Of Aging

It is a Sunday night, raining, and I am eating oatmeal
There is a language to be learned, a list to dominate

And I can’t hear what’s being said upstairs, but I can
Make out my mother’s butterscotch laughter, my
Father’s heavy lidded footsteps, the sound of the
Ice-maker and the rain. These singular things that

Make a childhood. Yet there is a butterfly effect to
This life. A waltz that you can’t see, but you feel the
Big band strike up the music in your blood. Why
Are people always leaving? Spun round and round

In overlapping rotations. If only in this world
That is mostly linoleum and revolving doors
Things could be as familiar as my childhood staircase.
As familiar as rainy Sunday nights and oatmeal

Mallory Smith. Grade 9, Howard High School
First Place, 8th / 9th Grade Group, 2011 Word Up Contest

The 2012 Word Up! poetry contest is now open!  All Howard County students in grades 6 through 12 are eligible to enter. Cash prizes are awarded for first, second, and third place in three age groups.  Winners are invited to read their poems at a special event on Wednesday April 25 at 7pm at the Miller Branch.

Poems may be submitted electronically at hclibrary.org/wordup. You can download the Word Up! Educator Resource Brochure or request a session of Writer’s Camp for your students. The deadline to submit up to three entries is March 14, & we look forward to receiving poems by your students.

Word Up! is sponsored by Friends of Howard County Library.