Teen Poetry Contest Winner for 2002
Eveline Haymes
Old Orchard Junior High, grade 8

A Bloody River

The river waters flowed through the earth
      Slicing a wound across its surface
            It was like blood
                  Thick and even glowing red
                        From the sunset’s reflection upon it

It fed life into the world
      Like our blood feeds us
            As the sharp waters flowed
                  They leaked onto the shores
                        The way blood rushes out of our cuts and scrapes

The sounds of the tides fill our head
      As we listen to it flow
            just the way our pulse fills our ears
                  As we try to fall asleep at night

It is the last connection we have to the Earth