St. Mary’s Dominican High School senior Mia DiGiovanni and junior Shania Raimer are among the November winners of the National English Honor Society (NEHS) Poetry Contest.
The theme for the November contest entries was Power and Corruption or Outside the Window. DiGiovanni wrote, “Contagion of the Dane” and Raimer wrote, “Outside the Classroom.” The students are members of Dominican’s Veritas Chapter of the NEHS.
Founded and sponsored by Sigma Tau Delta, NEHS is the only international organization exclusively for high school students and faculty who, in the field of English, merit special note for past and current accomplishments. Members of Dominican’s Veritas Chapter of the NEHS must have a 3.75 average in English and a 3.5 GPA. Dominican’s Veritas Chapter head moderator is Kristin Thomas and co-moderator is Charlene Ford.
NEHS began a “poetry challenge” creative writing project to encourage and promote more writing. All NEHS members, students and advisors, are encouraged to submit poems from October through April of the current school year. Each month, members of the NEHS Advisory Council and Central Office personnel read and select the best of the entries. The best submissions are published through its social media outlets and collected in an online poetry journal. In May, two “poets of the year,” one from student members and one from NEHS Advisors, will be selected from the monthly winners; those two poets will each receive a $150 award and a certificate of achievement as accomplished NEHS Poets.
By Mia DiGiovanni
Something stinks, it’s rotten, in this fair state
I look up and see my uncle smile
It spreads like a viral infectious hate
His devious crime sealed my father’s fate
And my frail mother he was quick to defile
Something stinks, it’s rotten, in this fair state
My own hands bloodied by a fool’s dead weight
That old man, to my uncle he was always servile
It spreads like a viral infectious hate
Friends bearing a note, my life to terminate
When to England I was sent in exile
Something stinks, it’s rotten, in this fair state
Poor, sweet Ophelia, her madness I did create
I lie at fault, all to make my cover worthwhile
It spreads like a viral infectious hate
Dear uncle, your poison killed far too late
But we were corrupted by your deed most vile
The murder stunk, it rotted, in this fair state
And it spread to us all, that infectious hate
By Shania Raimer
Torn loose leaf and unsolved equations litter my desk.
I am barely halfway through the test.
The tip of my pencil is worn down and exhausted,
The poor thing all bruised and busted.
My eraser is certifiably dead,
Nothing more than a small pool of soft rubber shreds.
My left knee bounces up and down
While my mind wanders all around.
The clock ticks down rhythmically,
Reminding me to start thinking more critically.
But how can I possibly concentrate and follow
When there is an entire world just outside the classroom window?
Beyond the room’s austere white walls,
A ruby cardinal sings aloud its romantic calls.
Two agile squirrels race the other up a tall tree,
Their soft brown tails the color of syrup and hickory.
A monarch butterfly flutters gracefully through the air,
Its rich honey wings adding a breathtaking flair.
The young sky is a cornflower blue,
And the freshly cut grass is coated in mid-morning dew.
From behind a cluster of thin clouds,
The glowing sun blares bright and proud.
Crisp scarlet leaves fall to the ground,
As its majestic autumn beauty abounds.
A young mother pushes a stroller along the sidewalk
As a small child paints the cement with an array of colored chalk.
A middle-aged man jogs forward at a steady pace,
His energetic dog believing his owner has challenged him to a race.
An elderly woman sits on her porch silent and motionless,
Observing the world in all of its lavishness.
The window’s curtain falls abruptly.
“Eyes on your test,” snaps my teacher pointedly.
Blood rushes to my cheeks,
And I refocus my attention on number nineteen.
I have five minutes left on the clock, But I take another pause and stop.
How can I possibly concentrate and follow
When there is an entire world just outside the classroom window?
Anxiety and isolation grip my chest,
For I am missing out on life and all the rest.
It is an overwhelmingly beautiful day,
Yet monotony continues to steal all of its beauty away.