A Wonderfully Mad Cookbook
Inkspire's 2022 theme of Write-A-Touille focused on learning and writing about food. The INKthology therefore features delicious poetry snacks the campers selected. Every year high school campers experience some of the work of an editorial board. This includes developing a title for the camp book. The voting for the final name is intense, yet fun.
The winning title was A Wonderfully Mad Cookbook that both acknowledges the 2022 camp theme and one of literature's most famous literary feasts inside the pages of Alice in Wonderland.
Inkspire also used the Alice theme for their newest camp tradition in 2022--the literary feast. We hosted a tea party complete with jam tarts, Abraham Lincoln's favorite white cake (that includes a touch of almond flavoring), and Kentucky's own Benedictine sandwiches.
Every year, Inkspire gives younger campers the opportunity to submit a camp book cover that reflects the book title selected by the high school editorial board. All campers vote on all the art entries with the winner announced during closing program. Congratulations to Haley Ellis for her imaginative winning artwork of the pencil featured right.
Poetry has long been recognized as an important training ground to develop creative and concise writing skills. One writing emphasis in 2022 involved writing many different types of poetry.
Three poems in our INKthology are a bit longer and have an * after their title, which denotes that this student author received an individual writing award during closing camp ceremonies.
The first section features students in third through fifth grades, listed in alphabetical order by last name.
Ode to Potatoes
Potato chips, so nice and crunchy
Mashed and sweet, so tasty too,
But when you are in a salad
You’re gross and terribly bad.
— Huntley B.
Rainy Day
Dog jumps up
Splish, splash, splosh
Grumpy soaked human
—Violet B.
Ode to Potatoes
Potatoes!
In chicken pot pie,
You’re full of surprise.
You can be baked, fried, or mashed;
Your taste can not be surpassed.
—Silas C.
Water
The water ripples
As the rain hits the night
The moon reflects.
—Ella G.
Fish
The fish swims gracefully
Splashing through the water
Eating the worm off my hook.
—Lauren H.
Wind
The wind blows through the trees in the woods
And sounds pretty
Also then it rains
—Brinley J.
Shark
Shark!
Dangerous sea creature
Can it be my pet?
—ArReon M.
Lights in the City
Lights in the city
Shine beautiful and pretty
As day turns to night
—Caroline N.
R-O-S-I-E
Rainbow
Ocelot
Sunsets
Indigo
Elephant babies
—Rosie P.
Pizza*
Pizza is hot,
Pizza is cold,
Pizza is not hard to hold.
The crust is the handle
The handle tastes nice
And I really want my very own slice.
Get a drink with it,
And a chicken wing too.
I hope you got it fresh and new.
— Mabel S.
Our second section features students in sixth through eighth grades, listed in alphabetical order by last name.
H-E-N-R-Y
Honey ham, served with delicious gravy
Egg salad sandwich, perfect picnic partner
Nacho cheese, melted over crispy chips
Rotisserie chicken, so hot it's cool
Yogurt, a tasty treat
—Henry B.
River
The river flowing
Through the rocky pathway
In the open field
—Camille C.
A Beeting Heart
I think I'd like to be a beet
Spicy, tart, terribly sweet
Growing green to garden tunes
Ready to eat, veggie blues
—Everly C.
Read
Maple, birch, and oak
Bright green leaves upon leaves
I sit near and read
-—Haley E.
Trees
Trees are tall and green
The wind rustles their lush leaves
Creatures call them home
-—Isaac G.
A Drink-Me Potion
My friend, who was being annoying, inspired this recipe.
I wanted her to stop talking, and this drink made her stop talking.
1 cup pink lemonade
3 drops super glue
Stir together and drink.
—Addison G.
Lemons*
Lemons, bright and yellow
But also sour
So keep them in a good mood;
If you squeeze too hard,
They might cry,
Unlike limes.
—Maci G.
Parrot
A parrot takes flight
His multi-colored wings shine
He grabs a grub snack
—Sawyer J.
Potatoes!
Potatoes!
