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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.
- 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:
7-baubles
I’m stuffed
by Catherine Johnson
My clown suit is saggy, these clothes oh so baggy
Are badly in need of new stuffin’
I found decorations, some sequins and stars
And scoffed down a moldy old muffin.
Now stuffed full of bling, my old clown suit did sing
Every move on the stage made me clatter.
I fell on my bottom, the baubles spilled out
And that was the end of the matter.
vs.
10-saboteur
Mom Says Goodnight
by Ally Keenan
Heartless monsters lurking under my bed,
Ghastly images roar through my panic stricken head.
Creeping gnarly razor-blade tipped claws shred at any ounce of hope I had left.
White knuckles, Sweaty palms, Pounding heart,
I am filled with fear
I catch a glimpse of the mirror and see, a fearful caricature of me.
My greatest saboteur is the darkness and how it makes my imagination stir.
