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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. 

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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."

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