California Coastal Commission

Right Column

2008 Coastal Art & Poetry Contest Honorable Mentions

Grades K-3

 

California Coastal Sunset, for the 2008 Coastal Art & Poetry Contest
California Coastal Sunset
Jessie Zhao
Grade 3

 

Timeless Ocean

Rowboats, tugboats, speedboats
All floating on the blue-green water.
Fishes, jellyfish, crabs and even surfers
Gliding with the crisp, piercing waves.
Grainy, moist sand trapped between my sticky, damp toes
As I trudge along the endless shore.
Even in the nippy, cold wind,
The ocean is a beautiful place.

Emily Ramirez
Grade 2

 

 

Three Avocets, by Gina Rose Partridge for the 2008 Coastal Art & Poetry Contest
Three Avocets
Gina Rose Partridge
Kindergarten

 

The Blue Whale’s Grave

A blue whale was swimming by a ship,
Breaching and doing a flip,
As the whale swam in its wake,
The ship’s propeller made a fatal mistake.

They tried to sink the whale at sea,
But giant waves set it free.
They tried to give it a sandy grave,
But the ocean uncovered it wave by wave.

They cut the whale into smaller chunks,
And you’ll never believe what they did with those hunks.
They hauled the whale in a garbage truck
And dumped it in a landfill with trash and muck.

They cut off his head and brought it to a museum,
And now people will pay money just to see him.
Now the head will warn captains to go slow,
They better listen or they’re the whales’ foe.

Isaac Goldstein
Grade 3

 

The Seagull and the Chick, by Latya Kolotovskaia for the 2008 Coastal Art & Poetry Contest
The Seagull and the Chick
Katya Kolotovskaia
Grade 2

 

Fort Bragg

salty waters
sand and fog
birds walk
seals talk
seaweed floats
in big waves
crashing on rock

Sam Meyers
Grade 1

 

We Are Family, by Halli Kim for the 2008 Coastal Art & Poetry Contest
We Are Family
Halli Kim
Grade 2

 

Seashore

Salty wind blows
Seaweed is tangled up
Sand in my hair. Waves in my ears.
Beaches.

Anthony Fernandez
Grade 1
 

 

Beach, by Austin S. Cai for the 2008 Coastal Art & Poetry Contest
Beach
Austin S. Cai
Grade 3

 

 


Grades 4-6

 


Deep Diving Dolphins, by Emily Li for the 2008 Coastal Art & Poetry Contest
Deep Diving Dolphins
Emily Li
Grade 6

 

The Sea

The sea is a blue, flat stone,
Sitting quietly,
And all the boats are waiting,
Very thoughtfully,
But the stone,
It will break,
In the ripples of a wake,
And the stone,
Will be gone

Matthew Joseph
Grade 5

 

Royal Terns, by Kara Mendez for the 2008 Coastal Art & Poetry Contest
Royal Terns
Kara Mendez
Grade 5

 

The Depths of The Ocean

The seashore is bathed in white moonlight,
its source the cause of the tide.

But here is not our place,
so imagine a shark we ride
down to the depths of the ocean
where it and anglerfish hunt.

Where we never can tell
if day has just passed
or just now come.

Fiona Hall-Zazueta
Grade 4

 



Flipping Dolphin, by Arvind Katta for the 2008 Coastal Art & Poetry Contest
Flipping Dolphin
Arvind Katta
Grade 4

 

UNDERWATER FOREST HAIKUS

The Kelp

Tall leafy kelp beds
Swaying in the ocean tides
Majestic and green

The Garibaldi

Darting through dark kelp
Flashy orange scales shining
Small fires in the sea

The Seal

Frolicking gaily
Through the kelp they glide with joy
Slipping through the sea

Malia Moore
Grade 4

 

Rock, Sea, Seal, by Alice Su for the 2008 Coastal Art & Poetry Contest
Rock, Sea, Seal
Alice Su
Grade 5



Intermingled

Memories,
they come and go,
intermingled,
with the salty air,
and the crashing waves,
and the raucous cawing
of the gulls as they
fight for a
prize.
With the
surge of excitement
as the pole bends,
and the line tugs,
and the feeling
of disappointment
when the line snaps,
lost forever in the
pristine waters.
With the
sandcastles
washed away
by the tide.
With the
sunburns,
and the salt
stuck to your
back,
and the
tiny shell
that sparks
a question in
the mind of a
five year-old.
With the
sea foam
and the
laughter.
Memories,
they come and go,
forever
intermingled.

