Celebrate your 2021 Finalists
Hope || Jason Anderson || Cordova
Memphis,
A place built on a bluff
A place built on grit and grind
A place built of Hope
A word so strong it can move mountains
A word so strong it can build Countries
Memphis may be a small city but there is much of this word called hope
This hope built a city known for many things
A city known for Jazz and Blues
A city known for Barbecue
A city where Elvis sings
A solemn pulpit for Dr King
Look and you may find
Memphis is far from perfect
This city may have crime
But with hope for a brighter life
We may achieve it
Ask yourself, Which is it I lack?
Grit, grind or hope?
We live in a city built of those things
We may not be perfect
But we have what many don’t…
The grit and grind to go after anything
Memphis a city of hope…
Musical Dreamland || Clarissa Robertson || Mitchell HS
My audience is quiet, until the dark of night,
when we enjoy the sight
of the city.
I see lanterns stretching far and wide,
the clouds hung high
over the city.
The people dancing to a new tune as a song plays
on Beale from the dark of night until the dawn of day.
Our world is magnified.
Can you hear their blows and bellows
drifting down the riverbank searching for a soul to sow?
The streets are full of people
from the tallest to the smallest-
They all dream
This place is happy.
The smokehouse flows
as I walk the road
touching the walls covered in color,
while I sing to the song of the horns.
That girl dancing in the road with the eyes of many
and the man with his guitar in his own world unaware of his acquired crowd.
This is home. The home of music and many colors.
These strangers are one of a kind.
They’re carried by music and dance and the culture of the people of this place.
You see that Hope is the host to dreams.
Hope has brought these many people here to enjoy what we have to show.
This dream - this dream has soul, rhythm, rhyme and time,
to change as the new and old collide
to put on show what we have now
and can accomplish by tomorrow -
which is a dreamland, a dreamland of hope.
In This City || Amya Williams || Central
In this city we constantly flourish,
And never will we ever leave it malnourished.
From food to family to friends,
We’re a city were the fun never ends.
In this city we’re a work in progress,
And never will we ever stop the process.
From buildings to roads and bridges,
We’re a city that overcomes any ridges.
In this city we are always strong,
And never will we ever prove that is wrong.
From fights to arguments and drama,
We’re a city that never succumbs to trauma.
In this city we are known for the blues,
And never will we ever forget our muse.
From Elvis to Aretha to B.B. King,
We’re a city that won’t stop at one scene.
In this city we are always united,
And never will we ever become so divided.
From you to me to the Heavens up above,
We’re a city called Memphis, a foundation of love.
Ohh Memphis || Melina Gabriel || Overton HS
Ohh Memphis
How beautiful you are
The aroma of sweet barbecue
Through those beautiful streets of yours
Filled with beauty
Ohh Memphis
Those dancing bridge lights
A beacon for those lost in the dark
Beautiful Mississippi water
that flows through us
Ohh Mississippi
The calmness you bring
To those who are stressed
Ohh the sound of hope that you carry
Through those waters of yours
Ohhh Memphis
Home to kings
Home to BB
Home to Elvis
The memory of dr king
Home of History
A place of wonder
Ohh how beautiful you are
Ohh Memphis
As another day passes
We remember you have brought us laughter
You are comfort for many
And peace to all
As I think about you
You are a sign of Hope
Ohh my hopeful Memphis
