Your ZIP code is part of your identity. The Toledo City Paper has made an effort to mission, the Toledo Lucas County Public Library, The Fair Housing Center and The Arts Comission in asking Toledoans to submit short poems inspired by their ZIP code— with the number of word in each line of the poem determined by the corresponding digit in their ZIP code.
Over the past nine years, we’ve seen how much your home, neighborhood and the people around you impact your day-to-day life. This annual Ode to the ZIP Code poetry contest has taken on a special meaning, and we couldn’t be more excited to share the diverse voices of Toledoans.
Adult Finalists
Jennifer Zunk
48144
Confederate flags, Trump flags
Neighbors drinking lies, barbecuing democracy,
and proclaiming superiority
*SIGH*
Don’t ask, don’t tell
I miss my Blue city
____________________________________
Jenai Hicklin
43615
An area of trees
fields, streets, playgrounds
out far but yet so close
skies
I feel safe, I think.
____________________________________
Catherine Lowe
43443
god, so much mud
the rains bring
sticks, rock, and ice
grey, grey, more grey
die to live
____________________________________
Anna Galindo
43614
We travel on the
Anthony Wayne Trail
And maybe use the nearby Turnpike
Or
Take in the theatre
____________________________________
Leah Jefferson
43465
Walbridge incorporated in 1913
Railroads all between
Originally the owls nest
Festival season was always the best
Great place to wanna be
____________________________________
Heather Smietanski
43551
Tecumseh’s ghost rides across
U.S. 20 looking
for the land his people
would claim now; Little Turtle weeps.
____________________________________
Sloan Hampton
43560
Olive lives on Main
Soccer dominates Pacesetter
Ice cream melts in Mayberry
Sylvania, where friends, families, gather together
____________________________________
Crystal Heft
43614
Friendly faces, wagging tails
Along Chessie Trail
Stops for coffee, nature to see
Weaving
Together Toledo and Maumee
____________________________________
Aya Khalil
43606
Orange, red, purple, pink crunchy, crispy leaves
fall in The Hills is stunning
–
Take time to look around. Breathe.
____________________________________
Barb Gail
43614
Shawn’s, Caper’s, Distillery, Doc’s
Neighbors meeting here
Friendly faces at all these places
Yes!
Let’s have a beer!
____________________________________
Emily Desmond
43620
Stratford, Winthrop, Acklin, Virginia
Lesser known streets
Among the avenues of larger woods
We live
–
____________________________________
Hannah Watkins
43612
We took it all
everything we had
into box, bag, truck packed tight
moved
to anew
____________________________________
Janelle Maier
43623
Bagels for munching on
Challenges each day
Parks bring joy like never before
Two babies
This is home
____________________________________
Jeremy Conrad
43528
Mysterious destinations disappearing without-
fire pits watch-
Pink skies filled with clouds.
Practice, gentlemen.
The village of Holland might need you someday.
____________________________________
Justin Longacre
43613
Neighborhood kids sign the
sparkler-cut dusk,
words of fire written on sky,
fading
as they appear.
____________________________________
Michele Jurek
43612
Are we west, or
are we north?
Probably a little bit of both.
Anyway,
it’s home.
____________________________________
V Lewis Taylor
43610
I Love The Old
West End Festival
It Brings Together People Of All
Ethnicities
–
____________________________________
Tremaine Layson
43615
On the bank of
The Maumee River
Sits a bright blue glass building
EKG
The heart of the city
____________________________________
Emily Desmond
43604
The corner coffee shop
Makes you smile
And you notice the boy’s mural
Smiling back
–
____________________________________
Hope Hooper
43614
A wood and creek
Where wildlife thrives
Deer exploring streets and yards nearby
Nature
Entwined with our city
Young Adult Finalists
Adalyn Levan
43619
smelling the toasty campfires
my nostalgia’s ablaze
echoes of our laughter and joy
Remember?
the memories of my childhood forever cherished
and remembered
____________________________________
Akosua Brenya
43560
The roars of construction
Pounding, thudding, collapsing
But the trees give you
Solace within the slithers of silence
–
____________________________________
Bramwell Bass-Stroud
43606
Cracked sidewalks, towering trees
Leaves throwing shadows
My hair ruffled by the breeze
(This place is wonderful)
And I can call it home
____________________________________
Caiden Taylor
43613
Slow street interaction, dealership
7/11, locksmith, three
years, mom, dad, brother, twin- busy
brick
road, dead trees
____________________________________
Callum Mather
43604
History lines these streets
Like the facade
Of pride flags and flower baskets
(Line Adam’s, covering crumbling exteriors,
masking)
What time has stolen.
____________________________________
Callum Mather
43608
Seventy-five mismatched homes line
Crumbling brick streets,
All with a story to tell.
(Long lost to distant memory and blurred into the
plaque)
that sits on the gate of bygone importance.
____________________________________
Jordin Harris
43607
I was told to
leave my mark
wherever I went, so I etched
(my salutations to home in the concrete)
next to the seed I grew from
____________________________________
Jordin Harris
43615
These gardens whisper secrets
of everything real
buried beneath the burning bushes and
roses.
The botanicals declare perennial beauty.
____________________________________
Jordin Harris
43605
With my ear to
the streets, Eastside
history whispers to me and I
(listen)
I will tell their stories.
