100th Spring

The old tree is surrounded,
Yet it is alone.
Taller than any other
it reaches for the sky
and spreads out its branches.
Enveloped in green splendor,
the old tree stands straight,
proud, and unmoving...
Watching and waiting
for the 100th spring to go by.

-Hannah Goldstein
Grade 6

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What are we but a ripple,
A shallow ripple, at that-
Seeking to touch another.
Each of our ripples is small,
Barely stirring the ocean of time,
Yet here we are.

-Nathaniel Starkman
Grade 6

Pond

In front of me lies a pond,
Lily pads calm on their green bed;
Reflections of trees glowing on the water...
Around the pond are growing buds.
Under the lily pads, frogs jump-
But the water stays still.

-Maya Spector
Grade 6

The Pond

The pond is so serene
I just sit and stare into glistening water
As the breeze touches my skin-
Soft as a single flower petal.
The lily pads sit
In the water, undisturbed.
I take in the moment,
Then release it
Onto the air.

-Josh Payne
Grade 6

Tadpole

T o-be-frog
A mphibian
D arting
P eaceful
O rnery
L ittle
E asy-going.

-Brad Ward
Grade 6

Little Sapling

Little sapling waiting to grow
Will reach for the sky
Not exactly knowing where to go...
So strong yet so mild,
Little sapling makes me smile
With a slight sentimental sigh.

-Theresa Bedell
Grade 5

Caterpillar

Sharp and spiney,
slick and sneaky
a caterpillar hides.
A predator approaches
as the caterpillar slides
...into his home,
safe from harm,
protected from the enemies
that in the forest roam.

-Thomas Thornton
Grade 6

What could it be?

Quiet but there
Still but alive
Dull but present
Hiding inside...
It makes no noise
and has no smell
This special creature
Is a snail.

-Tyler Poelking
Grade 6

Salamander

Red spots
Fire belly
Small legs
Really smelly

Little eyes
Big toes
Smooth skin
Stumpy nose

Long tail
Paddles slow
Slick body
I wonder where he goes?

-Nevada Todt
Grade 6

Snails

Snails have swirly, spectacular shells,
And little antennaes that are quicky and squishy and soft,
Yet at the same time, snails are slower that the clouds
That move on warm sunny days.

-Allison Flors
Grade 6

Vines

Curvy, peeling, thick long vines
Climb up a tree so high-
Greenish, brownish, grayish in color,
Like a snake winding up to the sky.

-Emily Sokolowski
Grade 6

A Tadpole's Future

I walk by the pond one day and see a tadpole,
Its appearance incredibly different from the frog it will become.
I wonder if it is aware of the changes that it will endure,
And wonder how it will accept them.

-Joshua Dietrich
Grade 6

Ode

There's water, water, everywhere:
Green, swift, moving liquid,
making its endless journey;

There are trees with leaves,
that look like dangling pendulums,
Their crispy, peach-looking leaves
Stand out among the trees.

There are tall strong trees and white fungus,
There are skittering chipmunks
And tiny, harmless bugs.
There are fields and ponds and forests...

A welcoming scene for you to join.

-John Xu
Grade 6

A nut

There lay a little nut, shaped like a half-cracked egg,

Smoother than stillness, pointed from top

to bottom,

Preparing the Earth for its

beginning.

-Nicole DeSantis

Grade 6

White Leaves

White leaves are drooping in the sorrow that winter brings;
They are as delicate as an old man's bone.
Their rustling sings a long, sad song.

-David Cleveland
Grade 6

Teasel

I am like teasel
Soft on the inside, rough and spikey on the outside.
Unless I'm cracked open,
I'll never show my inside.

-David Cleveland
Grade 6

Queen Anne's Lace

Pretty white lace in the spring,
Winter treasure in its roots,
Standing straight and strong.

-Kyle Kupniewski
Grade 6

Geese

Geese have white chins
that look like old men's beards
and brown feathers that end in black points.
They have no exotic colors,
yet when they open their mouths,
vibrant red fills their throats.

