PSO 2009 Oklahoma Lore Youth Poetry Contest Results

A Message to the Youth of Oklahoma 

We commend the youth of Oklahoma, for developing your artistic gifts; and we applaud the parents and teachers who encourage you.  Each year, the number of entrees grows as more and more students research Oklahoma emblems and traditions and combine creativity and knowledge to create poems and artwork about our great state for the statewide Oklahoma Lore Poetry and Art competition sponsored by the Poetry Society of Oklahoma.   

We wish each of you could place, and we congratulate not just the winners, but everyone who enters.  We hope First Graders will save your poems and continue to enter every year.  By the time you are seniors, you can have a collection of poems you have written about Oklahoma—and you might even win some prizes along the way.  Regardless, everyone who enters wins by researching your topic, putting your ideas on paper in the form of poems, and ending up with a greater appreciation for reading and writing poetry, the highest form of expression.  In the 1800’s the English poet, Lord Byron, wrote. “Words are things, and a small drop of ink like dew upon a thought produces that which makes thousands, perhaps millions think.”

Although your poem may not influence millions, as Lord Byron’s have,  what you write will benefit one very important person—YOU.  As you compose, you polish your minds.  Another English poet, William Wordsworth, wrote that while you compose poetry, you can “Fill your paper with the breathings of your heart.” 

While some explain poetry with tedious definitions, Samuel Taylor Coleridge said, “Poetry:  the best words in the best order.  Lewis Turco, poet, educator and author of The Book of Forms: A Handbook of Poetics, put it this way, “Something said well is something well said, but something said superbly is a poem.”   

Another poet-teacher, Charles Ghinga,  called “Father Goose,” writes, 

“What’s a poem?
A whisper, a shout, thoughts turned inside out.
A laugh, a sigh, an echo passing by.
A rhythm, a rhyme, a moment caught in time.
A moon, a star, a glimpse of who you are.” 

The poems you write can help you discover more about the creativity inside you.  We hope each of you will value and develop your talents for the rest of your lives.  

For love of poets and poetry,
Vivian Stewart,
Poet Laureate of the Poetry Society of Oklahoma, 2006 & 2008 

The following links will take you to the winning poets of each grade. You will notice that some names are colored blue. You may read their winning entry by clicking on the name.