We’re now just THREE days away from the start of March Madness Poetry 2013!
Continuing my one-a-day posting of my Top Ten favorite poems from #MMPoetry 2012 … today we’ll look up into the trees to find Suz Blackaby’s poem prompted by her 9-seed word “exclusive” in the fourth round:
9-exclusive
For the Birds
by Suz Blackaby
A crowning kingdom in a tree
Is home to denizens den-free,
An exclusive nesting site
Located at a dizzy height.
Though sundry cups and hollowed holes
May house frogs, bats, rats, mice, or voles,
Birds dominate the panoply
Of creatures in the canopy.
Bough to bough they frisk and bounce,
Tip and stipple, hop and pounce,
Launch and circle, soar and wheel,
Chirp and chitter, perch and peal—
This poem captured 60% of the vote in its matchup and earned Suz a spot in the Final Four, a much deserved position for the authlete who contributed perhaps the most consistently excellent display of poetry throughout the event. She has a style all her own, and I look forward to reading more of her work this year, though she’ll be challenged a bit more as the 14-seed in the Empathy bracket rather than nesting cozily with another 9-seed like last year. Click here to see this poem as it originally appeared in #MMPoetry 2012.
