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Voter Instructions:
- The countdown at the bottom of each pairing indicates how much time is left to vote.
- When voting closes, timer will disappear.
- Read both poems as many times as you like.
- Mark the poem you like best by clicking the circle next to its name.
- Press the “Vote” button to record your vote.
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- Classrooms should submit one vote as a class.
- Students can then vote again individually from home.
Things to Consider in Making a Choice:
- How well the poem incorporates the authlete’s assigned word.
- Technical elements: meter, rhyme, form, shape, and other poetic standards.
- Creativity: wordplay, imagery, unusual approach, etc.
- Subtle elements that make the whole greater than the sum of its parts.
- Your overall response: emotional reaction such as admiration, tears, laughter, terror, or some indefinable feeling.
Here are the poems:
12-epiphany
The Celtic Bard’s Song – A Triolet (TREE-o-LAY)
by Quinette Cook
Alas dear Muse, this bard’s undone, you’ve run away from me
A discordant verse on lute or lyre will not please the King, his majesty.
Alas Brigit*, this bard’s undone, you’ve run away from me
Lightning strikes. An epiphany! I’ll write about the Queen, so ardently.
O dear Muse, this poet’s not undone, you’ve run back to me
*Brigit is the Celtic goddess of poetry and is often associated with a
perpetual flame. Perhaps the term “creative spark” comes from this.
vs.
4-radiant
How to Have a Cookout with a Dragon
by Elizabeth McBride
If a dragon drops in for a barbecue,
you had better make sure the meal isn’t YOU!
He can bake, he can broil, he can fry or sear;
toast or roast, (he does most in one breath, My Dear)!
So be quick! Close his mouth! Wrap it up with tape,
(only small puffs of smoke will make their escape).
Watch the fire building up all the way from his feet.
Cook your meal in the glow of his radiant heat!