(Editor's note: There was a tie in this category. Both authors are 9 years old.)

Masks

By Mariam Corpus

Kincaid Elementary

Plastered smiles and cheeky grins

On the outside to cover one's sins

On the inside as darkness brews

No one knows what's wrong but you

You hide behind your silly masks

But all they have to do is ask

For once the question is but spoken

All the walls you've built are broken

Your secrets spill from your very own lips

And suddenly your careful mask has slipped.

Snow

By Noah Goltz

Chugach Optional

Falling from above

Glittering, dazzling snow

The last geese fly south.