Right Column
2012 Coastal Art & Poetry Contest Honorable Mentions
GRADES K-1
Looking for Food
Sofia Lutsuk
1st Grade, Roseville
My Otter
My otter is eating shells,
He holds it in his little hands.
He lies on his back and eats in the water.
I lie on my back and eat in the tub!
Lauren Crabtree
Kindergarten, Laguna Niguel
My otter is eating shells,
He holds it in his little hands.
He lies on his back and eats in the water.
I lie on my back and eat in the tub!
Lauren Crabtree
Kindergarten, Laguna Niguel
Scuba Diver
Kacy Chung
1st grade, Irvine
The Ocean
The sea swirls
In up and down loops
The birds tweet
And fly on the beach
Elena Brem
Kindergarten, Yorba Linda
The sea swirls
In up and down loops
The birds tweet
And fly on the beach
Elena Brem
Kindergarten, Yorba Linda
Three Pelicans
Johnny Cornejo
1st grade, Watsonville
Jellfish live there.
Fishes love to swim there.
Starfishes like to stick to rocks.
When I go to the beach I have to
Take off my socks.
Cara Constant
Kindergarten, Cupertino
Fishes love to swim there.
Starfishes like to stick to rocks.
When I go to the beach I have to
Take off my socks.
Cara Constant
Kindergarten, Cupertino
Starfish
Hemal Kurani
1st grade, Sunnyvale
GRADES 2-3
Sky's Lighthouse
Skylar Scripter
3rd grade, Laguna Hills
Understanding a Whale
Whale watching the first time
and the connection was strong.
The whales like huge birds in the water
singing songs like a flute,
playing songs of joy.
When I see a whale,
I understand how it feels.
A female and her calf
trying to feed.
The mother distressed,
swimming
on and
on.
Maya T.
3rd grade, Fairfax
Whale watching the first time
and the connection was strong.
The whales like huge birds in the water
singing songs like a flute,
playing songs of joy.
When I see a whale,
I understand how it feels.
A female and her calf
trying to feed.
The mother distressed,
swimming
on and
on.
Maya T.
3rd grade, Fairfax
Color My World (Opal Squid)
Avi Jagdish
2nd Grade, Lakewood
The Big Wave
It was the five of us that day
Didn't know the wave was on its way
I enjoyed playing with my cousins
Kelp on the beach was in the dozens
Then the waves came thrashing
Then the waves were bashing
Oh! the humungous wave was here
We all dashed up to the pier
Past the sand dunes to the car
And the wave didn't come that far!
Naina Gupta
2nd grade, Cupertino
It was the five of us that day
Didn't know the wave was on its way
I enjoyed playing with my cousins
Kelp on the beach was in the dozens
Then the waves came thrashing
Then the waves were bashing
Oh! the humungous wave was here
We all dashed up to the pier
Past the sand dunes to the car
And the wave didn't come that far!
Naina Gupta
2nd grade, Cupertino
The Pelicans
Sarah Arim Kong
3rd grade, Los Angeles
The Waves
The white cresting of the waves makes me smile.
I like to stand
and watch the waves go in and out,
in and out. The rose peach sun is setting,
it is time to go home.
But I still look at the waves.
Martha Quirie
3rd grade, Fairfax
The white cresting of the waves makes me smile.
I like to stand
and watch the waves go in and out,
in and out. The rose peach sun is setting,
it is time to go home.
But I still look at the waves.
Martha Quirie
3rd grade, Fairfax
Flowery Hills
Guru Balakrishnan
2nd Grade, Tustin
GRADES 4-6
A Morning Walk by the Golden Gate Bridge
Michelle Kim
5th grade, Irvine
Harrier Hawk at Point Reyes
Clarissa Wang
5th grade, Mountain View
La Piedra
La piedra brilla
como el sol y la luna
cuando la veo bajo el mar.
Como los peces nadan,
las ballenas en busca de alimento,
los tiburones, como persigen a los peces,
y como se muevan las algas,
y como los cangrejos persigen a pecitos,
y las conchas del mar se abran.
The Stone
The stone shines
like the sun and the moon
when I see it beneath the sea.
Like the fish swim,
The whales searching for food,
the sharks, how they chase after the fish,
like the seaweed moves,
like the stars hide,
and like the crabs chase little fish,
and the shells of the sea open up.
Julieta Salazar Bautista
5th grade, Fort Bragg
La piedra brilla
como el sol y la luna
cuando la veo bajo el mar.
Como los peces nadan,
las ballenas en busca de alimento,
los tiburones, como persigen a los peces,
y como se muevan las algas,
y como los cangrejos persigen a pecitos,
y las conchas del mar se abran.