-Adam Fiore
Grade 6

The Mini River

As I was walking on the path
I stepped in something wet and looked back:
It was a tiny river.

I imagined little army people at battle...
A piece of ice still crossed over like a bridge,
So I named it the Mini River.

-Rachel Cye
Grade 5

Rock, Lizard, Rock

Big patternful rock,
like a quartz iron egg.

Small lizard, red and black,
spotted and shaped like an "S".

Red, blue, yellow veins
A split-in-half rock.

-Alejandro Juarez
Grade 5

Cardinal

Brown, long, furry cattails sway in the wind;
Birds chirp: the cardinal, glistens-
Red, fast, speedy. He flies by
Like a big gust of wind in the spring.

-Edwin Greene
Grade 5

Salamander

It is small and has chubby legs;
It looks like a newt;
Spotted red, and slimy,
it walks so slow
on the forest floor.

-Megan Coch
Grade 5

Trees

Trees are big, tall, and on the ground
They make me proud, happy to be around.
Some are tiny, some are short
but it doesn't matter what kind or sort;
I wish I was a tree so I could stand and give support.

-Onaysia Lindsey
Grade 5

Worms

Worms are slimy creatures;
They gently and softly
dig their prey
through dirt holes
with earthly ways.

-Alicia Robinson
Grade 5

Cold

Hot cocoa, that's what I really want;
Forest, is what I got into.
Path, that's what I got to follow
Prints is what I saw.
People, that's what I walked with,
COLD! -That's what was what I really was.

-Marcella Holt
Grade 6

Snowflakes

Lots of snowflakes,
Many shapes
Some fluffy, some soft
Some with sharp edges
Some with dull.
They all move
Different ways
Flying through
the sky.

-Savannah Stary
Grade 6

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The cold, bitter wind blew against the open field
For all the grass was then killed.
The flowers were no longer in bloom;
They were locked up, like in a tomb.

-Briana Franklin
Grade 6

Muddy

The day is cold, frozen and wet;
Water and ice have met.

It is muddy, oh, so muddy...
The day is very cruddy.

Water is flowing and rain keeps on going
Until it's VERY muddy, oh so VERY muddy!
And the day is now more cruddy.

-Ryan Ault
Grade 6

Nature is Fun

Nature is Cool, Nature is Fun,
Nature is Cold, Nature is Sun.
Out there looing at the woods, listening-
To sounds I don't want to hear...
Seeing things that make me scared;
But Nature is Cool, Nature is Fun,
Nature is Cold, Nature is Sun.
Walking in the night sky screaming
Shouting high and high; Wish I had
Wish I had a flashlight to show
Me the Way,
But Nature is Cool, Nature is Fun,
Nature is Cold, Nature is Sun.

-Jalyn Watts
Grade 6

Out in the Wind

Some days just out enjoying the cold, cold wind,
that whispers in my ear like a hummingbird,
I just sit there to think about the world;
the things I've done, the bad things and things,
Just to think, think, and think.
I want to think about what I want to do in my life,
Or if I want a calm, cool wife,
I just have to think, think, and think.
I want to think about the bad things I've done to people
In the past, or will do in the future
Because we all know time goes fast;
I want to do right again;
I want to just Think, Think, Think.
Have you ever had that feeling
That you did something wrong or right
You just couldn't figure out if it was wrong or right
Because you couldn't think, think, think?
-If you have a trouble,
or if you are going down
you can just sit in the wind
and Think, Think, Think.

-DaVontae Coker
Grade 6

Tree Stump

The tree stump was a star
And they cut it down
With frowns on their faces.

-Michael Rose
Grade 6

Ice and Snow

I see a doe, fawn and snow-
Now which way do I go, do I go in the snow?
But as I jump I feel a thump;
Now I know,
It's ice not snow-
I should have gone after the doe!

-Jacob Gialamas
Grade 6

Trees...

Trees...
What are trees?
Trees are the forest's foliage barrier
Tall and Mighty
Standing so high, until...
CRACK! Thump, the tree falls.
...But in time
another one will take it's place
and the Mighty Giant
will be new again.

