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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:
3-freaking
Improper Disposal
by Victoria Warneck
My sister, being only three,
does not yet have the smarts to see
that life’s too short for freaking out
about a reeking Brussels sprout.
With age, she’ll come to understand
that all it takes is sleight of hand
to send the rank, offending green
down Fido’s gullet, sight unseen.
vs.
14-supersede
Super Seed
by Patti Richards
If I had a super seed it would grow the best.
My super seed would split and sprout, faster than the rest;
Run circles ‘round the corn stalks first, and race against tomatoes,
Supersede the summer squash and overtake potatoes.
Then Super Seed would shoot its stems straight up to the sun,
And stretch its tendrils round the earth and dig ‘til roots were done
Sipping love and light and truth from deep within the ground.
While blossoms burst with peace and hope- now that would be profound!
