Calling all young poets

Announcing the Monitor's seventh annual student poetry contest! You may submit up to three poems - you choose the subject. Remember to keep the focus of your poem narrow and your descriptions specific.

Students in preschool through high school are eligible. Entries must be postmarked by Nov. 29. To submit your poems by mail, download the entry form.

If you'd like us to send you this year's free "I'm a poet" button, be sure to enclose a self-addressed, stamped (49 cents) envelope with your entry. We'll publish the winning poems in December.

Visit the poetry site for writing tips and to read more poems from previous years: www.csmonitor.com/poetry.

You can also download and print out an 8-1/2 X 11 color poster by clicking on the link at the right.

Here are some previous winning poems:

Dreading it all day
only once in a lifetime
Is it my birth mom?

Do I look like her?
Is she tall, skinny, short, pretty?
I am so anxious

People playing drums
firecrackers all night long
buildings all lit up

She is so pretty
I wish I could've had more time
even though it was pouring

I feel so lucky
related to someone alive
What about my birth dad?

I am still BEAMING!
Never will forget that day
My heart divided

Rae Reilly
Grade 6
Winner in 2000

Swing
hip to hip
struttin' it
down the hallway
knee-high
Zzzzzip
black
short skirt
tube top
big black boots

Alissa McCue
Grade 11
Winner 2000

What is the ocean?
A cycle, a force.
A routine of waves moving in and out.
A landscape with no explanation,
changing its mind from day to day.
I too change like currents,
shallow and deep at the same time.
Dark and gloomy on some days,
bright and joyful on others.
There is an ocean inside of me.
And in you?

Danielle See
Grade 7
Winner in 2001

Quick and sly
very shy ...
but never far
behind!

Kyle Baldwin
Grade 1
Winner in 2000