I close my eyes and I am ten again
AP: Honorable Mention 2026
Write me a white whimsical poem
With fairies unicorns and wizards
May all the men be kind and strong
And the grandmas never cook gizzards
And the children always play outside
Doors of the houses are never locked
Games aren’t on phones computerized
With joy playing ball and hopscotch
No war crimes and no school shooter
We all smile in the coolest clothes
Riding bikes skateboards or scooters
Happiness is what we all know
Looking back it was a fantasy
To live in a simpler time yesterday
Perhaps we can learn to be
As free if we dream and find a way
Backyard Hopscotch is my thing, my favorite backyard game,
And today I was inducted in the BH hall of fame,
Nobody else is quite as good as me I tell myself,
As I grab my chalk and hopscotch rocks from off the hopscotch shelf.
I draw squares on the ground and throw a stone to number two
Then hop from square to square like a demented kangaroo
Some people say I'm crazy as I play it every day,
However, it's a game I always win whene'er I play.
I'm always by myself and so I never ever lose,
But soon I'll have to stop as I've worn big holes in my shoes.
As young kids,
we loved playing hopscotch.
Taking turns we would put big boxes on the sidewalk,
then jump from box to box for hours.
One day we took a can of spray paint,
now we have a Backyard Hopscotch.
The grass boxes look great in red,
it now matches dad's face.
Backyard hopscotch
One, two, three
Pick up the coloured stone
Hop to one knee
Toss up the speckled rock
Four, Five, six
Twist on the vibrant chalk
And cast another mix
I once tried hopscotch in reverse,
Backwards it went from bad to worse.
My hop was scotched,
My stone was botched,
I fell head over heels adverse!
I saw God, so ... now what?
I wait,
standing in line
at the grand Hopscotch Game
holding the stone in my hand
Candide Diderot. ‘24
Roman
empire reigns,
military
exercise game,
children
imitate soldiers,
mark
chalk grids ~
cast
tiny boulders
ancient
British pastime
There are children, O so sweet,
Playing hopscotch in the street,
Figures of worth and substance,
Priceless gems of innocence.
Playing is their daytime work,
Chores they must not ever shirk,
Reads to build literacy,
Studies that steer legacy.
Should be sheltered from fear,
That causes bad nightmares so drear,
Little minds struggling hard to find,
Resolves to doubts in their minds.
Pressures amongst their age peers,
Adolescents their weights bear,
Fortunate those in good care,
Love and security there.
Minds exposed to much info,
The good, bad, and ugly flow,
Through the air at speed of light,
Tempting young mind’s appetite.
May they last the thick and thin,
As the ages before them,
But leave stronger social spheres,
Than the present loose veneers.
great scott
i'm not
Scottish
i plead
the plaid
take a fifth
of Irish
whiskey
not of scotch
but if you ask
i'll wear a kilt
but if you ask
what's worn
underneath
nothing is
worn
all parts
are completely
functional
taking turns despite rain sprinkles
AP: Honorable Mention 2026
"HOPSCOTCH WITH SOME SCOTCH"
there are times
when I wonder about
everything that has
happened, everything that has
put me inside
my current location in
life. when they
gave me air only
to drown me,
when the claws ripped
my life apart,
when the dirt was
thrown over my
casket with the lid
open, everything seemed
like it was fruitless.
here I sit
with these words. Here,
I sit with
the most glorious of
thoughts: I’m still
here, I’m still Chicano
Eddie and that
ain’t bad.
By: Chicano Eddie
8152017
Hopscotch
Playing hopscotch is my favorite game
To play outside with my friends
We jump, we hop, we toss our rock
Until
one of us wins!
Taking a short cut down an alley, I saw a gleam of sunshine,
It had dried the pavements so children could chalk hopscotch,
Small children to much older children all joined in together,
Throwing their stones into the right boxes so they could play.
How sweet it was to hear such happy laughter see bright cheeks,
The freshness of true innocence that would put adults to shame,
Running in this dark little alley way, the paving was cracked,
But they were all so very happy as they didn't know any better.
They are noisy and this time we will let it go and not complain,
To see so much joy in squalid surroundings makes a tear well up
Wearing hand-me-down clothes so thin ragged so badly neglected
From now if something petty annoys me I will think of hopscotch.
Taking a short cut down an alley, I saw a gleam of sunshine,
It had dried the pavements so children could chalk hopscotch,
Small children to much older children all joined in together,
Throwing their stones into the right boxes so they could play.
How sweet it was to hear such happy laughter see bright cheeks,
The freshness of true innocence that would put adults to shame,
Running in this dark little alley way, the paving was cracked,
But they were all so very happy as they didn't know any better.
They are noisy and this time we will let it go and not complain,
To see so much joy in squalid surroundings makes a tear well up
Wearing hand-me-down clothes so thin ragged so badly neglected
From now if something petty annoys me I will think of hopscotch.
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