6th Annual Poetry Contest: Celebrating Food, Choices, and Seasons

1. Poetry Contest April is National Poetry Month, and the library is sponsoring RRMS’s 6th Annual Poetry Contest!! “A poet is, before anything else, a person who is passionately in love with language.” -- W. H. Auden

2. Amuse-bouche (tiny bites of food) Poems:Write a poem celebrating a food item or ingredient, your favorite food, or a restaurant.NO CANDY! “The Saddest Happiest Meal” “”Oh, how did I get like this?” wailed the burger. “For once I was a cow that grazed the fields of Yonder.” “Oh, how did we get like this?” wailed the fries. “For once we were a tater with little spots for eyes.” “Oh, how did I get like this?” wailed the drink. “For once I was …wait…who was I? Oh, just sugar, I think.” -- Eric-Shabazz Larkin A Moose Boosh: a few choice words about food

3. Choice PoemWrite about a choice you have made in your life (or one that was made by someone else which affected you). Be sure to express the options that the speaker faced, as well as the outcome and feelings along the way. “Southern History” Before the war, they were happy, he said, quoting our textbook. (This was senior-year history class.) The slaves were clothed, fed, and better off under a master’s care. I watched the words blur on the page. No one raised a hand, disagreed. Not even me. It was late; we still had Reconstruction to cover before the test, and – luckily – three hours of watching Gone with the Wind. History, the teacher said, of the old South – a true account of how things were back then, On screen, a slave stood big as life: big mouth, bucked eyes, our textbook’s grinning proof – a lie my teacher guarded. Silent, so did I. -- Natasha Trethewey Poems About Choices Need ideas? Try these starters: I had $5, so I… The flavor I wanted was…. I felt lost, so… I could have kept quiet, but… Instead of… I thought it was funny, so…

4. Sports Poems Write a poem about a sport you love – include lots of action verbs, adjectives and adverbs to convey the feeling of the sport. Consider writing your poem in a creative format or writing about a less mainstream sport such as rodeo, rock climbing, archery, etc. Pole Vault He is running like a wasp, Hanging on a long pole. As a matter of course he floats in the sky, Chasing the ascending horizon. Now he has crossed the limit, And pushed away his support. For him there is nothing but a descent. Oh, he falls helplessly. Now on that runner, awkwardly fallen on the ground, Once more The horizon comes down, Beating hard on his shoulders. -- Shiro Murano

5. Nonsensical/Humorous PoemJack Prelutsky and Shel Silverstein have made an art form out of the nonsense poem, and you can do it, too! Write a poem about a new type of vehicle, a crazy invention, a funny rhyming poem, etc. Stretch your vocabulary and rhyming skills on this one! “My Sister Turned into Barbie” by Lindsay MacRae My sister turned into Barbie It happened in the night By breakfast she had gone all stiff And her skirt was much too tight She started wearing pink a lot And silly purple pumps Where once a vest covered her chest She now had plastic lumps Her hair became a flaxen rope Which hung down to her knees Her knickers they were welded on So she couldn’t go for pees She started hanging out with Ken Blew bubbles from her head We had to straighten out her limbs To get her into bed Life was becoming a pink plastic nightmare so… We took her to the toy shop When she turned weird under water My mum said: “Take this flipping thing And give me back my daughter!” “I’ve Lost My Hippopotamus” I’ve lost my hippopotamus, The situation’s weird. One minute she was next to me, Then poof! she disappeared. It’s hard to lose a hippo, For a hippo’s truly huge – I’m sensing something fishy, Some unsavory subterfuge. -- Jack Prelutsky I’ve Lost My Hippopotamus

6. Insect or Animal Poem Write a poem about an insect or animal and use sensory details to show what the world would look like from their viewpoint. Use onomatopoeia to express the sounds the animal or insect would make. Be sure to include pictures! Or make it a concrete poem with color… Bee-coming From egg I hatch in just three days, Bee-ginning my new larval phase. I dwell in a six-sided cell. My cozy home bee-fits me well. Then as a pupa, how I change, Bee-coming something else, so strange! My body slowly grows until I’m truly un-bee-lievable! -- Douglas Florian unBeelievables: honeybee poems and paintings

7. SeasonalPoetry: Write a poem to celebrate a particular season, type of weather, or a natural element, such as plants, flowers, landscapes, etc. In the Field Forever Sun’s a roaring dandelion, hour by hour. Sometimes the moon’s a scythe, sometimes a silver flower. But the stars! all night long the stars are clover. Over, and over, and over! --Robert Wallace Firefly July: a year of very short poems A Happy Meeting Rain meets dust: soft, cinnamon kisses. Quick, noisy courtship, then marriage: mud. --Joyce Sidman Firefly July: a year of very short poems

8. The Contest • Write an ORIGINAL poem using one of the six styles and give it a catchy title. 2) Type your poem (any style, dark font.) 3) Illustrate/Decorate your final version with original artwork, borders, clipart 4) Put your full name, grade, and LA teacher on the back of your poem, and identify the style in which you are competing.

9. Rules and Rewards • NO profanity or inappropriate material • Poems must be submitted in final draft form (neat and pretty!) • All work must be on 8 ½ x 11 paper; no dark backgrounds, please. • Each class will choose their top 5 to compete school-wide • Poems will compete against others in the same category and grade level • Winners will receive prizes and winning poems will be displayed!

10. DEADLINE!! Each block’s winning poems must be turned in to the library by Friday, April 17th for judging. Winners will be announced the following week.