Age 8 and younger
First Place
Sunset by Caeden
Caeden Gipson, Middle Tennessee Electric
I like to watch the sunset
that’s setting over me,
And when the sun has finally set,
the moon glimmers the sea.
Sometimes couples go and sit
and watch it on the shore,
Because when you’re sitting hand in hand,
You’ll love it even more.
Age 9–13
First Place
Only I
Samantha McNabb, Tennessee Valley EC
I am the only one
who’ll ever know me
Even if I tell you my secrets
I’m still a mystery
Deep down you’ll never know
Only I can see my soul
I am the only one
who’ll ever know me
Even if I told you
my hopes and dreams
You’d never see them
like I do
They mean to me
what they never can to you
I am the only one
who’ll ever know me
Even if I laid myself
bare at your feet
You’d never really see
my soul clearly
I am the only one
who’ll ever know me
Second Place
All the Places to Love in the Volunteer State
Claire Rumbley, Middle Tennessee Electric
Oh, Tennessee! Oh Tennessee!
You’re the only place for me.
With your mountains and your valleys,
and your busy city alleys,
with your huge caves, and your friendly waves.
With your running rivers
and deep lakes, and your many givers.
With your countryfolk and city dwellers
and your many storytellers.
Oh Tennessee! Oh Tennessee!
You’re the only place for me,
Wherever I may go, and
wherever I may be,
my heart will always lead me
back to the hills of Tennessee.
Third Place
Never Had I Added Beauty To This Place
Esther Khual, Middle Tennessee Electric
Never Had I Added Beauty To This Place
Never Had I Have To
For Mother Nature Blessed The Land
With Love and Virtue
The Valleys So Low
The Mountains So High
The Place Diverse From Side to Side
Daffodils Bloom In The Face Of Spring
Alongside the Dogwood Trees
A Warm Embrace Surrounds Me
As This Place Had A Lovely Glow
With The Songs Of Birds Filling The Air
Never Had I Added Beauty To This Place
And Never Will Have To
Age 14–18
First Place
Hidden Beauty
Ruby Purgason, Appalachian EC
Something beautiful is hidden on these
mountains.
Maybe it’s obscured in an Iris?
A vibrant violet flower whose eponym is
from the rainbow goddess.
Maybe it’s in the sounds of a Mockingbird?
Who inspires geniuses to write, paint,
and sing.
Maybe it runs alongside the raccoon?
A tenacious animal whose intelligence
rivals other species.
Maybe it has scaled the Tulip Tree?
Whose yellow petals seem to touch the
skies.
Maybe it’s concealed within the fireflies’
lights?
Whose visual signals enchant entire populations.
However, I believe beauty is revealed in
people.
The dreamers who find solace in nature.
Second Place
Flowers From the Storm
Megan DiCello, Southwest Tennessee EMC
April showers,
Bring May flowers,
Or that’s just what they say.
But gloomy showers,
That last for hours,
Seem to wear the day away.
Much like the night,
When there’s little light,
And storm after storm just rages,
Like in our life,
When caught in strife,
That seems like it’ll last for ages.
But somehow, someday,
Every storm fades away,
And even the darkest nights will be gone.
Because after the grey,
And the thunder rolls away,
It leaves only the sparkling dawn.
With millions of flowers,
Which grew from the showers,
Of the tempest as it poured on and on.
Third Place
spring in tennessee
Rachel Ramsey, Tri-County EMC
as i thrust a shovel in to the brown soil
i smell the moist earth,
one by one i drop a seedling
in to the soil,
they spring to life
from to ground.
dandelions open their eyes
calves have taken their first breath
soft chirps of baby birds
the dewy smell of rain
sunny days have gotten longer
dark nights have gotten shorter.
tennessee welcomes springs
and says goodbye to winter.
Age 19–22
First Place
My Own Brutal World
David Smith, Fayetteville Public Utilities
I have filled my heart with concrete
To turn it to stone.
Stiffened my shoulders
To carry the heavy burden alone.
I’ve poured glue in my broken places
To keep myself together.
Removed my thin skin
And replaced it with leather.
I couldn’t afford a new face,
So I had to sell this smile of mine,
I found a hunk of wood in the forest,
At least now I have a spine.
They said I must be tough
If I’m to stay untouched,
Now all I am is tough things,
But the pain remains too much.
Second Place
A Tennessee Spring
Mary Smith, Fayetteville Public Utilities
“Spring Plans?”
To take deeper breaths. To inhale sweeter air.
