Carol Decanio Abeles Young Poets Prize

Congratulations to the 2022 winners of the Carol Decanio Abeles Young Poets Prize! The Prize honors Santa Barbara poet-teacher Carol Decanio Abeles.

The 2022 winning poems, selected from California Poets in the Schools participants in Santa Barbara County are:

FIRST PLACE

Ayla Sichi
“Worry”
Mountain View Elementary
6th Grade
Classroom Teacher: Anna Strenk
Poetry Teacher: Cie Gumucio

FINALISTS

SEMI-FINALISTS

First Place Winner

Worry

She wears a lilac jacket no matter the weather.

Her rich, coffee brown bangs brush the top of her brows.

She taps her pencil on her desk when puzzled for an answer. Her posture defines her as she sits hunched over on the bus, quietly doing her homework. When she gets home she constantly checks the calendar and sees if her cat’s food bowl is full. She sits at the table for hours, studying with her Tabby on her lap. The ice in her water clinking with the shift of it melting. She keeps to herself and hopes no one will notice her, her eyes dart around the reflection of her glasses, seeping in information. She is intimidated by Fear, but understands him so. She has a million alarms so she is always on time. She walks head down to a cafe and sits in the corner, ordering the same thing everyday. She always says thank you, and rushes out the door, taking a sugar packet or two. When the sun is setting on the horizon she calls her grandma Careful and checks on her being. She calls her friend Timid and they go over their day, talking softly of their lives. She never talks about her fears. They cloud her, paralyze her, and make her feel lesser. Her anxiety is like a wave, drowning her, pushing her, calm then unbearable, sinking her down, down, down.

Her head burning, stomach tingling, throat tight. Holding her feelings down, pinned to the wall. Everyday she looks in the mirror, and wishes she was someone else, so her burden can be lifted. She wishes she could be happy like Love. She admires her and day dreams of having a carefree life. She wishes she could be brave like her. She wishes she could take risks like Curiosity. Or cry like Sadness. She wishes she could let her feelings out. She envies Anger for not caring what other people think. And she wishes she could be as interesting as Anticipation, so she could be more social. But she reminds herself there is no one else in the world like her, and no one can change that. She then crawls into bed and hopes she dreams joyous, happy dreams.

by Ayla Sichi
Mountain View Elementary – 6th Grade
Classroom Teacher: Anna Strenk
Poetry Teacher: Cie Gumucio

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Finalist

Oh Red, Oh Red

Oh red, oh red
You’re the anger in my fists,
And the crunch to my chip,
You can be as red as a Ruby,
Or as dull as an ancient blade,
Oh Red, oh red
You can be as tiny as an embryo,
Or as a big as the moon,
Just like an unsolved mystery,
We have to seek to find the clues,
Oh Red, Oh Red
Your love runs deep like the color of blood,
You can be sad, you can get nervous,
You may bloom like a flower in the sun,
But, your greatest trick is to vanish in a starry night.

by Story Sampila
Mountain View Elementary – 6th grade
Classroom Teacher: Anna Strenk
Poetry Teacher: Cie Gumucio

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Finalist

Loneliness

Loneliness wears gray shorts, black shirts.
His hair brushed, tame.
He sits in the corner reading a book
on how to make friends,
it’s by Happiness,
it always is.
Born on a prairie, no one but him
and his books,
at least he feels that way.
Alone, no one to come home to,
nothing to look forward to.
He has so much to say
but has no reason to say it.

by Declan Callahan
Mountain View Elementary – 6th grade
Classroom Teacher: Anna Strenk
Poetry Teacher: Cie Gumucio

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Semi-Finalist

Shimmer

Sun on sand
water stretching
mile after mile
year to year.
Blue over green, green over blue,
Swirling into white foam
Crashing onto rocky shoreline.

