Below are the winners of the Cincinnati Right to Life 2009 Poetry Contest for high school students grades 9-12. Poetry of any style was accepted, addressing any bio-ethical issue (abortion, euthanasia, assisted suicide, cloning, human life experimentation) and its affect on our culture, people, and/or ways of thinking and acting. Cash prizes are awarded for 1st, 2nd, and 3rd place winners.
FIRST PLACE
Just How Many?
by Elizabeth House
Consider this: Where would we be
If all those years ago
On learning she was pregnant
Mrs. Lincoln shouted, "NO!"
I simply cannot do it,
I'm poor and far too young
I'll just have an abortion
And no harm will be done.
Or what if Martin Luther King
Had never attained life
Because his mother saw no hope
For a kid like him in a world of strife?
You may think them very funny
But before you disregard them
Ask this question: just how many?
How many actors have we lost?
How many local mayors?
How many loyal generals?
How many senate chairs?
Was our next great novel writer
Killed 'cause it was "a mistake"?
Have we lost a nobel winner
'Cause the shame's too much to take?
So next time they say abortion
Cuts down crime and saves us plenty
Ask them very very plainly
What do they think? Just how many?
SECOND PLACE
You Could Have Been My Mom
by Angela Tuemler
I could have saved a life
I could have made it to the moon
I could have been a wife
I could have written a tune
I could have been good at sports
I could have played guitar
I could have graded my students' reports
I could have fought in the war
I could have written a beautiful book
I could have been her best friend
I could have caught the crook
I could have won the case in the end
I wish I could have had a say
I wish I could have tried to convince you
I wish I could have made you sway
I wish I could have made my debut
You took all this away from me, I didn't have a chance
You took all this away from me, I couldn't have a voice
You took all this away from me, I couldn't make this stance
You took all this away from me, because you made a choice
THIRD PLACE
Thoughts From a Womb
by Sally A. Stewart
I rely on your decisions
Your thoughts come down to me
You choose whether I live or die
And what I think of, what I need
But lately you've been thinking
Some thoughts I don't agree with
Something about how you can't take care of me
How life this early is just a myth
How you can just get rid of me
And act like this didn't happen to you
But I want to come our there and show
Just how good I will be, when this is through
I'll learn the things you teach me
And look like you and father
I'll listen to your stories
If you don't think I'm a bother
I'd laugh the same as you laugh
And be saddened when you lose
Oh, please, mommy, keep me
My life should be for God to choose.
