Right Column
2013 Coastal Art & Poetry Contest Winners
GRADES K-1
The Pelican
Chloe S. Park
1st grade, Encino
Shells
Shells sing when you are not listening,
Their songs fly above the waves,
Twisting notes into music.
Elena Brem
1st grade, Yorba Linda
Sunset at Coast
The Great Egret
Clarissa Wang
6th grade, Mountain View
Shells sing when you are not listening,
Their songs fly above the waves,
Twisting notes into music.
Elena Brem
1st grade, Yorba Linda
GRADES 2-3
Sunset at Coast
Julie Wan
3rd Grade, Sunnyvale
Paradise
The ocean's glittering turquoise surface
Has no waves
The beach sand
Under my toes
Soft as powdered sugar
And as white
In my dreams that's how it would be
But really
Waves crash against the cliff
Making one piece of rock
Fall off at a time
Creating finally
A deep crevice in the rock
That would be there for ages
Maybe eons
Being a habitat for some animal
Until the ocean decides
That it needs to be deeper
And the sea needs to rise
Lapping even stronger on the ancient cliff
This place is magical
Josephine Steinbuck
3rd grade, Mendocino
The ocean's glittering turquoise surface
Has no waves
The beach sand
Under my toes
Soft as powdered sugar
And as white
In my dreams that's how it would be
But really
Waves crash against the cliff
Making one piece of rock
Fall off at a time
Creating finally
A deep crevice in the rock
That would be there for ages
Maybe eons
Being a habitat for some animal
Until the ocean decides
That it needs to be deeper
And the sea needs to rise
Lapping even stronger on the ancient cliff
This place is magical
Josephine Steinbuck
3rd grade, Mendocino
GRADES 4-6
The Great Egret
Clarissa Wang
6th grade, Mountain View
A Star in a Deep Blue Sky
A lone star,
A spark of color
In the enveloping blueness of the sea.
Trying to eye it,
Balancing on a rock,
Leaning out—so far...
Swimming with a sea star.
Emma Nathanson
5th grade, San Geronimo
A lone star,
A spark of color
In the enveloping blueness of the sea.
Trying to eye it,
Balancing on a rock,
Leaning out—so far...
Swimming with a sea star.
Emma Nathanson
5th grade, San Geronimo
GRADES 7-9
Listening to the Sea
Tiffany Liang
7th grade, Petaluma
The Otter
Once upon a sunlit ocean,
Otters and kelp swayed in motion,
Over herring, rockfish, and much more,
All along California's shore.
But otters were stalked where they dwelt.
Hunted for their lustrous pelt.
Then told to move to San Nicolas.
Giving otters directions is ridiculous.
But now otters have protection.
Even after Point Conception,
No longer is there a "no otter zone,"
Keeping them from their historic home.
When otters were gone, sea urchins would thrive,
Which kept the kelp from staying alive.
Urchins eat the kelp ocean lawn,
When roots are eaten, the kelp is gone.
Herring and rockfish lost habitat,
They lost their nurseries just like that.
With otters' return, sea urchins will fade,
Letting spawning fish be unafraid.
Otters can now roam an 840 mile coast.
Otter skins no longer can hunters boast.
Otter relocation will no longer stand.
No longer from waters are otters banned.
Isaac Goldstein
8th grade, Ventura
Once upon a sunlit ocean,
Otters and kelp swayed in motion,
Over herring, rockfish, and much more,
All along California's shore.
But otters were stalked where they dwelt.
Hunted for their lustrous pelt.
Then told to move to San Nicolas.
Giving otters directions is ridiculous.
But now otters have protection.
Even after Point Conception,
No longer is there a "no otter zone,"
Keeping them from their historic home.
When otters were gone, sea urchins would thrive,
Which kept the kelp from staying alive.
Urchins eat the kelp ocean lawn,
When roots are eaten, the kelp is gone.
Herring and rockfish lost habitat,
They lost their nurseries just like that.
With otters' return, sea urchins will fade,
Letting spawning fish be unafraid.
Otters can now roam an 840 mile coast.
Otter skins no longer can hunters boast.
Otter relocation will no longer stand.
No longer from waters are otters banned.
Isaac Goldstein
8th grade, Ventura
GRADES 10-12
Giant Pacific Octopus
Erick Villegas
12th grade, Los Angeles
California's Coast
I watched you as you slept
Murmurs beneath the surface
A pane of glass
The sand here is silk
Blonde by a summer sun
You are a bounty of life and elegance
Even the moon wants you
~
I watched you as you woke
Lunar fingers and
Cool lips kiss at sapphire skin,
And suddenly you are alive
Rippling, streaming,
Animate and breathing
In a chorus of lovely sea foam
~
I watched you as you sang
A handsome crescendo
You raise your voice so
Even the heavens can listen
Milky waves brush clean the shore and
Midnight pearls glitter on the coast
You dazzled me
Cherylynn K. Lima
11th grade, Brentwood
I watched you as you slept
Murmurs beneath the surface
A pane of glass
The sand here is silk
Blonde by a summer sun
You are a bounty of life and elegance
Even the moon wants you
~
I watched you as you woke
Lunar fingers and
Cool lips kiss at sapphire skin,
And suddenly you are alive
Rippling, streaming,
Animate and breathing
In a chorus of lovely sea foam
~
I watched you as you sang
A handsome crescendo
You raise your voice so
Even the heavens can listen
Milky waves brush clean the shore and
Midnight pearls glitter on the coast
You dazzled me
Cherylynn K. Lima
11th grade, Brentwood