One might think ‘tis sea glass
as long as eternity
or thought wisped away
into a blue blanket
but ‘tis shimmer
shimmer, shimmer.

by Kele Blackburn
Vieja Valley Elementary – 4th Grade
Classroom Teacher: Tairy Birkely
Poetry Teacher: Kim Ernest

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Semi-Finalist

Where I Stand

Where the Sun rises I am there,
Where the Sun sets I am there,

When I stand,
I stand strong as steel,
I will stand,
I will stand till I’m done,
When I’m done I will stand again,
This time I will stand longer,
And Stronger,

I stand above the stars,
I stand on top of the clouds,
Like a bird soaring through the sky,

I stand in the Ocean,
Withstanding the waves with all my might,
I stand it the storms,
Seeing them through,

I sense all odds against me,
But I still stand,
I won’t stop,
And I will not

by Cole Stewart
Vieja Valley Elementary – 4th Grade
Classroom Teacher: Ms. Birkely
Poetry Teacher: Kim Ernest

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Semi-Finalist

I Am Here

I am the clouds in the sky
I am the fire from the dragons mouth
I am the sun rising over the water
I am the palm trees swaying in the wind
I am the lightning crashing to the ground
I am the thunder booming in the sky
I am the tiger roaring at its prey
I am the colors of the rainbow
I am the fish swimming in the lake
I am the rain falling from the sky
I am the bright sun shining down on us

I am the hearts of all the people
I am the embers from the flames
I am the stars in the night sky
I am the green grass in the fields
I am here
I am there
I am everywhere

by George McGinness
Vieja Valley Elementary – 4th Grade,
Classroom Teacher: Tairy Birkely
Poetry Teacher: Kim Ernest

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Semi-Finalist

Loss

There are billions of souls in the world.
And a couple of these souls are important and special to us.
We share many moments and make many memories.
We don’t realize how much we would miss them and how much they matter to us,
But the day they drift from our world,
It feels like a part of our soul has left with them.
At these times it is the hardest.
Soon you barricade yourself from others.
Questions, reminders, memories, and thoughts swam around you like angry
bees.
You try to act like you barely care and you try to not think about what has
happened.
But really do care.
It takes a long time to get over what has happened, and you can try.
Soon you don’t think about what has happened, it sometimes crosses your
path.
But that soul is still gone.
And that memory will always follow you.

by Sole Hopkins
Montecito Union School – 5th Grade
Classroom Teacher: Mrs. Noble

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Semi-Finalist

Paint Me Like Me

Paint me tinkering,
With screws, scissors, screwdrivers.
Paint me playing soccer,
Taking the ball from the attacker.
Paint me running with my dog,
My gray Nikes camouflaging with the sidewalk,
My dog wearing a labrador-sized smile.

Paint me at the beach,
Gathering weathered driftwood and making forts,
Splashing into the ocean with my light black T-shirt
and year-round shorts.

Paint me like me.
The blonde-brown hair, the sweatshirt,
The dirty knees, the mismatched socks.
And then, you’ll see me.

by Matteo Bottorff
Mountain View Elementary – 6th grade
Classroom Teacher: Anna Strenk
Poetry Teacher: Cie Gumucio

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Semi-Finalist

Anger

Anger doesn’t know what to wear because she has very few clothes.
Anger has to walk to school because she has no ride that will wait for her.
Anger sits at the back of the class and needs to be immaculate because if she is not she will sting herself with a thousand bees.
Anger waits at the track waiting to be picked up but no one comes and when she is hungry no food in the fridge.
Anger cries herself to sleep smashing her pillows.
Anger gets screamed at by her dad for anything she makes a mistake and again cries.
Anger shows through her friends all the emotions but mostly fear.
Now you might be thinking this is anger shouldn’t she be mad
Anger is mad, Anger is mad like a red wave roaring over the sand
Anger is mad at her dad that she never loved, Anger is mad at her mom that was never there,
Anger is mad at the world why am I born into this family?
But most of all Anger is mad at herself when she really shouldn’t be.
When Anger comes out of her cave of darkness thousands of raindrops and
thunderstorms, drop of sadness, guilt, and hatred.
But when she finally let’s go of all those forbidden emotions
Sunshine.

by Jade Pattison
Mountain View Elementary – 6th grade
Classroom Teacher: Ben Jarvis
Poetry Teacher: Cie Gumucio

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Semi- Finalist

Goooooal!

I dribbled looking for an open shot,
there were a few seconds left.
I shot it like fireworks on the 4th of July.
The knuckle ball smiles as it plays tricks
on the goalie.
It acts like a bird in the wind,
swooping back and forth.
Finally, the parents shout ohh, ahhh, oooh….
The back of the net swoosh like a Nike sign
as the team piles on top of me and
celebrates the W.

by Landon Ngai
Mountain View Elementary – 5th grade
Classroom Teacher: Nate Latta

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