Johnson County Library is pleased to announce that the winners to our summer contest writing on the theme of Oceans of Possibility. Our 12-14 year winner is entitled, "The Thank You Bag" by Kennedy Kirkland.
The Thank You Bag
The Ocean
Known for
Flowing, crashing waves
And an eternal blue hue
Color for miles on end
But far from where waves rise and fall,
Far from where laughter hovers in the air
Is a white, crinkled
Bag
With a bright yellow “Thank You” embroidered upon it
The bag lifts and sinks
As tide shifts
As water continues on its endless journey
As the current sweeps debris
Like children sweep leftover sand
Away from their treasured sandcastles
Bumbling along with the water is
A pod of dolphins
Whistling, clicking, jumping
They leap
And crash down
With vibrant splashes
The bag’s handle catches a dolphin tail
And is pulled along for the ride
Under, over
Up, down
Then
So forceful
As if it was a magnet pulled by metal
The dolphin dragging the Thank You bag
Flings itself out of the water
Higher than any other leap
And the Thank You bag is set free
Instead of a dolphin, it now drags with the wind
Until the wind falters
And plops the Thank You bag
Back into the water
So on it sails
Even as the sun disappears
And the moon comes
Big and bright
Even as the sun returns
And the moon fades
The Thank You bag drifts along
Still
A large wave strikes
But not because the surface is near,
Because a whale is swimming
With a body larger than three school buses
And a propelling tail
It gulps in air
Unable to breathe under the ocean depths
And then it dives
Just below the Thank You bag
Then whooshes back up
And the Thank You bag is left stuck
In the blowhole
The whale returns to the deep
Through baleen, filters food
And swallows
It can feel the Thank You bag
An unpleasant feel
Like an itch you cannot reach
Or a sneeze that won’t come
So back up goes the whale
And in moments
It spurts water-and the Thank You bag-out of its blowhole
Only to dive down again
The Thank You bag continues on its way
As does the whale
The former floats up,
While the latter sinks down
Over many sunrises, sunsets
Moonrises, Moon falls
The Thank You bag is carried
By both air and wind
Getting closer
Closer
Closer
To shore
The bag is swept
But this time
Not by dolphin
Not by whale
Nor any other living, breathing creature
But by a wave as it crashes into sand
With a splash
And then it heeds the call as it is beckoned away
Now free from its watery trap
The Thank You bag floats on the breeze
Until
A hand, outstretched, has grabbed the Thank You bag
A human hand
It twists the Thank You bag
Gazes at it
And puts the Thank You bag into another bag
Stuck again
But not for long
Because the Thank You bag
Will be freed
After it’s recycled.