POETRY CONTEST
Congratulations to the 2023 Winners!
The Empowering Justice Charitable Foundation held a poetry contest in April 2023 in honor of National Poetry Month and poet Kween Regine.
Thank you to all who participated! We enjoyed reading your poetry!
We are pleased to announce this year's winner.
Congratulations to:
Mbia Mvondo
Lailanie Spruill-Gutierrez
A'Zariah Alston
Aubrey Williams
All winners hail from South Carolina!
Each year there is a different theme for the poetry contest.
The theme for 2023 is: Courage
High School and up: 1st Place Winner
"My Chest Cries Tears of Red"
Written by Mbia Mvondo from South Carolina
Shards of glass and metal fly past my face.
The cries of my enemies blend with the cries of my brothers.
I imagine my kin
softly sleeping in our home miles away.
I grit my teeth and breathe out my fear.
I scream in silence
as I trot over the fallen.
Bronze bullets bounce off my bones.
Yet,
I feel no pain.
I can only see
in shades of gray.
I shoot.
They fall.
But I don´t stop.
The Courage runs through my veins
until I hear the enemy scream,
¨Retreat!¨
But now I feel the pain.
I fall to my knees.
My chest cries tears of red.
But I smile because
I'm home at last.
2nd Place Overall Winner
"Courage of Me"
Written by A'Zariah Alston from South Carolina
The courage I have inside of me
Is nothing but what I want to be
Courage is like someone you trust
Someone who doesn’t leave you in the rust
Oh how I want to be
That courage inside of me
Courage is love
Flying like a soaring dove
Courage is a feeling so new
A feeling inside of you
Courage is believing
Someone who is not deceiving
Courage is caring for others
Like your sisters and brothers
Oh how I want to be
That courage inside of me
Oh that courage in me
Is exactly what I want to be…..
Elementary 1st Place Winner
"Courage"
Written by Lailanie Spruill-Gutierrez from South Carolina
Courage is the light and heart inside you
the thing you build up inside you to try something new,
Sometime you can be scared,
But if you have courage you have nothing to fear.
When I was a little girl I was afraid of heights,
but now that I have courage I have no fear.
Life can be scary yes I know,
but with courage and life you can just go with the flow.
Even though you might not know it,
Courage starts with you.
Courage is a special feeling something so new,
Wherever you go you have courage inside you.
When your scared of something new,
Just remember that courage is inside you.
So when your scared,
Just build up that courage inside you.
When your scared,
Don’t have fear.
Just remember,
Courage is always there.
3rd Place Overall Winner
"The Theme Courage"
Written by Aubrey Williams from South Carolina
Courage to stand out.
Courage to be me.
This courage I wish I had so drastically!
Courage to laugh.
The feeling to be free.
Oh I wish I wish I had this courage inside of me.
Courage to love.
Courage to trust.
To have this courage would be a plus.
Courage is a strong power in my heart
Courage is something that never pulls us apart
Courage is in something that we all have
Courage is family
Courage is hope
Courage is power
Courage makes us strong
Courage is love