2013 Peace Poetry Contest

Photo by Paul Ortiz.

Photo by Paul Ortiz.

by Jessica Newman

The 4th Annual Peace Poetry Contest, organized by Gainesville Veterans for Peace, was a great success this year with more than 230 total entries and 32 winners from grades 1–12. The Public Reading for the winners took place on May 11 at the Unitarian Universalist Fellowship.

Below is the 1st Place poem for grades 1–5 by Caden Kresak, a 4th grader from Archer Elementary School.

You can read all of the winning poems in the here: 2013 Peace Poetry Booklet. Photos of the event can be found here. Soon, you will also be able to see a video of the Public Reading there, thanks to the Samuel Proctor Oral History Program.

If We Try

If there are no boundaries
Between north and south, west and east
And we all share the land,
Then we can all live in peace

If we help one another
Aid the poor, spread the feast
And we all share Earth’s goods
Then we can all live in peace

If we can agree to disagree
The whole world sign a treaty
And we use words not weapons,
Then we can all live in peace

No folded flags for mothers
All the violence has ceased
If we all accept our neighbors,
Then we can all live in peace

Caden Kresak, 4th Grade, Archer Elementary School
1st Place, Grades 1–5

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