America at 250 Poetry Contest – “From Sea to Shining Sea”

winning poems

Ages 11–14

1st Place: Kennedy Mash — USA

What if I said it’s all in our head–
The red, white, and blue,
Is just a symbol or simple tune

We say we walk safe;
But what about the fear we hide,
The tears that people keep inside,
The stories we hear,
The voices that whisper when no one is near?

We say we are free, we say we are strong–
But why does this pain last so long?
Children separated from family,
While the world sits and watches silently.

Is the flag just colors in the sky,
Or a promise we are all trying to find?
A promise people gave their lives for–
A dream, a hope, worth fighting for.

Maybe America is not just a place;
Maybe it is a feeling we are all trying to chase:
A place where broken hearts are made whole,
Where kindness and hope become the end goal.

2nd Place: Evie Clemons — 250 Years and Counting

Washington, Madison, Adams
Hamilton, Jefferson, Paine
Laurens, Mulligan, Marquis de Lafayette
Nine names.
Ten amendments.
Eleven state mottos.
Rosa Parks, Thurgood Marshall,
Martin Luther King jr, Susan B. Anthony,
Only four names,
strong impact,
Thirteen colonies,
fifty states,
Seven founding fathers,
Two-hundred and fifty years.
Three hundred forty two million people
One nation,
Under god,
Indivisible,
With liberty and justice,
For ALL.

Ages 15–18

1st Place: Chloe Lee — My Journey from Sea to Shining Sea

Near the Statue of Liberty, I gaze across the harbor.
Beyond the water lies the Atlantic Ocean,
where my long journey begins.

Step by step, I travel west,
along forest roads
and across bridges over quiet rivers.
Soon the noise of the city fades away,
and nature surrounds me.

When I reach the Great Plains,
endless golden fields of wheat
move like waves in the soft wind.
Looking out across the open land,
I am amazed by how vast
and quiet this country can be.

After many more miles,
the Rocky Mountains rise before me,
their snowy peaks shining in the sunlight
as if they could almost touch the sky.

At last I arrived at the western shore.
The Pacific Ocean glows red and gold
beneath the sunset.
After beginning beside one sea
and crossing an entire country,
I stand once again beside another sea.

For two hundred fifty years,
people in this land have laughed and cried
while chasing their dreams.

My journey that began at the Atlantic
ends beside the shining Pacific.

America is a land
where a journey can begin at one sea
and end at another shining sea.

2nd Place: Skye Adams — 250 Years of America

Two hundred fifty years have finally passed,
From the beginning, a great country has grown.
It keeps spreading across the land
A place where people’re free to live and stand.
Through hard times and battles won
A beautiful picture, under the sun.
It has fields of flowers and tall mountains
Reflected in the deep blue sky.
The stories of people who started this country
Are told loud and clear
They loved the idea of
Freedom and a better life.
Two hundred fifty years and more
The future is waiting for us.
We’ll keep going strong
To make the American dream come true.