On February 23, Danville Community College hosted its inaugural Virginia Community College System (VCCS) Poetry & Visual Arts Competition Awards Ceremony. Participating students submitted original poetry and visual artworks throughout the month of February that shared their interpretations of the theme ‘I Belong’. The competition, led by Dr. Anca Garcia, assistant professor of English, aimed to foster a sense of belonging and unity within the DCC community and across the VCCS.
First, second, and third prizewinners were named in both the poetry and visual arts categories. Each winner in each category received a monetary prize, as well as a commemorative trophy. The first-place winner in the poetry category will go on to compete against the first-place winners from across the many colleges that make up the VCCS for the title of ‘VCCS Poet Laureate’ in Charlottesville in April 2024.
The first-place winner in the visual arts category will have their artwork featured in a traveling exhibition of all first-prize-winning artworks from across the VCCS and will compete for the title of 'Visual Arts Luminary'. The exhibition will make its way across the state to all 23 Virginia Community Colleges.
Poetry Competition Winners
FIRST PLACE
Lydia Davis
Poem Title: “A New Sense of Belonging”
As a young child, I had many restless nights.
Tossing and turning,
With one thought devouring my mind:
Where do I belong?
I desperately searched for an answer.
Wanting to at least think of a place,
Or possibly even another person.
For feeling as if you don’t belong,
To any place
Or with anyone,
It brings on a sadness,
A dark grave of loneliness,
That not even the night’s blackest oceans can compare.
I was a quiet child.
Talking to others and making friends happened to be quite difficult.
So instead, I found comfort in a magical realm.
A place that held hundreds of other places and worlds.
I began to spend my days reading books.
For I spent years,
With my head stuck in another world.
A world where I could be anyone I wanted.
A world where I could be anywhere and everywhere,
At any time that I wished.
But then,
One random day seemed to change everything.
On a cloudy day in September,
I met a boy.
A boy with eyes of icy blues,
A smile as bright as his yellow bag,
And a heart of pure gold.
For a few months went past,
And a new sense of belonging came to be.
After years of belonging amongst the pages in books,
I found a person,
A lover,
To give me what I yearned for years ago.
With him,
Is where I belong.
SECOND PLACE
Ariyah Graves
Poem Title: “I Know I Belong”
While my skin may be dark,
My mind is quite bright,
Just like the other little girls,
Whose skin is all white.
We may not have the same skin color,
But that does not make me any less,
I am just as rich as them,
No matter the price of my dress.
They treat me no different,
Or do me any type of wrong,
No matter my status or skin color,
I know I belong.
THIRD PLACE
Kameya Graves
Poem Title: “I Belong’
I belong to a race.
A people whose skin embraces the sun,
Ranging beyond bronze and gold.
A people whose hair defies gravity,
Reaching for the sky.
A people once oppressed, standing tall.
That’s not it - that’s not all.
So much more than race,
Defining a culture.
A culture whose foods touch souls.
A culture whose rhythms bring us jazz and blues.
A culture woven in joy and pain.
A culture unbound.
Limitless.
A dazzling badge of pride.
I am African American – I belong.
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