____________________________________
Elijah Longacre
43612
The summers heat hangs
Low and tired
However in the car it’s cool
Blissfull
Air-conditioning blasts
____________________________________
Jack Rosebrock
43615
Midnight blue and gold
Echos boom inside
Roaring fans will cram the stands
Rockets
A game you can’t forget
____________________________________
Lailah Byrd
43607
How I learned to
Breathe in a
House without heat is a mystery,
(But it is not the warmth that made that house a
home)
It is the love that enveloped me
____________________________________
Lailah Byrd
43615
Mom is getting older
And here, I
am sitting in a pink room,
Hiding
From the age I am.
____________________________________
Noah Lopez
43613
guns drawn fast here
no ones near
the pops sound cant you hear
for
it ends here
____________________________________
Ryan Donaldson
43604
At the Mud Hens,
home run hit
streaking into my childhood’s outstretched palm
–
(my stomach full from a Tony Packo dog)
what a nice catch.
____________________________________
Ryan Donaldson
43604
So many steps taken
to see animals
sleeping, eating, drinking, bathing, walking,
playing
(what do I look like)
to them on the other side of the glass?
____________________________________
Sophia Ploeger
43604
Fraying Rust Belt avenues,
calico swirls of
steel flakes, stained glass, mossy brick,
(vacancy, yet homeward scents of toasted
cinnamon coast from)
pothos lined espresso shops.
____________________________________
Sophia Ploeger
43615
Captivated by Wildwood Metropark,
I will remain
gazing at yellow banded tussock moths
until
brindled dusk frosts the clouds.
____________________________________
Sophia Ploeger
43402
Wisps of sleet saunter
past Wooster Green,
garlands of snowshed light,
(no doubt, we have six more weeks of this-)
winter’s frost.
____________________________________
Ignacio Hernandez
43609
home to many of
the kids with
no home or family at all
(so they will come)
for a free meal or to be loved again
Youth Finalists
Paul Mckenzie
43537
So thoughtful and frequent
Sometimes even heartbreaking
Feeling emotions through the words
seeing the images
Line to line made word by word
____________________________________
Rae kania
43614
I once did not
Know that my
Neighborhood was weird and weirder then
Hillandale
Why I don’t know
____________________________________
Lincoln Adamczewski
43537
Walleye games are fun
Let’s go Fish
It’s exciting when they score
Sometimes they fight
The goalie is good at blocking shots
____________________________________
Theo Decker
43616
dogs in the distance
cars driving by
snow falling down on the ground
calmness
so much in a simple neighborhood
____________________________________
Alicia Hughes
48144
I walk down Valleybrook
As the eagle flies east on it’s morning
commute.
I am ready to
go to school again.
____________________________________
Sloan Hampton
43560
I like flag football
and soccer, ice
cream at Charlies, pizza from
Marcos. Ohio. My state is great.
–
____________________________________
Sloan Hampton
43560
I really love home
Where family unites
Libraries, tamoshanter, pacesetter, always busy
So cheerful, bright, fun, for everyone
–
____________________________________
Melodia May
43560
I am made to
wonder. Learn. Grow.
It presses me to seek
awe, that gentle breeze around Olander.
–
____________________________________
Melodia May
43613
I am made to
wonder. Evolve. Question.
Within the great Oaks of Secor,
joy
is never far.
____________________________________
Justine Cheedie
43528
Beautiful trees strong and
tall, I think
Toledo has the prettiest of all. Flowers
that bloom every year,
Toledo is very dear.
____________________________________
Justine Cheedie
43528
taking a walk in
the park until
it gets dark, watching the
sun go
down, hearing the birds, what a beautiful sound
____________________________________
Justine Cheedie
43528
Winter’s not near, it
is here! It’s
the season of snow in
cold Toledo.When will it go? I do not know.
____________________________________
Nathan Rogers
43566
Turn down Riverwalk Ct
cul-de-sac, you’ll see
tall pine trees on left.
You might see me climbing trees
or playing tag with my family.
____________________________________
Xavier Otting
43560
Swimming in the quarry
Library fun stories
I can not wait until
The fun thrill at Northview hill
–
____________________________________
Allie Marker
43617
Ventura’s Cajun Chicken Nachos,
Starbucks Pink Drink,
Jack’s Classic from Paddy Jacks, asap,
Bundtinis,
Kiwi Strawberry smoothie to top it off!
____________________________________
Kylie Stout
43566
I love my school!
The best teachers
awesome students and great friends.
Movie nights, book fairs, Winter’s Ball
Waterville Primary, best school of all.
____________________________________
Kylie Stout
43566
In my living room
The magic happens
Ballet, lyrical, tap, and jazz
I love dancing day and night
Love to be in the spotlight
____________________________________
Julia Rosebrock
43615
Toledo, I love it,
makes me smile.
A museum and zoo, so cool!
It’s
So wonderful to live here.
____________________________________
Julia Rosebrock
43615
Lucus county public library,
Amazing Toledo zoo,
Toledo has so many cool places.
I,
Love them all so much.
____________________________________
Keira Shoults
43612
The train’s chains click
Police cars abandoned
Quietly abandoned blue collar vehicles sitting
(Choo-choo)
Imlay Street
