1) Poetry can help us understand things in new ways.
2) There is more than one way to “know” something. Ways of knowing, or understanding the world, include thoughts, feelings, Indigenous knowledge and scientific understanding.
3) Your feelings, thoughts and values shape your understanding of the world and your role in it.
2025 Contest:
1) Open to all New Hampshire students in grades 3-5, including homeschoolers.
2) Theme: Water and Me
3) See the More Guidance button below for rules and additional information.
3) Submission deadline: March 31, 2025.
4) Prizes: 1st place $100
2nd place $75
3rd place $50
5) Questions? Contact Lara Hooper at lara.hooper@des.nh.gov.
For Inspiration
"Earthrise"
by Amanda Gorman
Youth Poet Laureate of the United States
Credit:
Amanda Gorman and Climate Reality
Gallery of Poems
Gallery of Poems
2024 Congratulations! First Place Poet
Water's Reality
by Miriam Talcott
Fourth grade, Durham
If I didn’t have enough clean water,
Not for just a day,
But forever,
I wouldn’t be able to take a bath
Or wash my clothes.
The effects would really show.
But what if people actually lived like this?
What if our everyday luxuries were simply their wish?
What if their world was shattered into pieces?
What if all of this is true?
Please, pay attention,
For I have a terrifying tale
To tell you.
Because there is no imagination in a day without clean water,
Except for the part about a single day,
800 million people walk,
Hours,
And hours,
And hours,
Away,
Just to collect water that is sometimes not seen,
Just to collect water that isn’t even clean.
So the water that they have,
Which is only a little bit,
Often makes people, most young children, very sick.
So if there was a day without clean water,
Which there already is,
I would simply blame us.
We are what make the Earth so much hotter.
We are not caring that on our planet there is not enough room,
For the cars,
And the planes,
And the terrible fumes.
The atmosphere does not thank us for our harmful habits,
It can’t just let all of that suffocating smoke out.
It does what you may do in its place,
It begins to shout, and pout.
Some people see this as meaningless storms,
But these sudden bursts are not meaningless anymore,
Destruction has been done,
And that’s because of us,
Environments and ecosystems are falling apart,
The Earth deserves to have our trust.
Species are falling out of sync,
Unlucky ones become extinct.
More and more creatures now share the unluck.
Us humans?
We have to make our planet’s ecosystems unstuck.
So here’s a thought:
We’ll help those women and children who
Walk,
And
Walk,
And
Walk
To have just a sip of water still,
With hope that in the future people like us will,
Make sure the Earth is in something of a better shape,
Make sure that out of their deep dark hole they can escape.
And at the very least, raise awareness,
Because in this big mess, there is no fairness,
For when people are searching for the best water in a pool,
There is no time to go to school.
So together let’s help families get an education,
And create the Earth a whole new renovation.
This world we live in, it’s all reality,
So help protect water security.
2024 Congratulations! Second Place Poet
Last Drop
by Isaac Shaffer
Fourth grade, Plymouth
Imagine a day with not a drop in sight,
Some people would cry and some would fight.
The sea would be dry,
And fish and coral would die.
Your pets would need a drink,
But there would be no time to think.
There would be no water to flush,
The heat would make you blush.
There would be no water in your well,
Because the water levels fell.
There would be no water for trout,
It’s like a never ending drought.
I wish it were a dream,
It is real it may seem.
Hydro plants would shut down,
And most people would frown.
There would be no water for showering,
And no water for spring flowering.
But there is a way,
To save us from that frightful day.
To avoid this nightmare,
We must all do our share.
Let’s take care of our planet blue,
You should think of ways to help too.
2024 Congratulations! Third Place Poet
When We Run Dry
by Linnea Vannette
Fourth grade, Hampstead
When the world runs dry
When we plead and cry
When the ground gets rough
We wish we’d done enough
For global warming stops for none
Soon our earth will be gone
No one helped no one tried
As the world sat there terrified
We were useless and in vain
We couldn’t stop this multiplying chain
We must protect
We must stand up
We’ll try hard
we’ll push our luck
So don’t waste water
And it won’t be a bother
Try your hardest to protect
Make sure your water has been checked
Always remember to never stop trying
To stop the world on the brink of dying
2023 Congratulations! First Place Poet
World Warming
by Miriam Talcott
Third grade, Durham
I don’t know what to say
About what is
Happening these days.
Because somewhere there is a
Big, sad polar bear
Who has a melting home.
And a poor, little fish
Who has a coral reef that is dying.
And if the fish could,
The fish would be crying.
What is it around the world
That is so greatly swarming?
I’ll tell you what it is.
It’s global warming.
You see,
The world is getting so incredibly hot
And humans ought
To have stepped up to help
But they did not.
They just let harmful gasses
Into the atmosphere.
And now we are mother nature’s fear.
And when the gas is up there
All of that gas traps the Earth’s heat.
Now, up in the Arctic
The Icebergs are melting
And oceans have started to rise.
For our Earth,
There is no prize.
Massive storms have started to form.
The Earth is getting so very warm.
Floods have begun
And humans now realize
What they’ve done.
There is more erosion,
Which can’t just be fixed with a potion.
Coastal habitats are about to be lost,
For fish, birds, and plants, it is a great cost.
We must join together now
And make it our sacred vow
To try to make the Earth happy and safe.
So come on!
Let us make it our feat
To stop this horrible heat.
Let us use electric cars,
Turn out lights,
Install solar panels,
And conserve water.
Because if we don’t,
The Earth will get hotter and hotter.
If it’s one thing we don’t want
Across the world’s wide range,
It would be climate change.
So let’s save nature and animals everywhere
Especially that big, sad polar bear.
