The CHS Writers’ Group is pleased to announce the first-ever winners of the brand-new monthly poetry competition! The first-place winner of the Spooky Poem challenge is Aaliyah Berkbuegler. She wrote a poem titled “Graveyard.” Aaliyah is a junior at CHS and is a member of Miss Hodge’s Creative Writing class elective. She has recently had work published in TeenInk.
Throughout “Graveyard,” Aaliyah uses words like “silence,” “chills,” and “creeping” to create an eerie tone. The simple AABB rhyme scheme combined with haunting imagery creates a chant-like rhythm. She skillfully uses juxtaposition to contrast the still quietness of the cemetery with lingering “sounds of the past.” In the final line, the poem does not end in horror, but rather peace, as she suggests the spirits “may” be “sleeping,” allowing readers to come to their own conclusions about the boundaries between the living and the dead.
After much deliberation and a four-way tie, the runner up is Jason Sibley with his poem “Purgatory.” Jason is a novice writer and poet. According to Jason, “I like writing, it makes me feel calm, allows me to escape to a world that is different, or similar, to the one I am in. I also like music, a little too much sometimes.”
In “Purgatory,” Jason explores emotional and psychological isolation through a metaphorical lens of captivity and parasitic invasion. The woman described in Jason’s poem feels defeated even as the poem begins, shown through adjectives like “hopeless,” “empty,” and “defenseless.” Single-word lines within the poem emphasize the woman’s feelings of loneliness, and the supposed “concern” of “friends” feels hollow in opposition to their earlier abandonment of her. In all, this poem is not only a chilling tale reminiscent of “The Twilight Zone,” but also a critique of societal, communal, and systemic neglect in caring for those with mental health struggles.
Honorable mentions in the tiebreaker round include Hailey Yankey, Brodie Mattingly, and Revolution Chaput.
The theme for November is “gratitude.” Writers can take inspiration from daily life, family, and traditional themes as well as gratitude in any form — from the past, present, or even future. Consider other seasonal holidays when pondering gratitude, including Veteran’s Day and Dia De Los Muertos.