Poetry Decathlon

[Tracy Mitchell]

# 9  Free Verse


I already wrote this poem

I stand in water like egrets and herons
venturing to wait it out from the shallows.

Vicious gales I could fight if need
twist hard today’s array.

I scour to spot food float close, or feel 
to find what might not be there

– might never show beneath 
a coat of feathers, beneath what 

can’t be seen, these screaming things
too close to see that far– 

a beautiful reflection, or rapturous illusion 
to melt or vaporize – to pick dazzling spots
from the sun.

.

[Tracy Mitchell]

#10  Wild Card  


Joe Blow Outgrows The Road Show
In Serial American Sentences With 
Square Poem Epilogue

      Chicago’s           3
      big toe banjo     4
      mustachioed      4
      cross bow           2
      bongo cargo.      4

      calypso radio     6
      piccolo              3
      studio                3
      long bow            2
      gizmo–               2    
      Yo.                     1



shake    rattle      then         roll

rattle    heads      when        through

then      when      done         dancing

roll       through   dancing     years


.

 

[Deb]

# 4 Acrostic

Tripping

Relaxing and rolling
On down the road
Adventure awaits 
Driving the byways less traveled

Treasures to be found in memories we make
Realization that these days slip by quickly
Incredible wonders of the world to behold
Precious are these days of journeying together 

[Deb]

My very first triolet. Nothing special, not the worst, but I don't have a lot of time and concentration, so what you see is what I got in the few minutes I had. That should be a song. :)

#5 Triolet
 Pressure

It’s hard for me, this thing called trust
Though it’s not to say my heart is shy
In a union of marriage, it is a must
It’s hard for me, this thing called trust
Not like Baez’s Diamonds and Rust
Doubts blink like fireflies in the evening sky
It’s hard for me, this thing called trust
My mind spins wheels, high PSI

[Deb]

#6 Etheree    Another first, not sure if I did it right. Please feel free to point out mistakes in any of my entries. I am a student here.

                                   Songs
                                Are light
                              Some dreary
                         Can make you sing
                        Depressed and bleary
                      Deep bluegrass melody
                     Guitar riffs or jazzy tunes
                    The singer giving all he’s got
                 Melancholy country, rock-n-roll
            Welcome music's company in my soul

#7 Blank Verse - another first, I think? Not sure if I did these right either. 

The rain will wash the dust from corners, dark.   (Iamb pentameter)
                                                               
Her eyes closed, slowly opened, was she dreaming of October blaze?   (anapest blank verse)
 

[Lecram06]

#4  Etheree


   Cliffside 

poised 
shit-pants’ed
trembling wild 
on narrow ledge– 
here I be, matey, 
one step from the abyss– 
swaying in wind so fervent
I hold pause then feet-first screaming
lurch from the cliff in terrored descent
to plunge feet first into cold-splash success!

.
    
    
 

This Etheree is a "cold-splash success. Marcel
 

[Lecram06]

#6 Etheree    Another first, not sure if I did it right. Please feel free to point out mistakes in any of my entries. I am a student here.                                   Songs                                Are light                              Some dreary                         Can make you sing                        Depressed and bleary                      Deep bluegrass melody                     Guitar riffs or jazzy tunes                    The singer giving all he’s got                 Melancholy country, rock-n-roll            Welcome music's company in my soul

#7 Blank Verse - another first, I think? Not sure if I did these right either. 

The rain will wash the dust from corners, dark.   (Iamb pentameter)
                                                               
Her eyes closed, slowly opened, was she dreaming of October blaze?   (anapest blank verse)
 

I like the beehive look of your etheree. We are always beginners or we are nothing. Marcel

[Lecram06]

#10  Wild Card  


Joe Blow Outgrows The Road Show
In Serial American Sentences With 
Square Poem Epilogue

      Chicago’s           3
      big toe banjo     4
      mustachioed      4
      cross bow           2
      bongo cargo.      4

      calypso radio     6
      piccolo              3
      studio                3
      long bow            2
      gizmo–               2    
      Yo.                     1



shake    rattle      then         roll

rattle    heads      when        through

then      when      done         dancing

roll       through   dancing     years


.

 

You manage to add a new visual to the melody with humor. Marcel
 

[Lecram06]

# 9  Free Verse


I already wrote this poem

I stand in water like egrets and herons
venturing to wait it out from the shallows.

Vicious gales I could fight if need
twist hard today’s array.

I scour to spot food float close, or feel 
to find what might not be there

– might never show beneath 
a coat of feathers, beneath what 

can’t be seen, these screaming things
too close to see that far– 

a beautiful reflection, or rapturous illusion 
to melt or vaporize – to pick dazzling spots
from the sun.

.

A creative and metaphorical title hinting at more. And the sounds . . . the Fs, the S's make the reader linger and return to see more. Marcel
 

[Lecram06]

"Poet's choice"

You Were Here Today

I lean back in the chair and set the pencil down.
I fail to see it dance across the page,
or hear a sweet angelic voice.

I smell the early morning light enveloping the grass
after days of rain. No voice.
No buzzing in my toes.

I witness, for a rare unclouded moment,
naked love -- a frison in the grass.
No words across the bow.

Instead,
a lightening in my chest -- behind the sutures,
a welcoming of joy -- a tearful joy.


*Inspired by William Stafford's When I Met My Muse