2023 Congratulations! Second Place Poet
Our Earth
by Phineas Mitchell
Fourth grade, North Hampton
Lakes and rivers are rising.
Yes, the effects are very surprising.
We are throwing trash into the seas.
We need to stop cutting down trees.
It hurts the Earth, it’s not a joke.
All this hotness makes me choke.
Soon the underwater reefs will be gone.
When we wake up at the start of dawn.
Sealife is starting to fade.
All this damage is human made.
Start picking plastic up.
We can stop this littering cup by cup.
Then we can do our part.
If we don’t the water level will go off the charts.
Let’s go above.
And help the world we love.
We want our Earth not to turn to rust.
So we can gain each other’s trust.
2023 Congratulations! Third Place Poet
The Blues of the Ocean
by Maksim Knezevic
Fifth grade, Durham
Our ocean is a beauty with the sun glaring down on the glistening blue.
Big, deep and mysterious.
I always wondered what lurks under the smooth surface.
It is sometimes peaceful, sometimes wild especially when might winds create big waves and push them towards the sandy shores.
The waves are not stirring just the water but also the wildlife, trash and debris that floats on the surface.
Tangled in a trash bag a lonely baby turtle fighting the mighty tides.
No matter how big or small every living creature fights for survival.
A lucky break for the tiny turtle as a huge wave freed it from the tangled plastic.
Another chance at life, another day in nature. The ocean seems always the same, blue and unchanged,
but that’s just on the surface.
2023 Congratulations! Honorable Mention Poet
Water Rising
by Abigail McNamara
Fourth grade, North Hampton
Water Rising
Taking away our land
Our beaches have less and less sand
Water rising
Causing our temperatures to climb
Ruining our weather over time
Water rising
It’s creating fires, floods and droughts
The atmosphere isn’t letting any heat out
Water rising
Demolishing animal’s habitats and food
This behavior is quite harmful and rude
Water rising
It makes me rather blue
Let’s make our oceans good as new
Water rising
We can all help out
Cleaning the Earth is what it’s all about
2023 Congratulations! Honorable Mention Poet
Waters Ups and Downs
by Kylie Sullivan
Fourth grade, Keene
Water is in the air and it is everywhere.
The rain falls from the sky and sometimes the drops make me cry.
But the rain creates streams, rivers, brooks and lakes making the world a better place.
Water is used by people to drink, to cook, to clean and play.
It is a great part of each and everybody’s day.
This year rain has been coming down making floods around the town.
People need fresh water to drink which keeps you hydrated and helps you to think.
Salt water from oceans is overtaking our land and beaches around the world are losing their sand.
The waters’ ups and downs can bring you smiles and sometimes frowns.
Water is in the air and it is everywhere.
2022 Congratulations! First Place Poet
Imagining the Ocean
by Remy Foucher
Third grade, Newton
I love the ocean!
The water in the sea,
When I go there, it seems to call to me.
When we have to part, it makes me feel low,
But if I take a seashell my happiness will grow.
When I start to miss the sea, I bring the seashell to my ear,
And I marvel at the wonderful ocean sounds that I hear!
I close my eyes, I imagine the beach – water so clean and clear
It feels within my reach.
A breeze blows from the ocean, refreshing and cool
While I laugh and splash in a large tide pool.
I look at small creatures – starfish and crabs,
I watch them as they walk along the flat rock slabs.
The water feels cold pooling around my feet,
But that is alright on a day of such great heat!
When I open my eyes, I’m standing in my house,
Instead of my bathing suit, I am wearing my blouse!
In bed I toss and turn, breaking the quiet with my motion,
But secretly I am dreaming of a great place called the ocean.
2022 Congratulations! Second Place Poet
Blue Copy
by Jasper O'Shaughnessy
Fifth grade, Concord
I see a blue
reflection in
the water looking
at me
When I feel
rage it’s
mad just
like me
When I have
a huge smile
it’s happy
We feel the
same
Until I cry
it sobs just
the exact way
I hate the blue
reflection I hit
it with my hand
Until I see
The blue copy is
exactly like
ME
2022 Congratulations! Third Place Poet
I am
by Rino Honda
Fourth grade, North Hampton
I am flexible
like the rivers in the land.
I am calm
like all the still lakes.
I am loud
like the roaring waves in the ocean.
I am quick
like all the flowing streams.
I am everlasting
like the unmoving lakes.
I am full
like the sea of plants and animals.
I am patient
like the rivers making canyons.
I am bright
like the lake reflecting the sun’s rays.
I am furious
like the waves bashing against the cliff.
I am
flexible, calm, loud, quick, everlasting, full, patient, bright and furious.
I am like the water
and the water is like me.
2022 Congratulations! Honorable Mention Poet
The Peaceful Blue
by Alexis Ann Peterson
Fourth grade, Chester
I sit by the shore, talking to you
You are the quiet, peaceful ocean blue.
I sit and wonder, what would we do without water?
I tell someone about you,
Then they love water too!
Tell me, how are your waves so great?
Let's make them cleaner before it's too late...!
Oh, the quiet, peaceful ocean blue,
What has happened to you?!
Your once blue waves, bright and pretty,
Has now become a dump, how filthy!
The turtles that rest deep below,
Plastic now makes them choke!
Someone, please! What has happened here?
Let's gather and make you clear,
The quiet, peaceful ocean blue.
2021
First Place Poet
Water Ways
by Alexa Bulman
Fourth grade, Hampstead
Aqua and blue
Saving water is good for you!
Make the most of every drop
Your good deed will pop.
Water is important to things great and small
Share this to all
You saving water is contagious
Everyone will save water, it will be outrageous!
So everyday as the sunshines
Conserving water should be one of your goal lines!
Congratulations! 2022 Third Place Poet
Announcement soon!