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:
8-visage
Vernal Equinox
by Michele Krueger
Spring makes a stunning entrance
cavorting in today
her frilly ferns and daffodils
waving on display
a visage of refreshment
with buds bursting into bloom
Spring verges onto stardom
as Winter leaves the room
vs.
8-miscreant
Delightful Delinquency
by By Donna Smith
Dandelions grow where e’er they please,
Fairly jumping to tag your knees!
Don’t dig them up nor munch their leaves;
Meddling humans are their pet peeves.
In gardens and lawns, they’re seen as flaws,
But be a delinquent, snub green thumb laws!
Deadhead and blow, don’t think them a weed;
Delight in spreading miscreant seed!
