National Poetry Month Contest Winners 2026
Congratulations to this year’s winners of the Monroe County Library System’s National Poetry month poetry contest!
Adult Category
The Camel that Broke the Straw’s Back
By Gerald Rice
The world is upside down
And I absolutely love
Being trapped between the edges
My tongue right-sided with wrong words,
Stretched across the narrow space
Where you used to love me,
Held by a thing
With no arms,
That stares out
Through empty sockets
With the driest kisses
That ever told me goodbye
Dream sweetly
While I nightmare
The deepest of mucks
Scraped from the bottom
Of my skull.
Dig with me
Take your hands
And sift into the same soft soil
Until we reach high into the floor
Twisting our fingers apart
And bury ourselves to either
Side of this dead thing
As it rises into a deveined sky
Filled with extinct intent
Clouded with shadows
And heartbeats
A thready no-pulse
Unstitched from my chest.
Teen Category
Untitled
By Brayden McClish
The perspective of one another’s side,
you may think i’m just trying to keep you satisfied,
truth starts bending when feelings collide.
we speak our pain but don’t really listen,
hearts locked up, but somehow still missing.
walking past stories we never were told,
judging the surface, ignoring the soul.
everybody fighting battles quiet inside,
smiles are masks that they carefully hide.
someday we’ll transform, maybe even eye to eye,
for now we can exchange our words and make it clear,
that understanding only grow when we draw near.
if i could stand where your footsteps been,
maybe i’d see where your hurt begin.
maybe the anger would turn into grace,
maybe compassion would take hatred’s place.
so before we react, before we decide,
remember it’s deeper than ego and pride.
cause peace doesn’t come from proving who right…
it come from seeing through somebody else’s sight.
Children’s Category
The Colors of Nature
By Kaylee Heath
The trees of green stand firm and strong
In all their mighty splendor.
With skin of brown, and hair of green
Sometimes small, sometimes small.
The lake glassy, clear, and blue
the moss on the surface draws near.
The clear reflection of the forest beyond,
and the fish leaping overhead.
The bliss of the deep green grass
Sun-dependent beauty
lines the trail, light-kissed, grey.
That brightens up the rabbit’s day
I sit inside this beautiful dream,
and marvel at its splendor.
Oh, Lord, I thank you for these colors.
Your wonderful colors of nature.