One Ring-a-Dingy

22 Judges take time to Deliberate - Results are finally in.

2010-06-02T14:38:00.002-04:00

Our judges had a difficult time choosing their favorite poems. Some poems were amusing, some very sad, but all imaginative and very entertaining. I'm very pleased to announce the winners in the following categories.

First Prize: These poems will be published in the Library Happenings.

Youth 1: Ruth from Glendale Elementary School. Age 8
Youth 2: Kate. Age 11
Teen: Carly from Severn School. Age 17
Adult: AdaMarie.

Second Favorite:

Youth 1: Kevin from Glendale Elementary School. Age 7
Youth 2: Claire. Age 12
Teen: Emily from Severn School. Age 17
Adult: Gail.

Third Favorite:

Youth 1: Nicole from Glendale Elementary School. Age 7
Youth 2: Annabel. Age 11
Teen: Meg from Severn School. Ague 17
Adult: John.

Drop in and see the poems on display in the Annapolis Library.

Thanks to all the creative writers out there who participated in our Library Poetry Contest. Check back next year for our annual celebration of National Poetry Month!

Winning Poems

Youth 1: Ruth

Dad is talking and texting on the phone,

He’s always talking while walking,
And never says goodbye.
He’s always saying “Hi”,
Even in July,
When it’s warm,
Or even in a storm.
He’s talking even while rocking in his chair,
He doesn’t care.
He even talks while we’re cutting his hair!

Youth 2: Kate

CELL PHONES

I wish I had one
But I don't need one much
Maybe somebody will give me one
If I had some luck!
It really isn't a need,
But it would be nice.
It would be fun indeed,
It is a neat device!
I could text or call,
Cell phones are so cool,
I could say, "I'm going to the mall!"
Or "I'm heading off to school!"
A phone would be fun to own,
But I need one not.
I could have a phone, if I had a loan!
I want a phone, but it's something I haven't got!
It is no need to cry,
A phone is something to buy!
I will get a cell phone.

Teen: Carly

Cell phone

I use you in my sleep
And I use you in the shower
My messages you keep
And I can talk to you for hours

You’re shiny and unbreakable
Or at least so you seem
Until I drop you from my pocket
And let out a fateful scream

My coach, my team, my cheering section
You get me through my day
You’re stuck on me like an infection
For which my parents pay

I need you more than food
Without you I feel alone
Goodbye to you would make me brood
My beloved cell phone

Adult: AdaMarie

Hel-looooo…This is Your Cellphone Calling…

I go where you go, like every good friend.
I’m everywhere you are, on me you depend.

I’m real good with numbers, if you get them right.
I’m here when you need me, all day and all night.
If sometimes you lose me, just call and you’ll find
I’m right where you left me, you’ve not lost your mind.

I’ll ring for you, sing for you, mail, text or chat
In the house, in the car or wherever you’re at.

If you need to use me while you’re in drive,
Please pull over so we arrive alive.

So just let me know what you want me to do
Just push the right button for where or for who.

I’m here for you always, but please don’t forget
I’m really quite fragile, so don’t get me wet.

And don’t ever leave me, uncharged or alone
You just never know when you need your cell phone!

Cell Phones

2010-05-01T12:01:00.000-04:00

Cell phones ringing all the time.
Who is it?
Some random person on the other line.

Some like 'em for their tones.
Some like 'em 4 the txting.
Some like 'em for the games.

So many type of phones!

Some are good and some are bad.
It all depends on what you got.

Some phones flip, others twist or slide.
Some can text, other don't.

Some plans are nice and other stink.
Some like AT&T, other think its going to sink.

Some love them and others don't care.

Personally, I love my phone!
I got the best ring tone!

Claire
Youth2

Cell Phones

2010-05-01T11:47:00.000-04:00

Cell phones are new and cell phones are hot.

Cell phones are everything a home phone is not.

How is a cell phone cooler, you may ask?

Well, with a super cool new cell phone you can do any task.

