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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’d 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.
- In the Public Vote, anyone may vote, but only one vote is allowed per IP address.
- In the Classroom Vote, you must be registered and logged in to vote.
- Official voting classrooms should read and discuss each poem and then submit one vote as a class.
- Students can then vote again individually from home.
- In the Authlete Vote, you must be a 2015 authlete and logged in to vote.
Things to Consider in Making a Choice:
- How well the poem incorporates the authlete’s assigned word, given its level of difficulty.
- Whether or not the poem adheres to the poem requirements for the contest.
- Precision: structure, meter, rhyme, syntax, etc.
- Personality: creative imagery, language, metaphor, etc.
- Power: makes you laugh, cry, want, sigh, think, dream, wince, scream, etc.
- Plus One: it is a poem you feel drawn to share with another person for whatever reason.
Apply your own criteria as well! For more on the above concepts, check out POEMETRICS™.
Here are the poems:
8-embellished what does it mean?
THE CLOUD WEAVERS
By Michelle Heidenrich Barnes
In dewy morning hours, at daybreak’s early light,
the clouds, still cool and frosted and sleepy from the night,
awake with hopeful outlook – is today another day
the Weavers pay a visit? Is there magic on the way?
They raise their heads from feather beds, and look down from the sky.
A rooster crows, the sunlight glows, a red-tailed hawk flies by.
Then swiftly out of nowhere, with spools of golden thread,
the Weavers swoop in silently. The sky turns orange-red.
They work their spindles quickly; no time to dillydally.
Below, the earth awaits the show – the sunrise grand finale.
The clouds are stitched with golden sparks by skillful nimble fingers,
and when the Weavers slip away, their handiwork still lingers.
Dressed in lace and sparkling jewels, embellished by the sun,
the clouds await their encore when the day is nearly done.
vs.
13-denouement what does it mean?
Medusa’s Lament
By Randi Sonenshine
Oh, I’m just a lonely gorgon with a lot of love to share
But I’m destined for a solitary life.
How I curse that cruel Poseidon with his hypnotizing trident
and his selfish ploy to take me as a wife!
It’s so hard to find a husband when you’re living in a lair
where the Internet’s at best a weak transmission.
And when looking for a date, very few men seek a mate
with a pair of wings and scaly disposition.
When I think I’ve found a fellow not afraid to take a dare,
who might look at me and live another day –
one who fancies hugs and kisses, while the hair around him hisses,
then I grab my phone and text him right away!
So I put on darkened glasses and sedate my writhing hair,
but no matter how much care I take to plan it:
In the dismal denouement, he will end up on my lawn –
Yet another ornamental “hunk” of granite!
