1st
Hallie Woodruff, North Hall Middle School
Quiet Time
Every time I read God’s word and spend time with Him, my heart palpitates.
I’m filled with the most joy that a heart could ever feel.
My room is cold but God’s warm embrace hugs me as we speak.
The quiet, dim space I’m in smells like a lavender field on a warm day
I hear silence and focus on what God is speaking to me
I carry this conversation with me forevermore
As I touch the leather of my bible my fingertips feel complete and tingle with love
I’m swallowed in Christ’s heavenly presence
He teaches me that the battle has already been won
Because of this, these are my most prized and favorite moments.
2nd
Jorge Santos
Da Vinci Academy
Living Life
I was only twelve
with a massive secret.
With my father at work,
my mother was on the phone.
She had plans of moving,
living with someone I had never met before,
living with a stranger in a strange state,
without us,
without me.
At the age of thirteen
I was living with no mother at home.
Often times I wonder how she is doing,
if she knows what I’m pursuing,
how I’m faring,
how I’m feeling.
Although she is gone now,
I keep living life as if -
as if it is just a little bruise that is healing.
3rd
Vivian Reed
East Hall Middle School
On My Way
I stopped telling myself I’m lost.
I’m not
I’m on a road with no destination,
I’m just running
hoping I will find my way.
My way to somewhere I like
I’m not lost
I’m on my way
Honorable Mention
Grace Yancy
DaVinci Academy
Binge Watch
I sat down to roam Netflix.
Highly rejecting a binge,
Slowly losing my control,
I thought it was just one episode.
Season 1, Episode 1 : 6:00PM
I have the exciting thought of watching one episode
The delightful taste of clicking “begin” with an untroubled gesture-
And then, suddenly, it's all downhill from here with a choice:
End now or start playing the next.
I thought it was just one episode.
Season 1, Episode 2 : 6:42PM
I look at the clock,
See that it's a reasonable hour.
I commence in my ignorant state of thinking,
Saying to myself I will shut my computer after this next one.
I thought it was just one episode.
Season 1, Episode 3 : 7:25PM
I’m going to stop.
I try to resist the temptation of watching more
And I shut my computer.
While walking away and thriving in my confident strut,
I start to think about the thought provoking end of the previous episode.
I dash straight away to my computer,
Wondering how on Earth they would end an episode like that.
I thought it was just one episode.
Season 2, Episode 22 : 4:48AM
Somehow, I managed to finish the season…
And most of the second season.
The Computer Vision Syndrome settling on my eyes,
Making them drier them the Sahara Desert.
I can see the sun creeping in my bedroom blinds,
This took a bad turn.
I thought it was just one episode.
Hallie Woodruff, North Hall Middle School
Quiet Time
Every time I read God’s word and spend time with Him, my heart palpitates.
I’m filled with the most joy that a heart could ever feel.
My room is cold but God’s warm embrace hugs me as we speak.
The quiet, dim space I’m in smells like a lavender field on a warm day
I hear silence and focus on what God is speaking to me
I carry this conversation with me forevermore
As I touch the leather of my bible my fingertips feel complete and tingle with love
I’m swallowed in Christ’s heavenly presence
He teaches me that the battle has already been won
Because of this, these are my most prized and favorite moments.
2nd
Jorge Santos
Da Vinci Academy
Living Life
I was only twelve
with a massive secret.
With my father at work,
my mother was on the phone.
She had plans of moving,
living with someone I had never met before,
living with a stranger in a strange state,
without us,
without me.
At the age of thirteen
I was living with no mother at home.
Often times I wonder how she is doing,
if she knows what I’m pursuing,
how I’m faring,
how I’m feeling.
Although she is gone now,
I keep living life as if -
as if it is just a little bruise that is healing.
3rd
Vivian Reed
East Hall Middle School
On My Way
I stopped telling myself I’m lost.
I’m not
I’m on a road with no destination,
I’m just running
hoping I will find my way.
My way to somewhere I like
I’m not lost
I’m on my way
Honorable Mention
Grace Yancy
DaVinci Academy
Binge Watch
I sat down to roam Netflix.
Highly rejecting a binge,
Slowly losing my control,
I thought it was just one episode.
Season 1, Episode 1 : 6:00PM
I have the exciting thought of watching one episode
The delightful taste of clicking “begin” with an untroubled gesture-
And then, suddenly, it's all downhill from here with a choice:
End now or start playing the next.
I thought it was just one episode.
Season 1, Episode 2 : 6:42PM
I look at the clock,
See that it's a reasonable hour.
I commence in my ignorant state of thinking,
Saying to myself I will shut my computer after this next one.
I thought it was just one episode.
Season 1, Episode 3 : 7:25PM
I’m going to stop.
I try to resist the temptation of watching more
And I shut my computer.
While walking away and thriving in my confident strut,
I start to think about the thought provoking end of the previous episode.
I dash straight away to my computer,
Wondering how on Earth they would end an episode like that.
I thought it was just one episode.
Season 2, Episode 22 : 4:48AM
Somehow, I managed to finish the season…
And most of the second season.
The Computer Vision Syndrome settling on my eyes,
Making them drier them the Sahara Desert.
I can see the sun creeping in my bedroom blinds,
This took a bad turn.
I thought it was just one episode.