On this phone you can send texts and you can take pics, and plus they’re small.

Hey, wait are you not at home and trying to make a call?

Well, with the push of a button and couple of rings,

You are talking to your friend. Look you can do anything!

With a cell phone you get really neat traits,

There are games and a calendar where you can mark special dates.

You can do emoticons and add super cool ringtones, and more

Trust me having a cell phone is never a chore.

I have a Samsung, a type of brand.

It’s a touch and keyboard, boy is it grand.

I love my cell phone because if I fall,

I can contact an ambulance, without any stall.

Cell phones are cool and cell phones are great.

If you don’t have a cell phone, please don’t hesitate.

Go to the store to get one now,

So in case of an emergency you will be safe and sound.

Taylor

Teen

iPhone

2010-05-01T11:42:00.003-04:00

I love the iphone because it has great apps.

I would sit and play games all day.

My parents won't let me have one.

Jacob
Youth 2

Hands-free

2010-05-01T11:38:00.000-04:00

bone never felt freer
left skin, bloody windshield
vibrating, missed call
sometime during the night

can't look, got to get this
never saw her, tiny white doll
swallowed up by dark

the ossein met pavement,
blackened the bleach in beautiful youth
child, where's your home?

engine idling, breathing faster
must remember important numbers

but no pulse in her.
she...can't be...

crushed velvet of her, liquid grace
on the glass

red marks everywhere,
the deadly sound of sirens.
easily could run away
(was I wearing my seatbelt?)

vibrating, twinkling of a tune
fist throws like an arc
s h a t t e r i n g .

breathe for me, snow white.

Christina
Adult

Jenna's cell phone

2010-04-29T14:29:00.000-04:00

Texting

Texting Jayden

And now Jordan who else

The phone battery died

Texting

Jenna

Youth 2

Ruth's cell phone

2010-04-29T14:27:00.006-04:00

Dad is talking and texting on the phone,
He’s always talking while walking,
And never says goodbye.
He’s always saying “Hi”,
Even in July,
When it’s warm,
Or even in a storm.
He’s talking even while rocking in his chair,
He doesn’t care.
He even talks while we’re cutting his hair!

Ruth
Youth 1

Irelynn's cell phone

2010-04-29T14:27:00.004-04:00

Speed dialing and Caller I.D.

Are all around you and even by me

So get used to it now while you’re still young

Because all the fun has just begun.

Irelynn
Youth 2

Savannah's cell phone

2010-04-29T14:26:00.002-04:00

Ring, ring, ring

My cell phone rings,

I bring my cell phone with me.

Savannah
Youth 1

Nicole's cell phone

2010-04-29T14:25:00.003-04:00

Cell phones ring friend.
Don’t cell phones need batterys,
But friend sees the different numbers on the phone dial.
You hear the sound
Ring, ring, sing,
No ring oh.
But sometimes cell phones can be fun.
Just don’t go in the bathroom so you don’t
Drop it in the sink!
Oh my phone is ringing do you hear that tone in the morning?

Nicole,
Youth1

Kevin's cell phone

2010-04-29T14:24:00.001-04:00

Cell phone, ring tone,

Don’t drop your phone in an ice cream cone.

Don’t bother your mom on the phone.

Please don’t break a bone on the phone.

Kevin
Youth1

Cell Phones

2010-04-29T14:15:00.000-04:00

You can do some neat things with a cell phone
You can text someone with a cool ring tone
You can send a message of a picture you took
Even, if you want to, you can read a book
I can go on forever, but that's not where I'm trying to go
Life's not always about electronics you know
So put down your phones and relax a bit
Hang out with your friends, or pull up a chair and sit
Without your cell phone could be a lot of fun
You might start to enjoy it when the day is done

Danielle
Teen

Haiku: Cost of Talking

2010-04-26T14:39:00.000-04:00

no more minutes left

can't afford to buy any

guess I'm out of luck

Staff3
Adult

Cell Phones

2010-04-26T14:29:00.002-04:00

Cell phone, cell phone,
Ringing for thee.
Cell phone, cell phone,
Thou art constantly calling me.
Cell phone, cell phone,
Like a hovering bumblebee.
Cell phone, cell phone,
Will you not let me be?
Cell phone, cell phone,
I fear you are my enemy!

