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:
3-awry
Alone?
By Robyn Hood Black
Door ajar, chairs askew –
Something shadowed slips from view.
Tables turned, thoughts awry –
Goosebumps gather, multiply.
Wind blows wild. Door slams NOW!
hold – my – breath…
vs.
14-verjuice
Senescence
By Matt Forrest Esenwine
Drink from the cup of your youth, my child,
Sup and be merry while young;
For the meal always cools
And verjuice of old fools
Is sour and sad on the tongue.
3-awry vs. 14-verjuice
- 3-awry (Robyn Hood Black) (64%, 114 Votes)
- 14-verjuice (Matt Forrest Esenwine) (36%, 64 Votes)
Total Voters: 178

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