Elijah Alperin
Grade 6

 

 

Sunset on the Coast, by Peter Yu for the 2008 Coastal Art & Poetry Contest
Sunset on the Coast
Peter Yu
Grade 6

 


Grades 7-9

 

Flying to Freedom, by Sabrina Lee for the 2008 Coastal Art & Poetry Contest
Flying to Freedom
Sabrina Lee
Grade 9

 

I Walked Along the Sand

As I walk along the sand,
My footsteps mark where I have been, where the waves have washed.
The crashing water
white, foamy,
throwing ropes of green kelp to the shore.
The wild water
so powerful and cold,
splashes me with icy drops.

Millions of lives in that ocean,
Millions of people who have walked its sands,
Millions of waves have washed up on its beaches.
As I look out at the fine line between water and sky,
I know I am meant to be
here.

Annakai Hayakawa Geshlider
Grade 7

 

 

West Coast Dad, by Gabrielle Rios for the 2008 Coastal Art & Poetry Contest
West Coast Dad
Gabrielle Rios
Grade 7

 

Sand Haiku

Soft as winter snow
Whirls into the spinning wind
Sand of morning beach

Maddie Anderson
Grade 7

 

 

Deep Sea Angler, by Brandon Chai for the 2008 Coastal Art & Poetry Contest
Deep Sea Angler
Brandon Chai
Grade 9

 

Tide rising sand castles melt
Feet sink in flowing water
Children leave at setting sun
Nighttime silence down the coast
Sudden noises that are not seen
Till the sun comes back

Rising sun morning cold
Ocean shines in light
Sitting outside with silence
Brown bird

Shannon Garcia
Grade 8

 

 

 

By the Ocean, by Terrence Wang for the 2008 Coastal Art & Poetry Contest
By the Ocean
Terrence Wang
Grade 7

 

 


Grades 10-12

'Otter Amusement', by Kaitlyn O'Keefe for the 2008 Coastal Art & Poetry Contest
'Otter Amusement'
Kaitlyn O'Keefe
Grade 12
 

Coast's Sunset, by Catherine Ryu for the 2008 Coastal Art & Poetry Contest
Coast's Sunset
Catherine Ryu
Grade 10

 

Facing the Sea

I look out,
The cold breeze chills my bare arms and
bites my bones.
The wind breathes into my face,
and the salty taste reaches up to my eyes.
I listen to the sound of waves
crashing against the pillars beneath me,
creak of the boards,
like the sound of your teeth clenching.

Hugh Coffee
Grade 11

 

 

Dolphins Underwater, by Jennifer Lu for the 2008 Coastal Art & Poetry Contest
Dolphins Underwater
Jennifer Lu
Grade 11

 

Wave

Walls of beauty
Appearing and disappearing
Voice of the ocean
Emerging from the depths below

Nick D'Amico
Grade 12

 

Tiding, by Kaidi Liu for the 2008 Coastal Art & Poetry Contest
Tiding
Kaidi Liu
Grade 12

 

Pleasure Point

Those crappy wooden stairs-
Most don't trust the railing
If there is one.
The water is freezing.
The waves can be harsh
And the sand is boring;
It's always been that way.
But then why can we spend hours just staring at it?
Is it our memories carved into the third step?
That captivating streak of gold hitting the water?
Or is it the time we've spent in that boring sand?
You don't know what it is.
You don't come back because it's like nothing else you've ever had.
You come back because it is everything you've ever had.

Aja Maile Clum
Grade 11

 

Lucy Goes Home, by Lora ChavDavis for the 2008 Coastal Art & Poetry Contest
Lucy Goes Home
Lora ChauDavis
Grade 10

 


Jade Cove

Across the ocean
Where the wave strike your
Tender surface and the trees
Dance to the wind's melody
And the birds drink from
Your sweet blossoms

Across the ocean
Where I fell in love with
Your jade covered crevices
You picked me up and threw me down,
Where you left little treasures
in the sand for me to find

Across the distance I see you
I hope I can once again climb your rocks
Sitting on a tree just to see you
Gulp the ocean waves.

Guna Leikind-Williamson
Grade 12