SGAMS Students Place 2nd and 4th in the York County Libraries Poetry Contest

York County Libraries presented its 34th Annual ‘A Celebration of Poetry’ contest for children in 1st - 12th grades in York and Adams County. Local poets, authors, and community leaders judged the submissions. Two Spring Grove Area Middle School students placed in the contest.

Congratulations to Jemma Cooksey, who took second place, and Faith Champagne, who placed fourth in the seventh/eighth grade division!

The winning poems will be printed in the 2023 A Celebration of Poetry book.

Jemma Cooksey - 2nd Place Poem, Entitled Life

You know life isn’t that bad once you look past the fog that blinds you
From having a good day 
It honestly took me a long time to learn how 
To look past the fog 

Life isn’t always about what you can see 
It’s about what you learn to look past and grow from 
It’s about rising up from the bad days you have 

And even if you let those days get you down 
There are still an infinite amount of days 
To live and an infinite amount of possibilities for those days 

Life isn’t a game to be played or won 
Life is the privilege we get despite the things we have done 
And my life has been rough 
But I’m happy I get this privilege and you should be too
You deserve to live this life as much as I do

Faith Champagne - 4th Place Poem, Entitled Hide and Seek

I have searched all over for someone who cares,
But I cannot seem to find,
Someone really there
I’m haunted by empty stares
And pushed to the back of the line.

I have wondered for years how they managed to find,
A friendship that wasn’t a dead end.
I meet someone new
And then, right on cue,
They say we were all just pretend.

But what is the truth?
What’s a lie?
What’s in between?
Is the sky really blue?
Maybe for you,
But what I mean,
Is that everyone is different
And we’ve got our own definition,
Of what is real and what is not
So when you say my friends are fake,
Is it the truth, or just a thought?

I’m sorry if it seems like I’m getting off track,
But this feeling is like a heart attack.
This longing to be loved, to be seen, to be heard
That I’ll never understand
Because the lines are too blurred.

Am I the only one still playing
In our game of hide and seek?
Searching for someone who feels the same,
Maybe I’m just not very good at this game.
But then again, are any of us?

Too focused on how we can break someone’s trust,
To speak to the girl 
To let someone win
To stray from the normal
To allow the break-in
So I ask you:
Are we really all different?
Are we really all the same?
And does it really even matter,
When we are all playing the same game?