Click here for authlete instructions.
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.
- Votes are counted in real time and cannot be changed once entered.
- You can only vote once from a given IP address.
- 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:
2-strewn
Oodles of Doodles
by Jacquie Sewell
Puppies lay strewn across the yard,
A rambunctious bunch who love to play hard.
Nose to tail, muzzle to muzzle,
They slumber together like a canine puzzle.
Round, pink bellies glint in the sun
while oversized paws continue to run.
Tired Dogs, Good Dogs, mischief is done . . .
rrrrrufffffff!
vs.
15-fungible
Fungibility
by B.J. Lee
A dollar bill is fungible – convert it all to dimes –
but lemons are not fungible if switcherooed for limes.
A hedgehog and a porcupine are similar, indeed,
but don’t have fungibility. Each one’s a different breed.
The aardvark and the anteater both keep the ants at bay,
but aardvark works the evening shift, the anteater, by day.
A best friend is not fungible; instead she is unique.
You will not find her like again, no matter where you seek.
