2004

Contest Winners | Resources

2004 Grand Prize and Regional Winners

The natural world as seen through the eyes of its children is heartening, humbling, fresh, often life-affirming, and sometimes disturbing. Feel free to download poems for your own enjoyment or for educational use. For commercial use of this copyrighted material, please contact us about reproduction rights. All licensing fees go to support River of Words´ educator training programs, our annual contest, and our curriculum materials.

Poetry submissions are judged by River of Words co-founders Robert Hass, who served as US Poet Laureate from 1995-1997, and writer Pamela Michael. We award four Grand Prizes in poetry every year to United States contestants, in four different age categories. In addition, about 50 finalists are selected each year from the tens of thousands of entries we receive from the US and other countries.

You may look at poems from previous years by using the menu below.

**View Yearly Poetry Winners and Finalists**
2007	2006	2005	2004	2003	2002
2001	2000	1999	1998	1997	1996

Grasshopper

Oscar Trejo Renteria, age 7
South Lake Tahoe, California
Bijou Community School
Teacher: Linda Loughrin

Grand Prize Winner
Category I
Grades K-2

I Asked

Khatsini Simani, age 11
Seattle, Washington
Lakeside Middle School
Teacher: Lance King

Grand Prize Winner
Category II
Grades 3-6

Deer Print

Benjamin F. Williams, age 12
Westport Island, Maine
Center for Teaching and Learning (Edgecomb)
Teacher: Marianne Williams

Grand Prize Winner
Category III
Grades 7-9

Closed Ears

Tiffanie Jones, age 18
Ellenwood, Georgia
Chamblee Charter High School (Chamblee)
Teacher: Diana Lynn Farmer

Grand Prize Winner
Category IV
Grades 10-12

Untitled

ANACOSTIA WATERSHED PRIZE (Poem)
(honoring a student from the Washington, DC area)
Clarence Adams, age 17
Washington, DC
Cesar Chavez High School
Teacher: Margot DeFerranti

Monkey’s Raincoat Prize
Honoring a Short Poem in the Traditon of the Japanese Haiku

Inspired by Georgia O'Keefe's "Black and Purple Petunia's"

SHASTA BIOREGION PRIZE (Poem)
(honoring a student from the San-Francisco Bay Area)
Adriane Pontecorvo, age 13
San Francisco, California
Lowell High School
Teacher: Terri Bookwalter/Susan Terence

Shasta Bioregion Prize
Awarded to a San Francisco Bay Area student

Haiku

MONKEY's RAINCOAT PRIZE (for Haiku)
Oona Lyons, age 16
Fairfax, California
Marin Homeschoolers Poetry Group
Teacher: Devika Brandt (2004 Teacher of the Year)

Finalists

Untittled, Madeleine Bennett
Rain, Bethany Bernard
Applelicious, Abby Braiman
My Stream, Molly C. Brown
Moon Whisper, Lake Buckley
Untitled, Ellie Crutcher
The Best World, Juan Dillard
Just Itself, Kelley Douglas
Dancing in the Rain, Cory Ferris
Sandstone Walk, Emily Fuller
Along the Shore, Joanna Foster
Coyote Pup and Friends, Oscar Hong
Esta Es, Mehrnush Golriz
Clouds, Rosie Handschy
H2O, Nicole Higginbotham
Untitled, Bailey Irving
Blue Hill Bay, Niall Journey
Untitled, Jane Jiang
Sea Serpents, Madeline Johnson
On Forgetting, Catherine Killingsworth
Moon Catcher, Holly Kuestner
Skipping Stones, Sammi Jo Lee
Destructive World/ Cherished World, Ashley MacDonald
How We Use Nature, Tonisha Martinson, Elizabeth Hernandez, Malage LeBlanc
El Arbol de Juanito/Juanito's Tree, Adrian Mariscal
Untitled, Bonnie Merson
Africa, Camesha Mitchell
Untitled, Austin Moody
Through the Lens, Camila Perez
Waterfall, Kelee S. Peyton
Ode to Old Tomatilo, Ciro Podany
Pecan Island, Parker Reaux
Days, Alisa A. Resnick
On Turtle Rock, Alison Rittershaus
I..., Sophia Sabeh
Whispering Willow, Emily Sharpe
Roots, Elisnore Smidth-Carabetta
Homemade Swimming Hole, Michael Stoltz
Luna, Meaghan Snider
Just Folk, Felon Summers
Fais Do-Do, Lauren Trahan
Yo/I, Hellen Velasquez
Turtle Beach, Bridget Walsh
Grasshoper, Jordan Winans
Rocky Mountain High, Robert Wojahn
Tick Tock, Dillion York
To My Parents, Luis Manuel Zamora

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