Peace, love and poetry
Local students use poetry to express peace from within
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Greta Peters, a third-grader at Cutchogue East Elementary School, reads her poem 'Hot Tub' at Mattituck-Laurel Library Sunday.
Nonetheless, 12 local students offered inspiration and comfort Sunday at Mattituck-Laurel Library, where they presented original poems about "Inner Peace" to their families, friends and members of the community, proving that peace might not be all that far away.
The poets were third- through sixth-graders from Our Lady of Mercy in Cutchogue, Cutchogue East Elementary and Oysterponds Elementary in Orient. Their poems saw sources of inner peace in everything from a hot tub and the smells of a mother's cooking, to Arizona or a hideaway in one's closet. Through these poems, the students professed their innermost thoughts about feeling at peace in their own ways.
Meet the poets, from left: Caitlin Rivera, Elizabeth Powe-Bokina, Ben Bondarchuk, Oliver Orr, Greta Peters, Miranda Sannino, Dominique Kart, Dylan James, Marina DeLuca and Chris Dolce. Not featured: Colby Prokop and Alex Waski.
Each judge offered unique and insightful opinions on both the process and the young writers.
"I think that kids today are much more advanced and aware of what is going on around them," Mr. Hands said. "This may be due to television or music or even the topics at the dinner table. Young people are still pretty resilient, but have strong feelings, and [those feelings] come out in their writings."
[if "'Young people are still pretty resilient, but have strong feelings, and [those feelings] come out in their writings.' --Billy Hands" equals ""]
"I wait for the 'thump' of recognition that comes when I like a painting," Ms. Batuello said, adding that "judging poetry is a subjective endeavor, more closely related to paintings."
While some students were quiet or shy, and others were confident or outspoken, all said they had found inner peace in some way.
Cutchogue East student Miranda Sannino said her teacher told her about the contest, which she said inspired her to think about her comfort zone.
"I have posters and stuff in my closet," she said. "And the inspiration came directly from there."
Oliver Orr, also a student at Cutchogue East, said he "thought about my most peaceful time, reading, listening to the Beatles and the smell of [Mom's cooking]."
The budding writers all said they had different reasons for entering the contest.
Dylan James from Our Lady of Mercy remarked that "it made me feel really happy" to share his inner peace. His classmate Dominique Kart said, "I've found my inner peace and I think poetry helped."
Elizabeth Powe-Bokina of Cutchogue East said, "I really wanted everyone to know how much peace means to me."
Although a few of the outstanding poets were unsure if they'd keep writing poetry, the majority of the students said they would, and are likely to submit poems again next year.
To read the outstanding poems click the links below to download the PDF's or to hear them recited by the poets themselves check out the video in the right sidebar.
2008 Outstanding Poets
Our Lady of Mercy
Dylan James, grade 4
The Peaceful Field
Dominique Kart, grade 4
Fluttering Peace
Alex Waski, grade 5
Untitled
Cutchogue East Elementary
Chris Dolce, grade 4
Arizona
Oliver Orr, grade 6
Inner Peace
Greta Peters, grade 3
Hot Tub
Elizabeth Powe-Bokina, grade 6
My Inner Peace Song
Colby Prokop, grade 6
Inner Peace Endures
Caitlin Rivera, grade 5
Peace
Miranda Sannino, grade 5
My Peace Place
Oysterponds Elementary
Ben Bondarchuk, grade 5
Inner Peace Freestyle Haiku
Marina DeLuca, grade 5
Peace with Myself
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