Staff 2
Adult

Free Concert

2010-04-21T16:23:00.000-04:00

Cell phones ringing,
Tweeting, singing,
Buzzing, beeping,
Vibrate-leaping.

Rap, folk, rock-n-roll,
Pop, funk, classical.

Oh say can you see
This little light of mine
Little brown-eyed girl
Mem’ries…light the corner of my mind.

Cel-e-brate good times
On the sunny side of the street
Can’t touch me now –
Love to hear the robin go tweet tweet tweet!

Blues, jazz, soul and bop,
World, new age … hip-hop.

Cell phones humming,
Blasting, thrumming,
Shrieking, bopping,
Never stopping.

Cell Phone Hell Phone

2010-04-19T15:54:00.001-04:00

Cell phone. Hell phone.
Let me be!
Since I've met you I've not been free.
I pretend I don't need you but you're like a drug.
You are the marigold; I am the slug.
I've threatened to cancel. And set myself free.
Just one more email "save a tree!"
I've been on the highway and shocked to find
that I'm not connected, having left you behind.
And now I have bluetooth!
With voice command. Call Bob call Debbie.
Makes me feel quite grand.
I get emails from England; grandson at school.
Pictures attached. Grandma feels cool.
I guess I'll keep you. I guess you're alright
let's plug you in... just one more night.

Judi
Adult

Cell Phone

2010-04-17T10:55:00.001-04:00

Cell phone, oh cell phone, just what have you done?
My life was so quiet and now it’s no fun.
I go out to have dinner and try to unwind
All those ‘ring tones’ around me invading my mind!
In movies and bathrooms and even in bars!
There’s just no escaping…..maybe I should try…..Mars?!
Can’t people be patient, oh why can’t they wait-
It’s a telemarketer calling & they still take the bait!!
No cell phones for me thanks, I’d rather be ‘free’
Just sit on my couch and watch some tv.

Gail
Adult

My Cell Phone

2010-04-15T15:45:00.001-04:00

Silence crept and circled my bed.
With shadowed footsteps in my head.
At early daybreak he is barely alive
And begs in slow blinks to be revived.
Cold and dark, the message that he might
Need to be reconnected to sing of life.
Old, but he got to that delightful place.
Where he and I kept plenty of dates.
Spokesman, ambassador, translator of my thoughts
I sometimes hold him; speaking naught.
On a shelf I laid him near the wall
He buzzed like a Bumblebee and shook to his fall.
Smashed to pieces like “The Tablet of Stone”
Unable to make any commands of his own
Gossips, murmurs and complaints were rotten
But I bowed my head for what he had gotten.
Lost of intelligence to ring out melodies
And to bring up good and bad memories
I get another of a different mold.
My w i d e g r i n is uncontrolled.

Bedela
Adult

Cell Phone

2010-04-15T13:19:00.002-04:00

I love when you tell me things
The good and the bad.
But I hate it when
Your news makes me sad.

So I need to talk more
And I use you all day.
To make things all right,
To make them okay.

You’re a constant companion
Even when you’re not there
Because I think about why,
I’m almost always aware.

I love when you light up
And sing out a noise
I always come running
‘Cause sometimes it’s boys.

When you stay silent
I miss you a lot.
I sometimes hate you
But most often not.

But you are my lifeline.
When true colors are shown.
No one’s ever far away
I never have to be alone.

