A note: Please keep your entries to 100 words or fewer. Submissions exceeding the limit will be disqualified. Thank you to everyone who entered their poems for Poet’s Playground, and we encourage you all to keep writing poetry.
Age 8 and younger
First Place
I Love Tennessee
Gideon Snider
Sequachee Valley EC
Tennessee, oh, Tennessee,
I love you, and you love me.
Your beauty is there for all to see.
There are so many reasons to love
Tennessee.
From the Great Smoky Mountains
To the Cumberland Plateau,
Where the iris grows,
And the redbuds bloom.
W here the whip-poor-will sings sweetly
Under the Tennessee moon.
What I love about Tennessee
Makes me wish the whole world could see:
The true beauty of Tennessee is passed on like a legacy.
Age 9–13
First Place
Echoes of Tennessee: A Tribute in Verse
McKaylee Crowe
Gibson EMC
In Tennessee’s embrace, echoes of yore,
Music’s heart beats on, forevermore.
From Nashville’s honky-tonks, to Memphis’ blues,
Rhythm and soul, in every muse.
Smoky Mountains stand, in morning’s glow,
Nature’s grandeur, a timeless show.
Rivers meander, through valleys green,
Tennessee’s beauty, a tranquil scene.
History whispers, in each ancient stone,
Civil War tales, in fields overgrown.
Graceland remembers, a king’s sweet song,
Tennessee’s spirit, forever strong.
The Volunteer State, with pride unfurled,
A tapestry of stories, in every world.
Tennessee, where dreams take flight,
In mountains and rivers, in day and night.
Age 14–18
First Place
a saddening reality of a problematic emotion
Shay Simpson
Meriwether Lewis EC
I weave you in my stories,
I paint you in my sunsets,
I read you in the novels
Stacked high on my desk.
I breathe you in the air,
I glimpse you in a stranger.
You dance through all my fantasies,
You’re the loveliest kind of danger.
I hear you in a laugh,
See you twinkle in his eyes.
I feel you in my blood,
I’ll sense you when I die.
You’re laced through the borderline
Of all things good and evil.
Oh Love, how do you do it:
Both fix and ruin people?
Age 19–22
First Place
Childlike Intuition
Dejana Matthews
Middle Tennessee Electric
When young
I used to think this was the only place that had stars
The only place they felt safe enough to shine their light in the night’s sky
It felt magical
To watch them, thinking I may see one shooting across to be wished upon
Now older
Knowing the stars are more places than just here
I never did wish on a shooting one
But the magic I felt, feels more real now
When young
I used to think this was the only place that had stars like these
Realizing, how right little me used to be
Age 23–64
First Place
Azaleas
Michael Vedder
Holston EC
Hair disheveled, bleary-eyed,
Spring shuffles knee deep through leaves
in her verdant pajamas
looking for the coffee pot.
Winter has left it unwashed
’neath sorrow pie plates
heaping the sink.
“Winter!” Spring yells —
all leaves in the kitchen
swirl to the door —
“you are SUCH a slob!”
The door bursts outward
The leaves leave speedily.
Sunlight pours in.
Spring cranks the spigot
and marches to the door,
Silhouetted hands on hips
watching debris skitter.
Flame azaleas explode the mountainside
She stands transfixed.
“The sink!” Spring spins:
“It’s a waterfall!”
Dwarf Irises are popping
through floorboards.
Spring begins giggling.
Age 65 and older
First Place
Tennessee
Judy Beckham
Tennessee Valley EC
Beautiful bright sunrise,
Dark starlit sky,
Peaceful low valleys,
Mountains so high.
Animals in the meadows,
Farmers looking to tend,
Lush green fields,
Hay blowing in the wind.
The fragrance of wild honeysuckle,
Lingers in the air,
Gardens of flowers and vegetables,
Are growing everywhere.
Gleaming creeks and rivers,
Flowing gently through the hills,
Birds of all colors,
The call of the whip-poor-will.
The smell of fried chicken,
A drink of sweet tea,
Food that’s so delicious,
Everyone will agree.
A most beautiful place,
We would love for you to see,
Is our lovely home,
The state of Tennessee.