-Justin O'Connell
Grade 6

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Reeds jut out into an expanse of ice,
blurring the division between land and lake,
Tall grasses transcending nature's cycles of life-
Immitations of immortality that journey
across that proliferation of lake expanse,
as if to smooth the edges of nature.

-Tyler Chopko
Grade 11

Fuzzy Wuzzy

Fuzzy Wuzzy
was so fun,
He was so black
that no one
could find him.

-Gannon Davis
Grade 5

The Cold

My cheeks are as pink as two sweet strawberries,
My lips are as blue as denim jeans,
My toes tingle as if they've fallen asleep...
My hands feel like freezing winter ice-
All because of this cold, dull weather.

-Caroline Godard
Grade 5

The frost

The frost on the ground
Seems like a crystal
but melts in my hand;
It shines on a stem of a plant
ice cold.

-Dustin Shaffer
Grade 5

The Sky

What would life be like without the Sky?
No color at day or night!
Gray clouds all we could see...
Nothing to hold the sun and stars in place!
Good thing we have such a beautiful sight;
Gray clouds can come
but cannot disturb our
Sky.

-Taylor Stanley
Grade 5

Frost

Frost coated the grass in a sheet of white.
The frozen dew was in shadow,
so it did not melt...
unlike its sunny counterparts,
which had thawed some time ago.
The lonely dew somehow found a home
in this frozen wasteland of pondside grass.

-Lucas Kayafas
Grade 5

The Tree

Lonely, awaiting spring
The tree sits by the creek,
like moss on a water's edge,
Waiting for leaves to fall.

Burnt orange leaves
Sway in the wind,
And the tree sleeps
On frozen earth.

-Natalie Lewis
Grade 5

The Leaves

The leaves dress the trees
like shorts going down to my knees
They fall in the fall,
I love them all.

-Michael Salopek
Grade 5

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The trees are chanting and the birds are singing
The lake speaks to me and it is saying:
"Come down , rain, and fall into me."

The wind is silenced and the lake is saying:
"Bring down thy warmth, Sun, and heat me up."

-Kyle MacInnis
Grade 5

Goldenrod

So tall
they grow-
Blinding the existence
of anyone behind them.
Likening the sun
the goldenrod
lives on.

-Ian Ostrowski
Grade 5

Hello Skies

Hello skies of blue,
Goodbye skies of gray
The rain has stopped for the day.
The trees are swaying
and the birds are singing
The rain has stopped for the day.

-Caroline Winnett
Grade 5

Standing Very Tall

Standing
very tall-
Very
lush is
this
tree,
so very
High in
the sky...
Standing
very tall;
I hope
it
does
not
fall.

-Emma Waggoner
Grade 5

Thankful

I am thankful for nature,
For the trees and their leaves,
For the birds and their feathers,
For the grass and its greenness;
For these, I am thankful.

-Brighid Woods
Grade 5

Little Red Tree

Little red tree, standing right by the water
Dancing and swaying in the wind,
Little red tree you are so colorful!
-standing out from all the others.
Little red tree, reaching for the sky,
you are waiting for your bright leaves to fall...
before the winter snow comes
to cover your branches with white snowflakes.

-Leah Fryberger
Grade 5

Sometimes

I see the trees moving,
I feel the wind blowing,
I hear the birds chirping,
sometimes... and I think
about the future,
when I grow up,
and find a day to fly.

-Isaiah Austin
Grade 5

Red Vine

So red so red so beautiful as a cardinal
and red as a newt and red as a cavalier jersey
and as red as a thorn berry
RED VINE.

-Melvin Cantrell
Grade 5

Rocks

They've got very good polka dots
that you can look at,
and they've got good texture
to them...
So that if you lay a rock
on top of something else
for a long time
that something
will take on the texture
of the rock.

-Brittany Green
Grade 4

A Rock

Red and gray little rock
little stripes all over,
rough like gravel,
pretty as can be
so you won't break-
I see what you mean,
I know what you're made of:
Sandstone is what you are.

