2024 Winners

1st Place

Priscilla Gomez (10th grade)

To Love Someone to Death

To love to death means to Know
Love knows no bounds
To Understand the confines of death and stone are mere illusions
Love is not replaced by grief but rather takes a new form
Love is blind, but love can feel
Darkness and depth and stone cannot render it obsolete
As long as the voices of the ones we call “Beloved”
Still echo and breathe life into death
Making the living weep and the cold warm
Watch how they’re brought back to life

2nd Place

Haiwa Perez (11th grade)

Fall From Grace

In the garden where it all began,
The Devil lurked, his shadow cast before Eve’s dance.
Did I even stand a chance?
Destined to fall, I was watching the Devil dance.

Oh, but the garden was beautiful,
The true sight of perfection.
Yet, the snake’s allure quickly wrapped around me,
I know I should run, but the temptation was strong,
Twisted and fun.

Now his finger is pointing toward the apple tree,
With that fiery grin, and those sinful eyes,
It took one bite, he tricked me with his venomous bite.
Now we’re both running through the garden,
He laughs, I weep, he slithers, I hide, and I am sorry.

God’s grace has fallen, and I’m stained with shame,
Yet, he forgives me after my ugly sin.
My body, covered with fig leaves, beauty is concealed,
Eve am I, and are we not all flawed?

The apple, the shame, which weighs more?
My abundance made me yearn for more,
And the pursuit of all has made me poor.
Envy once twisted the Devil’s desires,
Now, this fallen angel preys on humanity’s light.

But I learned the Devil’s small victories are momentary,
For he will be crushed by the one who deems me enough,
Always enough, despite my falls from grace.

3rd Place

Isaac Sanchez (11th grade)

All Bark and No Bite

With his blazing bravado he stands proud,
His voice remains loud,
With his voice blaring and grand,
It lacks substance and fails to command.

All bark and no bite, his strength a facade,
His voice commanding, yet, it is flawed,
In the end as his will reaches its last hour,
All that remains is nothing but a fleeting flower.

Outstanding Creativity Award

Noah Tagaloa (11th grade)

Idiom is Wild

Idiom like cinnamon brings fire to a heart’s desire to spread wisdom.
A symptom of the lost who pay the cost in the form of an arm and a leg
When what is said is above one’s head so instead of setting the sky as the limit
We’re forced to play the gimmick looking on both sides like the bright side
Finding cats and dogs named rain, kind of insane, but what’s to blame?

None other than the same barking tree giving out fake wannabe complimentary
Partying gifts that lift the spirits when you hear it under the weather whether
You measure the highway my way or your way please stay to pick up the beans
From the scene that is anything but clean because the monkey meant business and got mean.

For instance putting all the eggs in a basket is a classic mistake unless the steak
Is cooked to perfection my recollection is redemption so contemplation
About how a room so small could hold an elephant even for just a second or a third.

Is so absurd to think a bird could be the word for sure something’s fishy wishy
Maybe in washy like on the docks with locks no box because the fox was to sly to hide
So he appeared like a sea of smoke as a joke taking everything but the antidote
Feeling heavy like one too many bricks with nothing left but his old tricks he missed his ship.

So the bottom line is that it’s fine to recline in your seat unless you want to speak or see unique
Patterns like a telescope that wishes on a star that’s too far to even seek, so it sinks.
Quite possibly a college degree may simplify things or wedding rings my sing of sweet nothings
Forcing common sense to be too tense for even the rinse cycle as thoughts run miles and miles
Coming up with secret files quick and agile evading the most inquisitive child, Idiom is wild.

Rules and Directions

ELIGIBILITY: 

• Open to all Segerstrom High School students, grades 9-12         

RULES:           

• To enter the contest, each entrant must write an original poem that reflects on the prompt:  
  • Write a creative poem focused on a common idiom
  • Your poem must:
    • Use your selected idiom as your title, or 
    • Use the idiom in your poem
• Entries must: be:
  • Typed using Times New Roman or Arial and 12-size font
  • Titled
  • 30 lines of poetry or less
• Do not write your name on the poem document. Include only your student ID and grade level. 
• Only one poem can be entered into the contest.
• No AI-generated poems will be accepted.
• Poems with vulgar, offensive, or profane language will be disqualified. 
• All poems will be submitted to ZeroGPT and Turnitin.com, plagiarism prevention websites. It is essential that each entry must be your own original work and cannot contain previously published and/or copyrighted material. If the judging panel discovers at any time that an entry contained previously published, copyrighted, or AI-generated material, your poem will be immediately disqualified.

HOW TO ENTER THE CONTEST:

• Submit your poem (upload your poem) using this Google Form:  

• • 2023-24 Poetry Submission Form by Saturday, 4/20/24 by 11:59 p.m.

WINNERS AND PRIZES:

• One (1) poem will be selected as the 1st place winner and named Poet Laureate.  
• Additionally, there will be 2nd and 3rd place winners.  
• See below to view the prizes you can win if your poem is selected.

SELECTION OF WINNERS: 

• Entries will be judged on the following criteria:
  • Creativity
  • Use of language
  • Elements of poetry
  • Originality   
  • Organization and overall impact     

1ST PLACE:

• Named Poet Laureate of Segerstrom
• The 1st place poem will be published on Segerstrom News website
• Receive spirit wear from the Jag store
• Receive a gift card 

2ND AND 3RD:

• Both 2nd and 3rd place poems will be published on Segerstrom News website
• Receive spirit wear from the Jag store
• Receive a gift card 

QUESTIONS?

• If you have any questions about the contest, please feel free to email any questions to [email protected].