Thompson, Douglas, Jones win annual Eighth Grade Poetry Contest

Poems by Laila Douglas, Morgan Jones, and Victoria Thompson have been selected for inclusion in the annual

The poems were selected as the winners in the annual South Middle School Poetry Contest. The poems are printed below:

MOVING ON
By VICTORIA THOMPSON
Finding out isn't the hardest part,
Moving on will break my heart.

I have to ignore the jokes about getting high,
and no matter how bad it hurts, I don't cry.

I ignore the idiots who want to hurt me,
I walk away, and they let me be.

The whole time I have one question on my mind,
and the answer is hard to find.

Do you want me to forget what you've done,
or are you sick of me trying to run?

Trying to move on is driving me insane,
because I know you'll never be the same.

Finding out wasn't the hardest part,
moving on is breaking my heart.

TRANSITION
By LAILA DOUGLAS

The old her is gone, completely abolished.
The new her, stripped and polished.
She got off track;
given another chance she'd take it all back.

Her old skin is shed,
tired of the life she's led,
sick of being uncontent,
finding unhealthier ways to vent.

Her addictions led to desperation
and then to separation, aggravation,
sin just won't release its hold.
She just kept going despite what she was told.

She knows what she wants; this isn't it.
She doesn't know how to fix it.

I AM
By MORGAN JONES
I am a girl who has been put through a lot.
I wonder will things ever be the same.
I hear my parents yelling back and forth.
I see them throwing punches and screaming cuss words at each other,
I want them to just be nice when they're around me.
I am a girl who has been put through a lot.

I pretend I can't hear and just don't belong,
I feel the sadness deep down inside.
I touch my heart to make sure it's still there,
I worry why they bothered to even have me,
I cry because I think they don't love me,
I am a girl who has been put through a lot.

I understand things always go bad,
I say to God, "Please help me through this."
I dream I had better parents,
I try to help them work things out,
I hope that God can help us out.
I am a girl who has been put through a lot.