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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-interlock
Mash-Up
By Marcus Ewert
I am a jigsaw puzzle piece:
A corner-piece, with sky;
My best friend’s from a different box –
His puzzle shows a pie.
My cloudy face, his rhubarb one –
Compounded, they’re a shock;
We don’t belong together, but…
Our centers interlock.
vs.
10-elongated
Homework
By Jim Hill
“By Pinocchio’s elongated schnoz!”
Cursed the teacher while calling my bluff,
Excuse five thousand and four – by her count the last straw –
It seems finally, enough is enough.
The dog ate it. I have gout. My computer’s offline.
Even I can’t believe what I’ve said.
It’s becoming a chore making up more and more.
Should I try doing this stuff instead?
7-interlock vs. 10-elongated
- 7-interlock (Marcus Ewert) (62%, 161 Votes)
- 10-elongated (Jim Hill) (38%, 100 Votes)
Total Voters: 261

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