First Place: Two Strangers By Stephanie Cui (Gr. 11)
Two strangers
Returning to
Their respective homes
Both leaving for
The train that departs at dawn
Boarding amidst the morning fog
To another ordinary day
Through the long and weary journey
Both remain silent
Rather than talking to each other
They put on music in their earbuds
Until the twentieth day
After smiles and formal greetings
They resolve to small talks
Something is starting to change
They discover their similarities and many differences
Revealing their strengths and weaknesses
Wary of the future and afraid of moving forward
Suffocated by the fear of being alone
Day after day
They sit next to each other
Dozing off on each others’ shoulders
On the late-night train
Sharing sorrow and joy
And they whisper secrets
They pour their souls out
And they learn to trust
Placing each other above themselves
Grateful that they are
Boarding the same train
Two strangers who happened to be
At the right place
At the right time
A love story
Now begins
Second Place: This is a Palindrome Poem by Melissa Peng-Itaqui (Gr. 11)
I love poems
And there will never be a day where I say
I hate writing this
Especially today with this palindrome poem
They are complicated codes
Line by line
They stick with you
They play with one’s minds
And some say that’s what makes it amazing
The end result will not be what you expected
From the moment you gifted yourself to the pages
You will not have your way with these poems
In a way that will give you goosebumps
The paper controls your pen and
Your pen controls you and
I love this feeling of conflict between you and your paper.
And Mr. Wong will never hear me say
I hate poems with a passion.
Third Place: Never by Catherlin Lu (Gr. 11)
Always
shining down on her -
His love blazes like a phoenix
Emerging from their quarrels,
And enveloping her in a
Scorching daze.
His fiery yang
Was circled by her
Soft underbelly -
A simple dove. She gave
A slim twig here,
A single leaf there,
A wooden woven wreath laid upon his
Inferno hurricane.
Ragged breaths drawn and
Stronger winds blew
As his love became consumed,
Bottled in tighter than
Mount Vesuvius.
But all volcanoes
Explode.
And it did.
Too
Often.
His love imprinted on her
As the midnight blue sun, and
purple viole(n)t spots
that stitched themselves
Across her freckled fields of
Golden wheat,
smudging her shine
And covering her golden
light -
but nothing gold can stay
veiled for long,
she knew that fact.
Because she glows in gold.
For now he cowers behind the
rusty steel, and asks her:
“Did you ever love me” -
“Yes” she replies
“But never again”
Never.
Honourable Mention: Finding a Place by Elisabeth Lau (Gr. 10)
I do not take pride in being Asian
And I refuse to say
I am Canadian.
“We are all different, and that’s OK”
Is never heard, but it’s often said that
“You all look the same”
Black hair, black eyes,
What they see me for is
Set in stone,
This label is attached to me.
I don’t believe
When people look at me,
They try to be inclusive, diverse, respectful,
What’s on the inside is
not important, but
What’s on the outside is
I don’t belong here.
And I’ll never believe
I have a place
“Being unique is accepted”
is a lie, and
“My identity is a mistake”
Until we change perspectives.
Honourable Mention: Afterthoughts by Ethan Chen (Gr. 10)
As I see you through the window
I remind myself that
My voice is currency and
Your comfort isn’t worth my silence
My eyes gaze past your face
My hands are cold and numb
I can’t bring myself to love that grin of yours
And then for just a moment
I reminisce on memories
When our eyes were as bright as the sun
When nothing existed outside birthdays and snow
I smile for
My mind begins to clear
With you in the window
I tell myself I’m forgiving