7th grade student Josephine Cotton (pictured) was named the winner of the 7th and 8th grade division of the Kansas City Rose Society poetry contest, which was sponsored in partnership with The Rose Society and Kansas City Parks Department. Contest judges named Josephine the winner and presented her with a $50 prize and a certificate of achievement signed by Kansas City Mayor Sly James, the Kansas City Parks Department Director and the Kansas City Rose Society president.
WINNING POEMS:
Valentine’s Day Poetry Contest Winning Poem: Grades 7-8
Josephine Cotton, Grade 7, Indian Hills Middle School, Prairie Village, KS
Seasons of a Rose
Rose shaking a hand
Whistling breeze swaying stems
Speckled with sunshine
Rose under mountains
In the gold of autumn skies
Clinging onto sun
Rose chilled with crystals
Dot of red in sea of white
Fragile as the moon
Rose bloom like magic
Splittering splattering rain
Shining with cool drops
Valentine’s Day Poetry Contest Winning Poem: Grades 5-6
Tara Lentell, Grade 6, Barstow School, KCMO
Ode to Roses
Ohhh! Roses, you are incomparable!
Your sweet smell wafts through the air.
I lift you to my nose, and it’s like I’m in heaven.
The best gift of all to get on Valentine’s Day.
Chocolates are fine, but without you Valentine’s would be nothing.
On Valentine’s Day, I am presented with a rose, and I am blushing.
Your perfect petals are a brilliant red, dazzling in the sunlight.
Your petals have crisp edges, making your fine details stand out more beautifully.
You are so fine I can’t help but stare.
Even with thorns, you are the most delicate thing on the Earth.
To me, more than a million is what you’re worth.
I have four roses, but that’s not enough. I need more than eleven.
I look around my house, and I see you every which way.
You are beautiful all the time, sunrise to twilight.
You are finer than any jewelry.
I could have acres of you, and never have enough.
I wish you would never wilt or fade.
You seem so gentle while many plants seem rough.
Ever since I found you, my love for you has never swayed.
Roses, you are small and cute, yet strong and commanding.
Nothing could hold a candle to you – you are outstanding!
Ohhh! Roses, how I love you!
Valentine’s Day Poetry Contest Winning Poem: Grades 3-4
by Emily Ann Light, Grade 3 Home School Student, KCMO
A Rainbow of Roses
Bright pretty yellow roses on a summer day
Like little yellow butterflies flutter and play.
When I see coral roses, like a lovely peach,
I imagine sea stars, shells, and walks on the beach.
Cinderella’s mouse friends made a sweet gown in pink.
Her dress twirled like lovely pink roses, don’t you think?
Big bold red roses look like sparkling fairy clothes
The color of juicy cherries, how I love those.
Lovely white roses like blankets of winter snow,
The magical light of the full moon makes them glow.
Pale blue roses like a beautiful summer sky
Make me dream of the sweet blue morpho butterfly.
And then there is purple, my favorite rose of all.
I love every rose whether they are big or small.
Some fade into colors like sunsets in the West.
Reds, yellows, violets, pinks, whites – which one is the best?