You are amazing in wedges
But better mashed;
You are great baked
But better sweet.
—Makayla R.
Cookie Jar
If I were a cookie jar
My cookies would be gooey and sweet
But after a while they grow stale;
That's how the cookie crumbles.
-—Liam S.
Figs
Figs, star-shaped goodness
Sweet, juicy, and delicious
The best fruit of all
—Brighton T.
Our third section features students in ninth through twelfth grades, listed in alphabetical order by last name. Through the years the older division has sustained once-a-year camp friendships that have mysteriously included two themes--zucchinis and giraffes. These are fun motifs. I (Mizz JJ, camp director) remember my college speech team at Miami of Ohio continually spinning yarns off of "the purple tree."
M-A-R-I-A
Mint gum (Wrigley's) keeps me awake in Latin.
Arrozcaldo: chicken and rice stew with lemon and garlic.
Rock candy sizzles and explodes in my mouth.
Ice cream--Graeter's black raspberry chip.
Applesauce and latkes.
—Mae A.
Conversations Between Words*
Mind-Boggling asked, “Where do words live when they are not being said?
They seem to stay inside the head.”
“Hey! How do words communicate?” prompted Telegraph.
“With dashes and dots!” he said. He got one laugh.
“You’re not funny,” snapped Sarcasm, feeling particularly dry.
“Stop planting negativity,” retorted the word Rye.”
Self-Aware shouted “This was to be a poem, not stand-up comedy!”
Irony whispered to Obliviousness, “Both were done quite wonderfully.”
—Samuel B.
Sage Potatoes
Rich, golden army whose roots run deep
oh, their deep, sagacious eyes that never sleep
golden-eyed with seasoned roots, barricaded in amber
reacquainted with the farmer's spade, they wink awake,
then tumble to the dinner table--surprise! surprise!
—Skylynn B.
Jehoshaphat the Giraffe
Graceful king-like giraffe
Towers above the trees
devouring zucchinis
—Jacob D.
Just Right Pie
I spy with hungry eyes
Blueberry, pumpkin, apple pie
Crispy, golden, savory crust
Gives a dishlicious crunch
Sweet, tart, ah pure delight
Pie Pie Pie just right right right
—Rachel M.
Apples
Trees blew in the spring wind, making flowers dance
The buzz of bees loomed lazily through the orchard
As spring passes the flowers fall away,
leaving distant scarlet
—Caroline P.
Zucchini Eclair
I noticed a nasty smell in the air
On my way to the dinner table
Mom has cooked a zucchini eclair
Please let me just eat a staple
—Naomi S.
Potatoes
Boil 'em, mash 'em, stick 'em in a stew
Bake 'em, fry 'em, sauté 'em too
Make 'em salty. Make 'em sweet.
Either way such a tasty treat.
—Abigail T.
The Battle of Two Seasons
The leaf flutters down,
Pulled away from the branch,
Fallen with his comrades.
—Josiah T.
Apple Tree
Living 'neath the summer sun.
On a tree is one red stud.
Staring at one thousand true,
But this one is picked by you.
—Isabel U.
Fortune Cookie
The famous fortune cookie
unfolding a future for you
When you unfold the slip--
It's probably not true.
—Michael W.
A fun assignment during camp was to give campers three different photo stickers. They placed the stickers in any order, but they had to connect the three stickers sequentially into a story. Brinley J.'s three stickers were: a pair of yellow chicks, a group of nine locks (one being heart-shaped), and a hummingbird hovering above a flower. Enjoy Brinley's delightful short story--a foreshadowing of the Inkspire 2023 theme: Moby INK and Ocean Commotion.
"Once there were two chicks who were siblings. One day they went to a barn that had a nine locks on it. One was heart-shaped. One chick named Quakers asked his sister for her hair pin. She gave it to him and he unlocked the locks--standing on a broom stick. When he opened the door, he saw a hummingbird and they became friends. The two chicks wanted to fly, so the hummingbird found his friends. They picked up the chicks and flew them to the ocean. They all ended up getting eaten by sharks. The End."