California Coastal Commission

Right Column

2012 Coastal Art & Poetry Contest Winners


GRADES K-1



My Beautiful Sea Horses, by Claire Silva, 1st Grade, Sunnyvale
My Beautiful Sea Horses

Claire Silva
1st grade, Sunnyvale






Humpback

Baleen whale
Breathing through blowhole
Fast fluke frightening fish
Splash


Shannon Burks
Kindergarten, Los Altos


 



GRADES 2-3



Whale, by Bogdan Florescu, 2nd Grade, Sacramento
Whale

Bogdan Florescu
2nd Grade, Sacramento






At the Beach

Sitting on the grainy, beige sand
Looking at the boundless, blue water
Closing my eyes
I feel the soft wind blowing by.
I hear seagulls squawking
As they fly over my head.
I smell the salty air that can only be ocean air.
Opening my eyes
I see the roaring waves
Burst as they hit the hard, wet sand.
The foamy water running back
Waiting to touch the shore again.


Gabriel Ramirez
3rd grade, Simi Valley






GRADES 4-6



The California Bay in My Eyes, Yu Han Wang, 5th Grade
The California Bay in My Eyes

Yu Han Wang
5th grade, San Francisco




Oh Sea

Oh sea, you are so big
I can let my troubles go
my sadness my sorrow my anger
and let it go into you
and the waves
take them away far far away
You are the biggest thing in the world
so it doesn't hurt you
Oh sea


Jay Lopez-Cho
4th grade, Pacific Grove



 




GRADES 7-9



Under the Sea, Yoonhye Kim, 7th Grade, La Crescenta
Under the Sea

Yoonhye Kim
7th grade, La Crescenta




Breaking Wave

It was an ebb and flow of eternity
a solitary moment isolated stretched out so thin
breaking and crashing and wildly suggesting
what could have should have been
it was a sound of crashing and foaming
a symphony of timelessness of notes strung together
and written in the sands
it was a color
flashy glimpses
and deepness so dark it couldn't be seen
it was a caught shadow on a hot day
and a rhythm and reminder
of lines woven together into a chaos of liberty

it was a little bit of nothingness
something not said
a terrible conclusion coming to a clashing halt
and dissolving into sparkles and glimmers simply remnants long forgotten
an irritation of otherwise undisturbed ocean


Olivia Rudd
8th grade, Mill Valley







GRADES 10-12

 

American Avocets, by Shuyang Ye, 11th Grade, Milpitas
American Avocets

Shuyang Ye
11th grade






Mendocino Morning

The sea the heart of the ocean beating
Beating against rocks spray shining as it flies
Lifting on currents of chilled coastal air
Floating towards a town
This town
Nestled on the cliffs basking in the early morning light
Lighting windows and rooms
the town awakes and moves
A whale spouts
Progress stops
the town sits
breath held
eyes focused
searching for that glitter of white
each crest bringing false hope
another spout and a breach
the town exhales
The migration has started the whales are returning


Haley Lacey
12th grade, Comptche