-Jahaira Ortiz
Grade 5

Crows

Crows are watching you-
Be careful or you'll get scared by their
S-C-R-E-E-E-E-E-C-H,
You see them looking at you
They see you, too;
One comes by and says
"peek-a-boo" !

-Victoria Politowics
Grade 5

So Tiny

So tiny. Baby daisies
so big as my thumb nail.
So soft and white.
Baby daisies, so tiny.

-Tasha Fisher
Grade 4

The Sky and Me

I see the sky and it is blue,
I see the clouds, they are too.
The wind is blurry
The clouds are moving
I see me and I am blooming.

-Clarence Johnson
Grade 4

Bachelor Buttons

Bachelor buttons are beautiful, I think you would agree,
The puddles of their centers, staring up at me.
The middle of this flower looks like a cat's claw,
Open and pointed inward, like a shark's jaw.

-Spencer Williams
Grade 6

Trees Trees Terrific Trees

Trees, trees terrific trees
Swaying back and forth in the wind
All yellow green and red
Swaying back and forth all day-
It surprises me they're not dead;
I wonder how strong these trees really are
These trees, trees, terrific trees.

-Peter Healey
Grade 6

Poems Poems Poems

The sky is blue just like the eyes on you,
Clouds are soft and puffy as your pillow at night.
Daisies are yellow like butter on your breakfast plate,
Pussy willows are pointy like the porcupine kids see at the zoo...
Tall grasses blow in the wind like the whistling noise of a girl on the swing,
The sky is blue just like the eyes on you.

- Hannah Adelstein
Grade 6

Cattails

I sit here on the grass watching the cattails.
They are so furry you could use them as a jacket;
They dance with the wind like they are having a party,
Bowing at me as if I am their king.
They talk to me,
Asking me to join and dance,
but I say I must go
and I will visit again.

-Raman Aryana
Grade 6

My Name

My name is Tre.
My eyes are like brown wood
My shoes are like black rocks
My skin is like this smooth water.

-Trevon Patterson
Grade 6

One Leaf

One leaf stood out to me-
Red as an apple,
Better than the rest.
The only leaf
red as an apple,
One leaf blowing in the wind.

It finally broke off and I ran to catch it
so it wouldn't fall to the ground;
But when I did
My brain over-flooded
and I set it back down,
My heart beating in too much excitement.

-Shelby Willis
Grade 6

The Secret People (The Wind)

When the wind blows it makes
Flowers move. When they move
It looks like people are
Wandering in the flower patch.

-Daniel Huber
Grade 5

Cattails

The cattails
are scared cats
sticking up their tails
from a meadow.

-Zach Palotta
Grade 5

That's Poison Ivy

It has three leaves, Some
are bright, some are fading;
The edges are pink and the inside
is green. It’s oval, it’s itchy, it’s thin…
And if it makes you sick—
That’s poison ivy.

-Clayton Ralston
Grade 5

Painted Indian Flowers

Painted Indian flowers
are like a blue sunny sky. They move
in the wind; I hope someone lends
them a wave-
They would say
"good-bye".

-Michayla Hamon
Grade 5

Trees a Sometimes Silent Beauty

Trees a sometimes silent beauty, that come in various,
radiant colors of a fall rainbow. Waving at us as the
wind goes by, and leaning by each other as if they were
whispering each other a secret in their shimmering dew.
The homes of animals, and the one thing that helps us live.
Dancing in the wind, just waiting, watching us, the
mysterious beauty, Trees.

-Sabrina Morris
Grade 5

Black Water Snake

Look at the black water snake
Hunting for a frog.
When a frog turns its
Back it will strike.

-Clay Hammes
Grade 5

Daisies

The daisies are like umbrellas,
The bees look like hound dogs,
sniffing the ground.
Daisies repel water when the rain comes
but right now they are lightly swaying;
The bee comes and goes
and they swivel:
one-hundred and fifty graceful flowers.

