Cooper Wollenhaupt
In Such A Dark Hour
In such a dark hour,
With lifeless skies.
A once cheery, joyful blue
Turned black by the passing of time.
And the world sleeps
In this dark hour.
Prey go and hide,
While predators return.
The sky, black and darkened,
Heavy with sorrow.
Things held dearly,
Forgotten and locked in shadows.
Death soars through the eerie black,
A moon glimmers with hope,
Its light shining bright in the black.
As it travels through the lonely sky,
a radiant hope arises.
The darkness clears,
And blue skies come again.
* Selected for recognition in the 2025 Poetry Contest presented by the New Milford Commission on the Arts.
In The Wild
Never silent
Birds chirp
Wind Breezes
Feasting
Never stopping
One after another
Day through night
Circling back
Some beasts go
Some never return
Always changing
New things come
Old things go
But nature never leaves
Only changes
* This poem received national recognition in the 2026 Manningham Trust Student Poetry Contest and appears in the NFSPS Youth Poetry Anthology.
Wilting Fate
Dying flowers cry
In their wilting fate
Trees now empty fading
Without a trace
Some animals sleep, some hide
Cold passes all around
Leaving only death and snow
As winter has come
Small Gestures
As fields are left withering,
And souls of glee, empty and alone.
Those once filled with folly,
Chained to sorrow’s throne.
Small gestures can lead to grandeur,
Leading the lost back to their sea of hope;
Lands made drought, trees scarce and dying,
With a little care, they can become thriving.
* 2026 NCTE Achievement Award in Writing: Recognized for excellence among a global pool of student writers by the National Council of Teachers of English.