Meg
Teen

You Make the Call

2010-04-12T15:19:00.000-04:00

“What's Wrong With This Picture,” the magazine read
A man in a car with a phone to his head
And a fish on a bike, and a cat that has wings
Highlights Magazine, nineteen sixty-something

Let's move some years later, that picture now right
The bosses with car phones foreseeing their plight
No longer the bubble of nine until five
Now reachable late – and before they arrive

Too late to turn back, the egg's out of its shell
But where it would lead us, who knew how to tell
Just talk and talk more, as more people jumped in
Soon free-talk with best friends, as well as with kin

Forget quiet time, or a rest by a sea
Or a long drive just thinking – 'cept for holdouts like me
So many “connected” this fancy new way
It's a wonder they don't lack for something to say

Or maybe they do, and it's just lots of babble
Plus time choosing ring tones, and no time for Scrabble
Or maybe with new words, they do sometimes play
There's BFF, LOL, and oh, BTW

But me, as for now, I have just GTG
My BFF husband, he waits, don't you know
And I'm LOL, 'cause when with him I see...
No cell phones around – it's just him and just me

Sue
Adult

A Cell Phone

2010-04-12T15:08:00.003-04:00

A
Cell
Phone
I am a cell phone
short and shiny, but
what I do is not that
tiny. I am used every
day–kids and adults
alike, talk to mom
upstairs with no hike!
Although not everyone
thinks I'm cool, I am
quite essential–an all
the time tool. And if
a robber sneaks into
your home, call the
cops with this phone!

Annabel
Youth 2

Cell Phone

2010-04-12T15:04:00.000-04:00

My cell phone is my cloud
For wherever I go I wish you were not allowed
You ring all the time
Having you should be a crime
Your tone is shrill
Whenever I talk I worry about the bill
You are extremely loud
My cell phone is my cloud

Philip
Teen

Cellphone

2010-04-12T14:42:00.000-04:00

It is able to ring, it is able to call

One p u s h of a button

No effort at all

It is able to dial, it is able to send

In just one split second

Your conversation can end

A text message, a game, or even a song

You are able to say hello

Or even so long

Katie

Teen

Dear Mom

2010-04-12T14:37:00.002-04:00

Dear Mom,

This should be done face to face,
But can not figure the time and place.

It seems I’m all alone in here;
Now my heart is filled with tender fear.

I had no choice but to quit right then;
I needed to go and find some zen.

The constant needing of it with me
Caused my yearning to be free.

So I wrapped it up in this little box
And gave it to you while I detox.

It will be hard, of that I’m sure,
But for my addiction, this is the cure.

But oh how great it was at the time:
The thrill I got at every chime,

The rush inside from every ring,
The pure excitement in each ping,

The jump within from each word typed,
The drama sent with lots of hype,

Gave me a delight that cannot be compared
To any other device we shared.

But now I have been interventioned,
Taken away from modern convention.

I give you my cell phone, mother dear,
Though my friends all may think it queer.

I once loved it with all my heart,
But now its time for us to part.

I’ll write again when the withdrawal is gone,
When once again I see the dawn.

I’ll see you soon, mother of mine.
I promise that then, I’ll too be fine.

With love,
Emily

Emily
Teen

Cell Phone

2010-04-12T14:34:00.001-04:00

Without you
My life would be blue
You keep me in touch
And help me very much

You remember my numbers
And awake me from my slumber
You save my dates
So I will never be late

You store everything I could want
Pictures, videos, and music you flaunt
I can even search the net
If I’m ever in a fret

With a touch of a key
I can talk to whoever I please
And in almost no time
I can receive a message with a chime

When you are gone
My life feels withdrawn
With all that you can do…
Cell phone, what would I do without you?

Jamie
Teen

Cell Phone

2010-04-12T14:30:00.004-04:00

I use you in my sleep
And I use you in the shower
My messages you keep
And I can talk to you for hours

You’re shiny and unbreakable
Or at least so you seem
Until I drop you from my pocket
And let out a fateful scream

My coach, my team, my cheering section
You get me through my day
You’re stuck on me like an infection
For which my parents pay

I need you more than food
Without you I feel alone
Goodbye to you would make me brood
My beloved cell phone

Carly
Teen

Cell Phone

2010-04-12T14:27:00.001-04:00

What is that metal and plastic piece that rings an eerie tone
Of Old MacDonald had a Farm and known as a cell phone?

