Grades 6-8 Poetry 1st Place "Easter at Moon Lake" by Jack Prelude Highland Park Middle School Grade 8 Teacher: Yvonne Janik The kitchen smells of food. Trash cans fill with packaging, paper plates lining the counter. Turkey and ham fall into metallic meat-serving trays, as the meat knife divides the meal, the first to taste the lunch. Doorbells buzz, delight and laughter are heard. Thanks and chairs are given and taken, traveling throughout the rooms. The counter fills with cookies, candies and salads, relieving the hands of guests. Greetings and hugs pass between us all. The house quiets as the guests clasp hands. After a short monologue, the single word rings throughout the room. Mouths cease to water as the smells escape lids. The light-colored decorations hang above the feasting guests. Games begin, the fresh calories beginning to deplete, the trampoline and zip-line savoring their fun. The kickball finds its way to the field. Teams form. Adults and children alike start the tradition once more. We battle each other, and the hill, laughing all the game, the score always a guess. Clocks are checked. Sadness hides behind our faces. We realize the day will come to an end. We hug and plan to meet again as many leave. The last of the food vanishes, as jokes are told and lives discussed. The youngest generation scrambles to find a bag, bucket or anything to collect the treasures in the yard. Hours of work, stuffing and hiding are taken in our palms, and stuffed in with the now colorful contents of our bags, as we scramble to find the golden egg. A winner emerges with the treasured prize. The cameras remember the moment, 14
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