2012 Sejong Writing Competition

Winning Entries :: Sijo

Hollister Rhone, 5th grade

first place

I Have Heard

I can speak the language of tigers, I can understand their words.
I can hear the honey bees, the bears, the lions, and the birds.
I can tell the mice what’s on my mind, and I’ve heard. Yes, I have heard.

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Mary Liza Hartong, 12th grade

second place

Alice

Seeing old pictures, I think, “Was I ever really that small?”
Were those pink hands and tiny ears mine because now
I feel like Alice in Wonderland, far too big to fit anywhere.

Alice Ra, 6th grade

third place

Kite

Fly high my vibrant-colored kite; up into the clear blue sky
Make a lone colorful dot in the one-colored heavens
So that I can make my existence known to somebody out there

Eunice Hong, 10th grade

honorable mention

Obscure Piano Music

Fingers poised in midair
   My eyes dart to read you
But all I see is a sea
   of black and white surrounding me
Oh, why do you act so difficult?
   when all I want is to understand you

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Grace Park, 8th grade

honorable mention

Dreaming of Friends

A tiger in my dream chases me, and I wake cold in fear
My mother tells me that people don’t give up when they love you.
I dream of the tiger again. This time, we become friends.

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Megan Poulosophos, 8th grade

honorable mention

Internet

To say I am addicted would be an understatement,
This wondrous form of technology just plain has me hooked
I’ll never get out of this scary place called the internet.

Derek Stuhr, 7th grade

honorable mention

My Grandmother's Hospital Room

From the family at her side, I hear no one talking.
I stare off in space, looking at a picture of my family.
Oh, I am daydreaming of a place I wish I could go.

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Daniel Thach, 9th grade

honorable mention

Perplexing Situation

The sleek, sturdy gannet soars above the foreboding sea.
Without fear, it plunges ninety feet down into the abyss.
Sitting on the shore, I brood over my indecision.

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Danielle Zakian, 12th grade

honorable mention

untitled

Children skip through artificial cities of granular sand
A couple’s hands clench in unison by love’s omnipotent force
Wrinkled wrists flip through memories captured forever on film

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