The Hancock-Henderson Quill, Inc.
La Harpe 6th grade student Stella Bennett won First Place at the 36th Annual Carl Sandburg Poetry Contest. She is the daughter of Michael Bennett and Danielle McIntyre.
Stella's poem, "Cry Me a River" beat out 73 other entries from area middle schoolers to claim the top spot in the Junior (6th-8th) category.
She was recognized at the April 15th School board meeting and can been seen pictured with La Harpe Principal Ryan Hopper.
The poems had to be 100% original and previously unpublished and no longer than two pages. Poets could only enter one poem and must live in the Sandburg district 518 or within 200 miles of it. There were three other categories, Adult, Intermediate (9th-12th) and Elementary (K-5th). A banquet will be held to honor the winners at the Galesburg Campus on April 29th.
By: Stella Bennett, La Harpe Junior High
They say that “you have gone through so many storms—
surely the raindrops barely sting anymore.”
But they are wrong.
I know they are wrong,
Because I have been through the same storms.
The same lightning,
The same raindrops,
The same drenched clothing.
But over the years, my storms became bigger,
Stronger, even.
The raindrops felt like knives poking against my skin,
The lightning roared louder and louder each time.
Soon, my storms were no longer puddles, they were floods.
Then soon floods turned into lakes,
Then oceans,
Then before I knew it, they were tsunamis.
I can no longer leave my bed,
Not because of the raindrops,
But because of the entire blue sea waiting for me outside my bedroom.
My bed is the only thing keeping me safe from having it swallow me whole.