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Thursday, July 02, 2009

Poetry Stretch Results - Acrostic Poems

The challenge this week was to write in the acrostic form. Here are the results.
Jane Yolen left this poem in the comments.
    Undertaker

    Victim look up.
    Under a low and
    Lowering sky, the undertaker comes
    To carry your particulars
    Up to a bleak, black heaven.
    Read the set of wings, cruel beak, hooded eyes. This is no
    Easing into eternity but a short, sharp shock

    © 2009 Jane Yolen
Julie Larios from The Drift Record left this poem in the comments.
    Green

    Squash and tomatoes
    Up, white clematis vining, cherries done,
    Me down on my knees
    Minding the weeds.
    Each year, I hear their green
    Rebellion

    All around. And by the time I stand
    Up again, another season’s come
    To nudge me along. There, in the back yard,
    Under the bare maple I see
    Myself on my knees again, and next to me
    Narcissus bulbs – named Polar Ice -

    Waiting for their dark dirt.
    I turn, I turn, the year turns with me.
    Now it’s time for the person I am
    To go inside, out of the snow, tuck
    Everyone I love into bed,
    Read them stories. What could be

    Simpler or warmer? Later, I see someone
    Putting small seeds in their trays.
    Rain does its job, too, and the sun comes.
    I hear the year’s green complications.
    Now, the season whispers, go ahead.
    Go ahead. Grow.
Tess from Written for Children left this poem in the comments.
    Senses have their own symptoms.
    You may experience or
    Not experience
    A sense perception that switches.
    Even
    Senses that are
    Tactile such as your
    hand, you may just hear it.
    Estuaries can
    Slide sideways suddenly
    Into intuitive structures,into
    Almost anything -- your salted lip!
Tiel Aisha Ansari from Knocking From Inside shares a poem entitled Azan.

Laura Purdie Salas shares two acrostic poems!

Dianne White shares a yummy poem entitled Pizza Patch.

Jone from Check It Out shares a poem inspired by her trip to Disneyland.

Elaine from Wild Rose Reader shares an acrostic for Tortoise, as well as some reviews of Fables in Verse.

Diane left this poem in the comments.
    After a Month of Rain

    Wearily I
    read
    each day's forecast
    today a
    chance of showers, tomorrow
    heavy thunderstorms
    expected with 60% chance of
    despondency.
I've spent every day this week immersed in conversations about the teaching of math and science for middle school kids. With my brain swimming in numbers and theories, poetry has not come easily. Here is one of the poems I scribbled and scratched in the margins of my notes.
Phrases imperfect, imprecise
Ordered and reordered
Endlessly
Turned and twisted end over end
Revised
Yet again
It's not too late if you still want to play. Leave me a note about your poem and I'll add it to the list.

7 comments:

  1. Tricia,

    I'll be posting my acrostic for Poetry Friday at Wild Rose Reader. I'll send you the URL tomorrow.

    Happy Fourth of July!

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  2. I'm late, but have posted my poem, "Pizza Patch" here. Happy 4th!!

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  3. I've just gone back and read all the posts here and from Monday. Wow!! I absolutely *love* these stretches. Such a variety, each so different in mood and style. But so much fun to read. And I enjoyed seeing the versions as the poems went through one.last.revision! I have to say, too, that it's not only the stretch of writing a new poem during the week that I enjoy, but also, the "stretch" I get seeing how others have tackled the forms, each with a subject that reflects something personal. Thanks, Tricia.

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  4. Ditto what Dianne said! It's so inspiring (and intimidating) to see what everyone does each week and see how poets with different styles and sensibilities tackle the same form or parameters.

    Love your "twisted" description of poetry!

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  5. Thanks for inspiration to capture my time at Disneyland.
    Here it is: http://maclibrary.edublogs.org/2009/07/03/poetry-friday-acrostic-disneyland/

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  6. Tricia,

    I posted a "tortoise" acrostic--along with reviews of two picture book with fables written in verse. (One of the books is Jane Yolen's A SIP OF AESOP.).

    http://wildrosereader.blogspot.com/2009/07/tortoise-acrostic-fables-in-verse.html

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  7. I've finally gotten around to playing! Oh, is an acrostic tough! After a gazillion false starts I finally succumbed to the subject that has been on everyone's mind--the weather. (In New England, that is, Laura Salas says her area has been dry.)

    After a Month of Rain

    Wearily I
    read
    each day's forecast
    today a
    chance of showers, tomorrow
    heavy thunderstorms
    expected with 60% chance of
    despondency.

    ReplyDelete