Third Place - Teen Poetry Contest

The letter was left unaddressed.
A snow-white stampless envelope.
Unmailed; all concentrated hope.
For sealed forever's often best.

It's placed and locked inside the drawer,
It still yellows; not given thought,
Passed unnoticed more oft' than not.
This desk is not used anymore.

But now as thunder shakes the room,
The lock is turned on that same drawer;
and memories from the note do pour.
Contented silence beyond rain's gloom.

written by Marielle, Indian Hills High School

Second Place - Teen Poetry Contest

The World

A wimper

A cry

A scream

Silence . . .

Listen to this endless Void

Your scream of emptiness

All alone

Fading . . .

Existing in nothing

Living in a lie

There is Nothing more

Hiding the Truth

How quaint

Hearing the story of heaven and Hell

When it's already obvious

You are burning away . . .

Striving for nothing

Life is meaningless

Holding onto fleeting illusions

So hurting, so wanting . . .

The world gathers around

Empty faces, hollow eyes

Death everywhere

How strange, hear them scream of uniqueness

Walk, jog, run, sprint

How funny

You can never escape

Endless eyes watching, and watching . . .

Run Away! Hide Away!

Until you finally die

From hollow eyes, empty souls

Running into darkness . . .

Weep, sob. Why are you crying?

Hiding away in the darkness

Crying in that corner

All alone, with empty strings pulling and pulling

Your final scream

Your cry of freedom

Your shout of difference

Oops! Too late

You are already dead

Walking with empty eyes
Hollow strings tugged tighter

Laughing, laughing, such a quaint smile

Search and find

Oh! There's another one

Let's heart it scream

Let's let it Die once more . . .

This is what was lost

This is the truth

Welcome to

Our beautiful world . . .

written by Kevin, Indian Hills High School

First Place - Poetry Contest

T. S. Eliot

It's like when you're sleeping,
Though you're partly awake,
Dreaming a dream that
You want to escape.

But you just don't know how.
We all don't. Don't understand.

So this is my life:
Stuck between the conscious
And the oblivion.
The grip is so entrancing.

You are falling and not feeling,
Downward into the black tornado,
You know you're alive, but
Something in you has died.

You must keep trying.
You will fail, but you must. We all must.

And then you wake up
With a jump you'll regret,
Wishing you were back again,
Back were you might have been before.

He walks forward from
The light into your darkness.
He, like you, is alone.
He speaks slowly, pausing,
Recalling the forever embedded.
His are glassy, his pupils dilated.
He blinks, takes a deep breath,
And asks the question no one will answer.

Where is the life
We have lost in living?

written by Justin, Indian Hills High School

NLW Poetry Contest

Congratulations to the winners of the Franklin Lakes Public Library's first Teen Poetry Contest!
Justin, a freshman at Indian Hills High School, received First Prize: a $50 American Express Gift Card.

Kevin, a sophomore at Indian Hills High School, received Second Prize: a $25.00 Starbucks Gift Card.

Marielle, a sophomore at Indian Hills High School, received Third Prize: a $25.00 Starbucks Gift Card.

The Teen Poetry Contest was part of the celebration of National Library Week 2008.

At Franklin Lakes Public Library and area schools, teens were given a contest entry form and encouraged to create original poems or song lyrics. We received 11 awesome poems or songs, and three winners were chosen. Copies of the winning entries can also be found in the library. Thank you so much to all the teens who submitted entries for this contest - It made the job of choosing just three winners very difficult for the judges! Thank you for your participation.