-Amelia Olson
Grade 6

Foxgloves

Purple spotted flowers make me
think of Christmas bells.
Two ants crawl inside
and
tickle the flower,
and when the wind blows
the flowers wave good-bye.

-Alison Olson
Grade 2

Goldenrod

Raised up against the sky, shivering in the wind. A long purplish
stem, thin green leaves. The top explodes with tiny yellow flowers.
Goldenrod.

-Elizabeth Dirksa
Grade 5

Ducks

I see them swimming farther and farther away,
Making circles of water as they play.

-Teresa Iemma
Grade 5

Ducks Eating

Ducks feeding by dunking their
heads in the water, their little
tails sticking up. Their golden
beaks grabbing at their food.

-Katie Prybyla
Grade 5

Grasshoppers

They hop and they hop and
some fly too. All day long in the jungle of grass
Never tired, never bored.

-Niko Sawan
Grade 5

Little Flower

A flower, majestic, its petals
Stretching towards the sky.
So much beauty in such a little flower.

-Parriz Kanga
Grade 5

The Moth

Grasshoppers…tons
Frogs…many
Snakes…some
Ducks…few
And one little moth
trying to fly.

-Matthew Wenstrup
Grade 5

Fish

The fish is one of the prettiest
things. It lives under water
with its scales so shiny that it’s hard
not to see.

-Dan Wagstaff
Grade 5

Goldenrod

Raised up against the sky, shivering in the wind. A long purplish
stem, thin green leaves. The top explodes with tiny yellow flowers.
Goldenrod.

-Elizabeth Dirksa
Grade 5

Blue Heron

Blue Heron, Blue Heron
Beautiful in flight
Though very silent,
Hiding in the trees...
Please-
Come back to me.

-Travis Santell Edwards
Grade 4

Ducks White as the Sky

As I see beautiful ducks in the pond,
Swimming as fast as boats,
I watch them singing notes;
Ducks out above the pond
Flying high and long
Ducks white as the Sky.

-Carlton Powell
Grade 4

Family of Ducks

A family of ducks is in the pond.
They’re shaking their heads and twisting their necks
They swim together in a circle of love.
Now they’re flying high above.

-Victor Eaves
Grade 4

Grasshopper

Red brown skin
Has big hind legs
Good at jumping high
And long.

-Favian Parson
Grade 4

Yellow Bee

Yellow bee, Yellow bee buzzing by my ear:
Please, oh please get away from me there.
I know you like nectar but I am not a flower—
So please, oh please Yellow bee
Get away from my ear!

-Connor Fleshman
grade 4

Bachelor Buttons

Bachelor buttons are darkish purple
Swaying in the breeze-
like blueberries, if you throw them;
I would hang them all around my room.

-Kaliyah Marie Moore
Grade 5

Goldenrods

Goldenrods are so brightish yellow
They move in the breeze as if they want
to show off their cuteness.
To me, they look like they are saying,
"Let me be your wedding flowers."

-Kaliyah Marie Moore
Grade 5

Lily in the Water

Lily in the water
you glisten in the sunshine
and reflect upon me.

Lily in the still, slow
water shows beauty from
below, and above.

-Lorissa Reeves
Grade 6

Tadpoles

little cute tadpoles
wiggling around in the pond—
Where is your mother?

-Samantha Cooke
Grade 6

The Lily Pads

I see lily pads floating on the pond
With white flowers up above.

I see the breeze flowing
In the water.

I see wonderful lily pads
With white flowers up above!

-Delaine Thomas
Grade 6

Sound of Crickets

The sound of crickets

The sound of crickets
Hiding among the cattails—
When will I see them?

-Frida Etchell
Grade 6

Cattail

The hardness of the cattail
The softness of the fur
The thickness of the cattail
The littleness of the fur
…but if you go farther
It will be nothing but blur.

-Brandi Reaves
Grade 6

A Day in the Woods

109 Bushy Shrubs
906 Tall Trees
51 Kinds of Animals
35 Small Ponds
87 Lily Pads
92 Steep Hills
42 Flatlands

That’s a Day in the Woods.

-Tyler Clair
Grade 6