The Stone
The stone shines
like the sun and the moon
when I see it beneath the sea.
Like the fish swim,
The whales searching for food,
the sharks, how they chase after the fish,
like the seaweed moves,
like the stars hide,
and like the crabs chase little fish,
and the shells of the sea open up.
Julieta Salazar Bautista
5th grade, Fort Bragg
Eel
Geneva Varga
4th grade, Redding
Garden Hose Nose
I bark, I growl, I'm annoying and dirty
I don't think I'll even live to be thirty
I'm large and I charge
I'm as big as a barge
I'm jealous and possessive
Yes, I'm a bit aggressive
And my nose, oh my nose,
My nose is as long as a garden hose!
I may not be an elegant anemone
But I'll always be me
King elephant of the sea
Remy Rosenberg
6th grade, Sausalito
I bark, I growl, I'm annoying and dirty
I don't think I'll even live to be thirty
I'm large and I charge
I'm as big as a barge
I'm jealous and possessive
Yes, I'm a bit aggressive
And my nose, oh my nose,
My nose is as long as a garden hose!
I may not be an elegant anemone
But I'll always be me
King elephant of the sea
Remy Rosenberg
6th grade, Sausalito
Brown Pelican
Annette S. Kim
5th grade, Los Angeles
Porpoises of the Sea
Seven crescent moon porpoises
Leap through the waves,
Colors of a misty lake.
Joyfully they slide into
The depths of the sea
Darting, splashing,
Calling softly to each other
Like children singing in bed.
Tallula Sorst
4th grade, Corte Madera
Seven crescent moon porpoises
Leap through the waves,
Colors of a misty lake.
Joyfully they slide into
The depths of the sea
Darting, splashing,
Calling softly to each other
Like children singing in bed.
Tallula Sorst
4th grade, Corte Madera
GRADES 7-9
Family
Joyce Chen
8th grade, Rowland Heights
Mesmerized
The world disappeared through that cold ocean.
The sounds of the waves slowly rise
The moon and the sun,
At last fall in love,
Mesmerized by the tides.
There once was a wise man who told me
"The ocean could give peace of mind"
So there I kept sitting
Transfixed on the sand.
Mesmerized by the tides.
When the moon shifts away from the sun,
When the stars start to collide,
You'll know where to find me.
I'll always be here.
Mesmerized by the tides.
Anke Larsen Yskamp
7th grade, Monte Rio
The world disappeared through that cold ocean.
The sounds of the waves slowly rise
The moon and the sun,
At last fall in love,
Mesmerized by the tides.
There once was a wise man who told me
"The ocean could give peace of mind"
So there I kept sitting
Transfixed on the sand.
Mesmerized by the tides.
When the moon shifts away from the sun,
When the stars start to collide,
You'll know where to find me.
I'll always be here.
Mesmerized by the tides.
Anke Larsen Yskamp
7th grade, Monte Rio
Waiting for the Waves
Amy Fang
7th grade, Davis
Lunch for a Gull
Wings, slicing through air, the figures beside me:
blurred unimportant, feathers competing, traveling
over the vast expanse of yellow beach, looking
for what could be
down amongst the humans.
I was the first to see it;
Far below
the slight movement of a hand,
cradling the slow, relished, morsel.
Unconscious. Silent.
I concentrated, sounded a call and dove,
canceling out what was around me, distilling it
to shades of grey and white.
The calls of the competition echoed across the cliffs
rebounding, endless.
Then came the moment
forged by an age
beak on meat, a tug.
Away.
Rex D. Collenette
7th grade, San Geronimo
Wings, slicing through air, the figures beside me:
blurred unimportant, feathers competing, traveling
over the vast expanse of yellow beach, looking
for what could be
down amongst the humans.
I was the first to see it;
Far below
the slight movement of a hand,
cradling the slow, relished, morsel.
Unconscious. Silent.
I concentrated, sounded a call and dove,
canceling out what was around me, distilling it
to shades of grey and white.
The calls of the competition echoed across the cliffs
rebounding, endless.
Then came the moment
forged by an age
beak on meat, a tug.
Away.
