Week TWO of the No Sugar Added® Poetry contest closed last Thursday, and our panel of expert judges have chosen three wonderful winners and two honorable mentions! Check out the great work below, and congratulations to our second round of winners!!
Our winners this week
1st place: "I Am Only Eight... Through the Eyes of a Child", by Juan Carlos Vazquez
2nd place: "The Cure", by Jerry Nairn
3rd place: "Hurting Life" by Q, uploaded by Leighann
Honorable mention also goes to Elizabeth Strait for "A Letter to the Pain In My Side" and Mary Jo for "Old Dogs and New Tricks"
Congratulations to our winners, and to all our beautiful poets.
Read our winning poems below!!
I am only Eight…. Thru the eyes of a child
by Juan Carlos Vazquez
786 my life changed…..
786 I thought I was going to die…..
I am only eight…
I want to play
I want to build things
I want to be a regular boy
I am only eight…
Get up in the morning...check my sugar..What are my readings ... Did I log my readings?
Every time I put food in my mouth, did I check my sugar?
Every day I check my sugar
If it is high…check for ketones…then drink lots of water
I feel like a fish.
I am only eight
I want candy
I want chocolate milk
If I sneak it I will get sick
I am only eight
Life’s not fair
Why, I ask, why me?
Mom teaches me how to check my sugar, give myself injections, and change my pump.
I am only eight.
Who cares?
Will there be cure?
Should I worry?
I am only eight.
I care
I will find a cure.
Now I am twelve
I check my sugar
I eat right and exercise
I play
I have friends who like me for who I am.
The Cure
by Jerry Nairn
For years they prayed for the day,
the day they could stop
bleeding him for blood sugars.
staring at his food,
counting the carbohydrates,
insulin on board...
They wished they could forget it all,
all of the knowledge and lore,
the glycemic index,
site sensitivity,
medical adhesives,
long-term complications...
... as if it weren't all complicated.
They wanted to stop worrying
about the impact of joyful play
on blood sugar balance.
So they wished for the day,
the day they could get rid of it all...
boxes of test strips,
the sharp things, needles, lancets, syringes,
the technological marvels...
meters, pumps, sensors,
the tools of replacing beta cells
and mimicking
the way the body is supposed to work,
the insulin
would all finally be stacked up in a big pile,
packed up to be sent away.
They wished and prayed the day would come,
But diabetes left in the night,
And with it took their son.
Hurting Life
By Q, Age 7, diagnosed at 3
I am sad,
I am scared.
Why did I have to get it?
I have shots
And pump changes
And CGM changes.
And more and more and more,
And more and more and more.
A Letter to the Pain in My Side
by Elizabeth Strait
Hello again,
To my familiar little prick,
My inconvenient lifeline;
At least you’re tiny, sharp, and quick.
Though the pain just lasts a second,
You stick to me somehow;
A tiny little burden
I’ll have to cope with now.
You pop up under T-shirts,
Protruding from my side;
A tiny little bump
I try my best to hide.
But you’re just the cuff
To my ball and chain.
Now to that Ball;
Hiding YOU is a pain!
You’re heavy, big, and fat,
You’ve hooked yourself on me,
A necessary bother
But I sometimes want set free.
Where am I supposed to put you
Say, if I’m in a dress?
Though I can solve that problem,
It’s not something that I’ll confess.
And when I’ve got you hidden
Is just when I need you out;
Now that’s a public scene
I’d rather do without...
You two are bothersome enough,
But before I say adieu,
I’ll give credit to the chain
As you cause trouble too.
Getting caught, getting tangled;
You’re just as bad as they!
Too bad I need the insulin
That you pump my way...
by Mary Jo Powell
This poem is dedicated to Anne Newton from Medtronic and Kelley Crumpler from Brazos Valley Endocrinology.
Know that old saying 'bout "new tricks" and "old dogs"?
I'm now out to prove that it should give one pause.
After 50-plus years of syringes and vials,
With good days and bad nights and plenty of trials,
I've entered a new world of sensors and pumps
And am finding it's giving me plenty of lumps.
It's like learning to do this all over again
And struggling to make all this "stuff" a new friend.
I;m now dealing with decimals instead of just ones,
Finding what I don't know is measured in tons.
But learning new things is a challenge in life
And one that can cause you a great deal of strife.
But thank God for nice people who're willing to help,
Like Anne from Medtronic and Kelley herself.
And there's doctors and bloggers and other friends too
All anxious to help me learn just what to do.
So I head on, determined, in this new exploit,
Hoping that soon I'll become more adroit.
For I know that others have done this same thing
And that soon I will grasp that elusive brass ring
Then control my condition, not let it rule me,
And then show what I've learned so that others can see.
All to prove that "new tricks" can be learned by "old dogs,"
And facing new challenges need not give one pause.