Christine Curley Memorial Award 2023
The Christine Curley Memorial Award for Creative Writing has been established by Christine’s parents to be presented annually to the students who display interest and potential in creative writing.
During Christine’s high school years, she showed great promise as a poet, and the hope of her parents is that this award will encourage other students to pursue in their writing the spirit with Christine so beautifully demonstrated in her own.
A faculty committee has chosen
Cristiane Richardson
to receive this year’s award.
Inspired by “Caged Bird” by Maya Angelou
Some oats slide into a bowl.
They soak in milk and sugar,
Mixed with care and attention.
Their flavor and texture are delightful –
Sweet, creamy, and puffy –
As they pervade my mouth,
Claiming my admiration.
But other oats remain in the bag.
They crack from dehydration.
They are flat, thin, and small,
Their flavor lackluster.
They are tasteless and their skin is dry,
So they shuffle and dance around.
They dance,
They fly,
They jig,
They glide.
Never has a bag of oats seemed so energized.
Some oats dazzle with cinnamon.
They swell with love,
Cherishing their time in the spotlight.
They tan and warm up in the oven;
Toasty is their flavor.
As they cover a dollop of strawberry jam
They make the plate their own.
But other oats lie still in their bag.
They roll over each other and sag.
They sit, wanting the light.
They sit, wanting the warmth.
They sit, dreaming of their own flavor.
They are tasteless and their skin is dry,
So they shuffle and dance around.
They dance,
They fly,
They jig,
They glide.
Never has a bag of oats seemed so energized.
Inside my heart there is a sacred place. One can discover the candy red walls and high arches and be humbled. One can discover the deep red marble floor and feel grounded. One can discover the back rooms and center room (or the drawing room) saturated with warm, dim light, and feel at ease. One can discover the soft, candy red, velvet-covered lounge chases and enveloping egg-shaped chairs and feel comforted. One can see, almost at the wooden, burgundy, arching front door, the round glass table with flecks of various shades of red and a silver platter of jam cookies sitting in the middle of it, discover the chairs with backs of black-painted metal, configured into a soft diamond shape under an arch, with candy red cushions on the seats, and feel welcomed.