To go take a drive, to visit a spring fair.
“Spring Plans?”
To bask in the sunshine, to watch for skies of blue.
To sit on the deck, to not have much to do.
“Spring plans?”
To plant deep into the earth, to watch grass grow.
To water the new life emerging, buy new seeds to sow.
“Spring Plans?”
To take a swim with friends or to dance in warm rain showers.
To plan for an upcoming summer, and gazing upon fields of wildflowers.
Spring Plans:
“To love being alive.”
Third Place
Falling Flower
Michayla Smith, Cumberland EMC
I send to you my love,
In the form of a floating flower.
Gazing up upon the star of night,
For I do not know where you are this hour.
Its edges and colors so dull,
To represent my life now without you.
Your image so slowly fading,
Along with the morning dew about you.
Therefore I’ll keep waiting for your arrival,
The day to return your possessions.
For if I do not see you soon,
I’ll see you again in the heavens.
Age 23–64
First Place
Cycle
Rebecca Case, Pickwick EC
Raindrops bathed by
the lamplight stretch
across the windowpane
coruscating like stars
on the endless canvas
painted in delicate strokes
by the artist’s hand
The puddles on the ravaged earth
goad them
waiting to see if they’ll make
the leap
dauntlessly let go and fall
to the abyss of
uncertainty below
Burial awaits them —
a temporary home
among rich dirt and earthworms
before the resurrection
Soon they’ll rise
head for the sky
prepare
to fall again at
Heaven’s next heartbreak
Second Place
Meet Tennessee
Cindy Jackson, Cumberland EMC
May I introduce you
To the State of Tennessee
Where biscuits are doused in butter
And tea is oh so sweet
Where people are quite friendly
With a smile and helping hand
Where Great Smoky Mountains
Give a view oh so grand
Where weather can produce
Sun, rain, ice and snow
All within one week
With a possible tornado
Where country music is housed
In Nashville on music row
Where Opryland is missed
From many years ago
Where Dolly Parton
Created the Imagination Library
To benefit children and their families
Tennessee is extraordinary
Third Place
Hidden Trail
Lisa Riley, Chickasaw EC
There is a place I go
Where the Daffodils roam
Tendrils of Hyacinths drape
Covering the rusty gate
No key is needed
As I tiptoe inside
Waterfalls of roses cascade
Cotton candy puffs of Hydrangea
Surround the mossy path
Dogwood and Maple intertwined
Nature’s love story in its purest form
Bumblebees buzz past
Lush Honeysuckle fills the air
I breathe in deeply
My mind and heart are restored
How I long to remain here
Away from the cares of the world
My hidden paradise
Forevermore
Age 65 and older
First Place
Ode to the Iris
Wesley Sims, Oak Ridge
No Plain Jane, even though
you appeal to ordinary people.
Commonly appear at borders,
stand around varied gardens
in simple solids like blue and purple.
At lawn’s edge you remind us
of children waving flags
at a July Fourth parade.
You exude an air of sophistication,
spruce up any floral space with elegance.
Your wardrobe of bold colors, patterns
and designs varies even to exotic.
You have a flair for ruffles
and stun us with your impressive
collection of two-tone suits
accented with ribs, trims, and speckles.
You so wowed Tennesseans
they chose you as their state flower.
Second Place
A Poet’s Place
Ronald Strickland, Meriwether Lewis EC
With its majestic mountains and valleys, fields, rivers and streams, Tennessee is a Poets place to be.
The foliage of the trees and the fields of wildflowers of spring.
The Fall colors and nature itself, in the poet’s mind takes control and the poet’s pencil begins to scroll.
A poet can translate Tennessee as, Can you see, all the beauty that awaits you in a poet’s place to be, that lets you see all the magic that one may find that is filled with dreams in a poet’s place in Tennessee.
Third Place
Rebirth
Lesley Potts, Middle Tennessee Electric
Winter’s hands scoop dead leaves–
grey brittle ashes, crystals decayed,
thin whispers slipping through her waxen fingers
as she walks, and the ice-path cracks
beneath her tread,
littered with soft dead rains of ash.
Slowly, down between the cupped
crooked fingers each grey day spirals, lies
frost-locked to earth–until
silvering ash, flashing, ignites
into gold–
warmth stings the ice fingers,
and they quiver their alarm,
scattering full upon the path
a paradox–born of death,
a spray of pulsing life.
Tennessee winter shatters, splinters, falls away–
Spring treads the path,
her warm fingers dripping green!
