ROUND ONE: 6-malarkey vs. 11-grok

The word 6-malarkey was suggested by Iroquois Intermediate’s thinkers, readers, and writers.

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:

6-malarkey
The Giving Tree?
By Cheryl Lawton Malone

“Malarkey,” said a nearby tree.
What nonsense! Are you kidding me?

Your apples could have fed all types
of millipedes and worms with stripes.

Your branches could have given rest
to turkeys who’ve been dispossessed.

And now he slumps against your stump?
That boy of yours. He’s quite a chump!

vs.

11-grok
Alternate Universe
By Doraine Bennett

If I could converse with aliens first,
I’d steer a shooting star
with perfect contol right through a worm hole
and land on Mars.

But here on the Earth, I’m no extrovert.
My stomach wants to hurl.
My voice starts to squeak, my brain has a leak.
I don’t grok girls.

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