High Sarale Fischer
Did Hitler with his marching machines Napoleon with his battalions Icarus with his fluttering wings Not realize that instead of stars They might reach sun And then the only way is Down Down Down?
Unspoken Discoveries Dina Bressler
I sit silently and peer out the window I think a lot, but I don’t say much Conversation is fool’s gold It may look pretty and shiny But you can keep it It’s worthless
I have given up on small talk Pointless discussions Words that have no meaning I have given up talking altogether You can keep your useless chit-chat Because paper has more patience than people
I want to leave something behind Something to live on, long after I am gone The world will keep on turning without me But I want to be useful I want to be able to leave my fingerprint on life’s surface A dent in the mountain of time
We all live with the objective of being happy Our lives are all different, yet the same And although at times we don’t say much A galaxy of thoughts has just been discovered And we are one step closer To the theory of everything
Bloody Tears Henna Zidele
The bloody tears Fall like rain Creating rivers, Oceans of storming waters
Gray covers the sky And suffocates all light The heavens join in Thunder drowns out The screams of the night
Second Place Winner
My 'O' Mimi Friedman
My ‘O’ If you had ever seen my 'O' You would understand why every vowel is a summer, And every day I want to live again. She was so small at first, And every rise of her chest was still a miracle. I would pay the world and over, just to see those eyes. To touch a crystal. And the next time I climb a mountain, The next time I stand on top of the clouds; I will understand that it is possible for the sky to shine bluer. Because innocence is a deep sapphire. And when those days turn around and melt like candles, I will collect a bucket of the wax. You may think me crazy to try to heal the wind, But you have not seen what I have. You we're not there when I saw the meaning of life Yawn her tiny lips in sleep, And nestle deeper into my arms. You have not seen my 'O'
Dear Good People Sarale Fischer
Dear good people, Why do you try? When compared to the multitudinous sea You are just one drop And your home, the earth Is just another planet Revolving ‘round the sun Which is just another of those Trillion mile stars Of which billions are swirling To form a galaxy Our galaxy, that is but One of the masses All out there and beyond Into infinity that we Can’t know or see So why do you try When all you are Is a microscopic dot In relation to the sky?
I am Mine Racheli Bruk
People think they own me One time too nice and I’m their slave Their mat to step on when they come home Their bed to lay on when they get tired Their waiter when they are hungry But I want to show them That I am more than just a piece in their games I can be stronger than that I am mine No one has to own me or control me I have a mouth to say NO To speak for myself But I just don’t know how
Flickering Leeba State
Flickering Side to side Like a ribbon Undulating In the wind Illuminating The impenetrable darkness With its luminous Orange glow Casting shadows Upon the darkened walls Tiny In the vast room Yet Completely powerful
The Button Chaya Esther Friedman
Among the scattered bits Of yarn and cloth I keep a button Coated with rust Tangled in thread
Every week or so I take out the button And clasp it tightly in my fist
You ask why I keep it Why don’t I just throw it away
It wasn’t anything special When it was just A button
A button That still dreams and hopes
Together with me
In Between Yehudis Bensinger
Yesterday I was sixteen. A mere child. Today I’m seventeen. I’m supposed to be a whole year older. But I’m not! It’s only been twenty four hours. But apparently Time plays by her own rules. Yesterday I was crawling and when I tried to stand, she said “Don’t go too fast!” and pushed me down until I crawled again. All my life, all I’ve known is floor, rich brown wood in a patchwork of angles, every board nailed and wrinkled with life. I’ve studied that floor forever. But Time strikes twelve…
TICK! TOCK! “Grow up!” she screeches, “Everyone can see you now!” I never knew I was invisible. She forces me to run when I’ve never learned to stand. Run, faster, run, faster, run run run. Somehow I rise to my feet and look up- So this is a sky! “Grow up!” But the sun is too bright – “Grow up!” – it’s blinded me. Run run run, circles round and round and round and I’ve become so detached That I can’t even see the floor Anymore.
