Amani Festival 1999
Poetry Winners

Grades 1st-3rd

  First Place--

Second Place

Alexander J. Brehn

“Travel”

 I should like to rise and go, where the golden
Apples grow; Where below another sky, Parrots
Sing and also fly, Mothers cook and read a book,
Bakers bake and test the cake, Bess and me
Climb a tree, Me and her like to sing we also have
A golden ring, Where in sunshine reaching out
Eastern cities, miles about, Among sandy
Gardens set, There is something that I’d like to get,
And yet there are more places I’d like to go.

Tyler Heckendorn

“Same and Different”

 People wear different
Clothes but they
All have clothing.
People have different
Beliefs but most
Have a religion.
People have different
Toys but all
People play.

Grades 4-5

First Place

Second Place

***The Amani Committee regrets that the name of this poet has been lost.***

“A Negro’s Heroes” 

Martin Luther King was a hero.
He set things right for other Negroes.
Even though he went to jail.
He had in his mind he never would fail.
Today little black boys and girls,
Can do what they want to in this world.
His speech had three words that stuck to me.
One of the presidents that made this happen,
Was Abe Lincoln, the big sixteen.
Lincoln was shot in the back.
All Negroes would remember that.
Finally a law was made that let Negroes do anything.
Today people still say that blacks should be slaves.
But in many ways they are wrong.
When Martin Luther King was shot.
That was the final assault.
His dream wasn’t a life.
It was too bad that King had died.
There went another Hero,
Just like the president who was a friend of the Negroes.

Ashley Kauffman

“A Rainbow of Friends” 

 When a rainstorm comes to an end,
A rainbow will shine through.
People should stop fighting for this is what
We call can do.

Close our eyes and see with our hearts, and
We should join hand in hand,
And the color of your skin or the country you come from,
Will spread a rainbow of friends across our land.

Grades 6-8

First Place

Second Place

Elise Cobb

In my heart
For it is smart
I do believe in angels

 And up above
There is a dove
So come help share the love

 Oh the kiss
And what I miss
The tugs of many hugs

 Please don’t run
For there’s a ton
Of love for everyone.

Emily Orner

“Different Cultures”

 Different cultures
Separate the world.
Black people, White people, Red people, Yellow people.
Al the same on the inside
With different cultures around them.
Their smiles are the same.
Their joys are the same.
Their pains are the same.
Their love and laughter are the same.
Their feelings are the same.
Their enjoyable peace is the same.
Sometimes we overlook these similarities
And concern ourselves with the differences
Of others.
But the fact that
Their religions are different,
Their colors are different,
Their foods are different,
Their houses and schools are different,
Their clothes are different,
And their languages are different.
Don’t let uniquely different cultures
Get in the way of friendship
For the serenity of even the littlest friendship
Can overpower the hatred
Caused by the lack of understanding of
Different cultures.

Grades 9-12

First Place

Second Place

Kimberly Kauffman

“Child’s Eyes”

young innocence
purity flows
gentleness caresses
the new exciting world.
All children
One race.
They see – the morning Sun
Touch glistening dew
Smell fresh flowers
Hear eagle calls
Taste waterfalls
Everyone simplified
Dignified
Unified
Grown mentality
Elaborated
Educatd
Exaggerated.
They themselves alone.
They perceive dismal skies
Swipe broken edges
Absorb decay
Sense piercing screams
Swallow bitter dreams.
Everyone classified
Diversified
Horrified.
Blind pride
Seek sight
Of once before.
The world
Radiant harmony
Viewed only by
The eyes of a child.

Kelly Ketterman

“You”

 Put away the anguish and the fears.
Put away the past that has plagued you for years.
Hide the truth, store it inside.
Hide the faith that keeps you alive.
Bury the emotion that makes you weak.
Bury the lies that you told when you speak.
Burn all the memories that keep you in the past.
Burn all the fury that makes those memories last.
Breathe in the life that makes you whole.
Breathe in the remembrance that collects in your soul.