So many small and numbered words they're very hard to see
When one has just celebrated birthday eighty-three.

It seems to be a troubled toy for one so old in time
As fingers pointing right, left and curled can't punch that number nine.

And when by chance they do connect with one of the possibilities
I never get the operator to ask what number please?

The days of using hand cranked phones and rotary dialed ones too
Are not believed by younger folks but I swear my story's true.

Would they believe in younger day, two cans by string were joined together
And ear to can two kids did talk, our phones did not need power.

And now I hear the ringing of Old MacDonald had a Farm
and I don't know where the phone is and we are at the baaing of the lamb.

I grab my cane and glasses, turn my hearing aid to loudest
I love a game of hide and seek, by gees I think I've found it.

I'll punch a button, maybe two or three and hope I hear hello
Because I am awfully darned tired of that E I E I O.

Lynn
Adult

Cell Phones

2010-04-12T14:24:00.002-04:00

I wish I had one
But I don't need one much
Maybe somebody will give me one
If I had some luck!
It really isn't a need,
But it would be nice.
It would be fun indeed,
It is a neat device!
I could text or call,
Cell phones are so cool,
I could say, "I'm going to the mall!"
Or "I'm heading off to school!"
A phone would be fun to own,
But I need one not.
I could have a phone, if I had a loan!
I want a phone, but it's something I haven't got!
It is no need to cry,
A phone is something to buy!
I will get a cell phone.

Kate
Youth 1

Hel-loooooo...This is Your Cellphone Calling...

2010-04-12T14:21:00.001-04:00

I go where you go, like every good friend.
I’m everywhere you are, on me you depend.

I’m real good with numbers, if you get them right.
I’m here when you need me, all day and all night.

If sometimes you lose me, just call and you’ll find
I’m right where you left me, you’ve not lost your mind.

I’ll ring for you, sing for you, mail, text or chat
In the house, in the car or wherever you’re at.

If you need to use me while you’re in drive,
Please pull over so we arrive alive.

So just let me know what you want me to do
Just push the right button for where or for who.

I’m here for you always, but please don’t forget
I’m really quite fragile, so don’t get me wet.

And don’t ever leave me, uncharged or alone
You just never know when you need your cell phone!

AdaMarie
Adult

The Cellphone

2010-04-12T14:19:00.001-04:00

The cellphone, a really neat, compact device,

Offering everything from texting, to e-mail, GPS, internet, and much more,
convenient and nice.

Around 4.6 billion in use today,

A lot of communicating between people, apparently, with a lot to say.

These cells store important data, take pictures, store songs, and all your important
phone numbers they will show,

Sometimes I worry about exercising my brain, no need to memorize, this gadget
has everything... I need to know.

All ages have them, you can always see people talking and hear them ringing
in church and everywhere.

Who knows what's next...before you know it, people might be walking and
talking into the clothes they wear.

All I really know is that without my cellphone, a "woe is me story" I could tell,

It would be like being lost and weightless in space.......... if I lost my cell.

Robert
Adult

Clark Kent's Lament

2010-04-09T14:52:00.001-04:00

Even x-ray vision can't find what's vanished:
phone booths. There's no place left to dodge Lois,
tug at a narrow black tie, shuffle off a mild
mannered self, my blazing emblem of Supremacy
exploding past closed buttons, past all possibles.

Bolted surveillance cameras pry everywhere, as if
they could leap tall buildings in any number of bounds.
The Daily Planet's in big trouble, I'll get my pink slip,
probably Friday. I wonder what I should call my blog.

Cell phone drivers know the perils they invite, all
minutes used up in one frenzied second of fractured steel
and smashed glass. Perhaps they fret over a few dropped
calls, brain tumors, or next month's bill. Do they know
or care each device they clutch is packed with kryptonite?

John
Adult