These poets are so young — so young, in fact, you wonder about how they learned to frame their images in such vibrant and thought-provoking ways.

Cora Feist is only a seventh grader, but witness her poem, “The Sky Speaks of the Former,” inspired by star-gazing:

“The sky is a collective showing of what once was.

Each speck in the paint giving light that shone on another generation,

Each telling stories from before we were born.

Presenting lost moments only captured in the stars.

You could stare forever,

Lost in completely other worlds that happened just before you.”

Feist was one of eight champions in the Richard Eberhart Poetry Contest, whose finalists were honored Tuesday during “A Night with Our Poets” celebration at the Hormel Historic Home.

Inspiration and themes for the poetry heard during the evening were as varied as they were creative.

Ariana Keefe, 12, a I. J. Holton sixth grader, said her mother — who is a writer — supported all of her efforts, “and really wanted me to be creative in anything I did,” while growing up.

“When she found out I was writing poetry, she got so excited,” Keefe said with a laugh. “She kept saying, ‘Oh, you have to do this! That is so cool!’”

Her winning poem, “Everybody,” speaks of fitting in and finding your own voice.

“No one can be perfect

But we all try to be on the subject

The subject of cool

The cool that always makes you look like a fool

I always wonder why

Why we choose the things that make us cry

So maybe just maybe

You could be the calm in the crazy”

Eleanor Hinchcliffe, a junior at Austin High School, could not attend the ceremony Tuesday — she was in rehearsal for the Austinaires Show — but her poetry, read by instructor Harder, made an impact.

Hinchcliffe questions the notion of fitting in, in her winning poem, “Be(long)” — writing that aligning to someone else’s idea of what’s acceptable and what is not is “like a corset; rib-cracking, soul-pinching.”

“… it’s hard to breathe in there.

You cover your mouth, stopping dissonant words

From leaking past your lips

and disturbing the false harmony created by others

like you. Like you, afraid of the discord.

Like you, longing — to fit, to click, to be puzzle pieces

snapped into place.”

Izaak Belden, a Neveln Elementary School fourth grader, called his poem “Everyday Hero,” an ode to his grandmother, bringing tears to the eyes of many.

“She has the will to fight

Her spirit just won’t bend

She knows with all her heart

The battles she must win

Cancer had her down and out

But not for very long”

Not all topics were serious; Madelynn Corey, a kindergarten student at Woodson, spoke of her favorite sport. And while the age of 5 seems too young to be a poet, Madelynn’s short poem still speaks with enthusiasm — with “bare feet”:

“In gymnastics …

We do flips

We do bars

We do aerials

We jump

We run

We dip

We wear leotards

We have bare feet

Gymnastics are fun!”

Banfield Elementary School second grader Charlotte Bliese also had fun with her poem, “Fly Like the Birds” about a girl who creates makeshift wings in order to fly.

“I put my wings on and I climbed up the tree.

And I said to myself, ‘Wow! What a beautiful sight to see.’

I looked at the sky, it was so blue

And I jumped off and then I … FLEW!”

“It’s lovely how our students have an interest in writing; having this opportunity to share their thoughts,” said Edwina Harder, who is a principal on special assignment and mentorship coordinator this year in the area of Gifted Services for Talent Development for the Austin public schools.

“There are so many styles — contemplative, humorous, observational or just entertaining,” she said.

The contest is valuable — and rare. Having a school-wide poetry contest and “allowing that poetry to be showcased is very special,” she said.

She added the contest is extremely popular among Austin’s student population — a legacy about which Richard Eberhart — Austin’s famous poet and native son – would have cheered.

“I just like writing it,” said the 13-year-old Feist, searching for words to explain her attraction to poetry. She claims that one day, she will be an animator, not a poet.

But she had words, we feel, we will hear again:

“For the stars are the only definite retelling of the time we’ve lived in.

And if you look close enough at those lights above,

You can see everything.”

From “The Sky Speaks of the Former”

 

Be(long)

By Eleanor Hinchcliffe

You soften your edges to fit in a round hole

like a corset; rib-cracking, soul-pinchingm,

it’s hard to breathe in there.

You cover your mouth, stopping dissonant words

from leaking past your lips

and disturbing the false harmony created by others

like you. Like you, afraid of the discord.

Like you, longing — to fit, to click, to be puzzle pieces

snapped into place.

Like you, they are birds hurtling toward a window,

toward an illusion of belonging,

unaware that to belong is simply

to be.