[click image to view matchup in full screen in a new window.]
The Poets’ Challenge: Each poet is assigned a single word based on their bracket seed, ranging from 1 (intuitive) to 16 (seemingly impossible). Poets must write a kid-appropriate poem using the prompted word in under 36 hours. Once both final poems have been received, they will be pasted into the body of this post, and then the reader poll will be open for voting.
Voter Instructions: Read each poem as many times as you’d like. Then use the poll to express your preference. Votes are counted in real time and cannot be changed once entered. As a guideline for voting, consider the criteria on which the contestants on the cooking show “Chopped” are evaluated: presentation, taste, and creativity. Translated roughly into poetry terms, presentation might include technical aspects such as meter, rhyme, form/shape, etc.; taste might be the net effect — did the poem move you to laugh, cry, think, kill, etc.; and creativity might include the poet’s approach toward a certain subject, image evocation, clever wordplay, etc.
“This is awesome, where can I find more?”: All results and scheduled matchups, including a glance at the round-by-round writing windows and voting windows, are visible from the Live Scoreboard page. In addition, results will be tweeted from @edecaria as they become final.
Here are the poems:
4-plunge
A Farm Dog’s Work
by Amy Ludwig VanDerwater
A farm dog’s work is full of fun.
Herd my children. Dig a hole.
Bark at sheep to watch them run.
A farm dog’s work is full of fun.
Cuddle cats in noontime sun.
Nibble kibble from my bowl.
A farm dog’s work is full of fun.
Herd my children. Dig a hole.
A farm dog’s work is full of play.
Learn a new game every week.
Help my master load up hay.
A farm dog’s work is full of play.
Chase a white-tailed deer away.
Plunge into an icy creek.
A farm dog’s work is full of play.
Learn a new game every week.
vs.
10-jerky
The First Lesson
by Debbie LaCroix
The one on the left or the one on the right?
My hands grip the wheel tight.
My foot slowly starts to push. . .
Forward… stop. Forward… stop. Forward……
Screeechhhhhhh!
Deep breath.
Tap, tap. Push. –Lurch–
Stop.
Tap, tap…–lurch–
….SLAM. Screeeeeechhhhh.
STOP SCREAMING AT ME!
Deep breath. Tap, tap, slow…ly…
Mov…ing…
This jerky ride is just the beginning.
Soon I’ll take to the road, and then your real worries begin.
VOTE NOW!
4-plunge vs. 10-jerky: Which Poem Did You Prefer?
- 4-plunge (Amy Ludwig VanDerwater) (49%, 181 Votes)
- 10-jerky (Debbie LaCroix) (51%, 190 Votes)
Total Voters: 371

GET OUT THE VOTE. The average pairing in Round 1 generated 154 votes. The average pairing in Round 2 generated 178 votes. The average pairing in Round 3 generated 224 votes. A nice trend! Use the share buttons below and mention the madness wherever you go so that these poems reach more kids! And remember, encourage voting on EVERY MATCHUP, not just this one!