One of the great pleasures of bringing you this little digest each month is knowing that our magazine transcends many demographics, not the least of which is age. Readers, young and old alike have taken a liking to the Troubadour, and let us know as much.

Each month, the Troubadour reaches nearly 16,000 4th grade students across the state to use as a learning tool or resource in conjunction with the New Hampshire state history curriculum. The response already from educators, students and parents has been overwhelming, as has the number of enthusiastic and exceptional submissions we have received from young people.

It is thus with great pride and excitement that the NH Troubadour launches the first Troubadour Poetry Challenge for 4th grade students.

We are honored to have two extraordinary New Hampshire writers, each of whom has worked extensively with youth poetry, joining us to help select these poems. Sherry Wood is both a children’s author and an editor with the New Hampshire Union Leader, who has judged previous statewide poetry competitions. And, L.R. Berger is a national award winning Contoocook-based poet, teacher and youth counselor.

Finally, we want to emphasize that this is not so much a competition in the truest sense, as it is an opportunity to recognize outstanding poetry from students around New Hampshire. Everyone who takes part in this challenge truly is a winner, as are readers of the Troubadour. We wish every young poet the best of luck and look forward to reading your entries.

Student Poetry Contest Winners

Song of the Mountains

by Addy Henderson, age 9, Lafayette Regional School-Franconia

In the mountains
In the mist
A blue bird flies
A deer trots
A butterfly floats.

In the mountain a lake sits still
And echoes the song of a bird
Under that bird lupines grow.
Behind the lupines is a town
In that town peace blows in the breeze.

In that peace a mountains mist
All is still
All is well
Except the sun
Which rises
Then sets
With the beautiful song
Of the mountains.

Summer Thunderstorms

by Lindsey Dumond, age 10, Marston Elementary School-Hampton

Sometimes
I hate thunderstorms
Sometimes
I love them.

The hate comes from
how it seems to
hurt the beauty
of the earth.

The love comes from
how the sky shows
its mighty power
soft, blue, and gentle
in the day…
Then hard and gray
with so much power
left to hide in the night.

Puffy white clouds into
harsh yellow lightening beams.
All from one world…
Summer thunderstorms.

N.H. Seasons

by Emma Kelly, age 10, Cutler School-W. Swanzey

Spring is coming,
flowers, plants, grass and bees.
Crocuses, violets, dandelions,
new leaf buds growing on the trees.

Summer is almost here,
school vacation, kids exploring.
Boating, camping, swimming, fishing,
roasting marshmallows, birds soaring.

Fall is coming up,
kids are going back to school.
Apple picking, pumpkin pie, leaves changing color,
outside, it’s getting very cool.

Winter will be here soon,
we’re bundled up, outside it’s very chilly.
Snowball fights, snow angels, hot chocolate,
we’re making snowmen that are very silly.

Seasons in New Hampshire are very fun,
no matter the season, I stick with my friends.
Tetherball, kickball, baseball, tag,
with them, it’s like the fun never ends.

The Robin

by Max Schott, age 9, Canterbury Elementary School-Canterbury

Going downstairs in the morning,
I start to play music on our piano.
A chirp starts to sing with harmony.
I look out the window to see an elegant robin.
Pecking at berries growing on our tree,
It’s fiery red body gleams in the sun.
As it plunges into the underbrush,
But while it’s flying,
It realizes it’s being watched.
It flies back and looks into my eyes.
While I was looking,
It’s red eyes tell a story about spring.

Summer Night in New Hampshire

by Jennica Demers, Sunapee Central Elementary School-Sunapee

Summer night in New Hampshire is so peaceful
You can hear the crickets out your window
And the frogs chirping in the distance
The low soft wind cooling you down from a long day playing and working
Go camping in a tent with your family
In the beautiful woods and smelling the night cooling air
The wind is howling peaceful
So are you.
Summer night in New Hampshire.

Kingston Days

by Evelynn Ouellette, D.J. Bakie Elementary School-Kingston

I’m walking down Main Street
There’s a chill in the air
Today I am heading to the Kingston Day fair
The people are happy
And watching the show
The music is playing
And I smell fried dough
My grandma is selling
Souvenirs for the town
And my Aunt Holly just showed up
Dressed as a clown
She’s getting ready for the Hill Billy Stompers
I better go see it before she goes bonkers
It’s getting dark I have to go
I can’t wait ‘til tomorrow
To see the next show