GRU Young Writers Contest Second Place Win

Georgia Regents University’s Comcast Young Writers Contest recognizes the literary achievements of middle school and high school writers of short stories, poetry, and essays. One of our middle school students received high honors in this year’s competition. The 2015 winners include 8th grader Alex B., who won second place in middle school poetry with her poem, The Porch Swing.

The Porch Swing

When I am on the porch swing
with my grandparents in the morning
they are drinking their black coffee,
and I am drinking mine that is filled with sugar and milk

I think about the memories
that come with this porch swing.
Like when it was a rocket ship
and my brother and I were the astronauts.

Or when Papa and I sat on it playing school
he was the student and I was the strict teacher.
Or when we came home from the beach,
I sat there sulking because I did not get the first shower.

Or when I sat there at night
and listened to the crickets play their music
the frogs bellowing the bass part
and me in the porch swing, the creaking of the  chains keeping the beat
so the musicians will not get off track.

But the saddest memory of all
is tying up the porch swing
because we must leave now
we must leave the porch swing
that gives me many memories.

From it I remember
reading and talking and playing and singing
it reminds me of the little time I had with my grandparents
but most of all  it reminds me of my
grandparents’ love for me.

All the things they do for me
cooking, cleaning, traveling up to see
us, spoiling us rotten, and loving us so dearly
all of these memories come from
the porch swing.