Rex D. Collenette
7th grade, San Geronimo
Wings Upon the Ocean
Wilson Xu
9th grade, Woodland
Waves
Waves gnaw hungrily at the cliffs
slowly eating them away
sending up glittering drops into the salty air
as they crash relentlessly on the shore
people wait in the water with their brightly colored boards
hoping for a wave large enough to balance them on its nose
as it bucks and races towards the beach
a child plays tag with the water
coming close as the waves recede
then turning to run as it chases after him
demolishing an abandoned castle
leaving it nothing but a pile of wet sand
Sequoia Meadows
8th grade, Fairfax
Waves gnaw hungrily at the cliffs
slowly eating them away
sending up glittering drops into the salty air
as they crash relentlessly on the shore
people wait in the water with their brightly colored boards
hoping for a wave large enough to balance them on its nose
as it bucks and races towards the beach
a child plays tag with the water
coming close as the waves recede
then turning to run as it chases after him
demolishing an abandoned castle
leaving it nothing but a pile of wet sand
Sequoia Meadows
8th grade, Fairfax
A Beautiful Creature
Clara Suh
8th grade, Foothill Ranch
Into The Blue
I step off the sun-baked sand
into the swirling blue
The rough sand massages my sore feet
I wade deeper and deeper into the cool depths
The sun basking me in its gold light
A gull cries
I step deeper
Scraping my feet on the jagged rocks
The wind tugs my hair begging me to stay and play
I look at the cloud-free sky
Then into the ocean's gaping mouth of mystery
And jump in.
Audrey Webster
8th grade, San Anselmo
I step off the sun-baked sand
into the swirling blue
The rough sand massages my sore feet
I wade deeper and deeper into the cool depths
The sun basking me in its gold light
A gull cries
I step deeper
Scraping my feet on the jagged rocks
The wind tugs my hair begging me to stay and play
I look at the cloud-free sky
Then into the ocean's gaping mouth of mystery
And jump in.
Audrey Webster
8th grade, San Anselmo
GRADES 10-12
Breaking Free
Ivy Liao
10th grade, Pleasanton
Kelp Forest
Alexa Sharpe
12th grade, Torrance
Ode to My Golden State Pacific
Golden State Pacific, this hour I stand
in great wonderment of all you possess.
Man takes fright at the power of your hand.
A dip in your waves, my soul is redressed.
Dark depths, white foam, creatures in your shallows.
Muddy brown after the rains; suspect hue.
Disrespect. We should be introspect. No.
Brothers, cease this poisoning of her blue.
Some winsome days you rest quite passively
yet you may sneak up in stormy terror
smashing, reminding us you are free
of constraints against your mighty furor.
On winter's day I wrap my self in black
against your chilling, chattering embrace.
But later, shirtless, floating on my back,
Summer's soft, temperate waves will spray my face
With freshness. My Golden State Pacific.
Andrew Craddick
12th grade, Trabuco Canyon
Golden State Pacific, this hour I stand
in great wonderment of all you possess.
Man takes fright at the power of your hand.
A dip in your waves, my soul is redressed.
Dark depths, white foam, creatures in your shallows.
Muddy brown after the rains; suspect hue.
Disrespect. We should be introspect. No.
Brothers, cease this poisoning of her blue.
Some winsome days you rest quite passively
yet you may sneak up in stormy terror
smashing, reminding us you are free
of constraints against your mighty furor.
On winter's day I wrap my self in black
against your chilling, chattering embrace.
But later, shirtless, floating on my back,
Summer's soft, temperate waves will spray my face
With freshness. My Golden State Pacific.
Andrew Craddick
12th grade, Trabuco Canyon
Conversation with a Pelican
Savannah Liu
10th grade, Foster City
California Black Bullhead
Esmeralda Morales
12th grade, Los Angeles
The West Wind Home
With every venture to the east,
A west wind pulls me back.
Soft and sweet, an envelope of sunshine,
Engulfs me and takes me home.
The zephyr drops me lightly,
The destination is the western sea.
Walking toward shelves of rock, my feet descend
Under tiny beads of silk, hand sewed by elves.
Loping along the teasing waters,
Sand crabs tickle my feet.
A setting sun, a melting mandarin orange,
On the water-washed purple horizon.
This is why I didn't resist the wind.
This is California.
Amberlie Evelina Kaiser
10th grade, Moraga
With every venture to the east,
A west wind pulls me back.
Soft and sweet, an envelope of sunshine,
Engulfs me and takes me home.
The zephyr drops me lightly,
The destination is the western sea.
Walking toward shelves of rock, my feet descend
Under tiny beads of silk, hand sewed by elves.
Loping along the teasing waters,
Sand crabs tickle my feet.
A setting sun, a melting mandarin orange,
On the water-washed purple horizon.
This is why I didn't resist the wind.
This is California.
Amberlie Evelina Kaiser
10th grade, Moraga
Of Colors
Melissa Wu
11th grade, Fremont