SLICE #16- ON THE WRITING OF POETRY

         

Several weeks ago, my friend Mary Lee emailed me. There was going to be this crazy contest. March Madness. But not THE March Madness. Nope. This was a poetry March Madness. Sixty-four people were going to sign up to write poems. The sixty-four people were going to be placed in brackets. They would have 36 (I think) hours to write a poem. The poems would be posted online and people could vote for them. The winners would move forward. And write another poem. And if they won. Another. And then another. And finally the 64 poems would be reduced to one winner. 

When Mary Lee emailed me, it sounded like a good idea. Sure. I could write a poem. I could help get this fledgling poetry contest off the ground. Why not? I wandered over to Ed's blog, THINK KID THINK! and signed up for the contest. And kind of forget about it. A couple of weeks later, I got an email from Ed. He needed some additional information for a biography. I happened to look at the list of poets  on the sidebar- and saw that there were lots of poets that I recognized- Jane Yolen. Laura Purdie Salas, Heidi Mordhorst, Greg Pincus, Kenn Nesbitt, The only problem was-- these folks were REAL poets, not garden variety amateurs like myself. HOLY COW!

I emailed Mary Lee. Have you looked at the list of people participating in the contest? Are you serious?? Do I really want to do this? Mary Lee, a pretty mean poet in her own right,  reminded me that we were just in to help the contest get started. And  for the fun of it. 

Oh yeah. To get the contest off the ground. And for the fun of it.  I remember.

And then this week came. The week of the contest. And it has been a crazy one. We are wrapping up state testing. My school is closing and I am right smack in the middle of a job search. One of the jobs, a literacy coach position at a K-8 Dual Immersion (English/Spanish) school wanted a second interview, but they wanted me to interview, and to be prepared to read and write in Spanish, which I speak only marginally at best.  I have an "unscheduled" visit from a district peer observer coming up sometime in the next six days. Both of my sons have been sick. And I've been trying to participate in the SLICE OF LIFE CHALLENGE, which includes writing a post every day, and also commenting on other people's posts. YIKES!

On Sunday night, the brackets were announced. I was a #11 seed, paired against Kathryn Apel, an Australian poet who actually published a book of poetry in 2009. And we were in the second flight, which meant that our poems would appear on the second day of the contest. Mary Lee, the friend who had led me down the primrose path, was in the first flight. Her word was "whacked." Whacked??  A poem with the word whacked? Good luck, my friend!

So Mary Lee actually wrote a really clever poem, which you can read on her blog today.
And then it was my turn. And I couldn't even figure out how to find my word on Ed's website, let alone write a poem about it (please note: this is a comment on the chaotic state of my life this week, as opposed to Ed's wonderfully organized website, with a pull-down menu devoted exclusively to the poetry contest!). Mary Lee and my CYBILS friend Jone had to help me. Finally, I found my word--allegedly, and allegedly I was going to write a poem.

That night, I sat down on my couch, allegedly to write a poem, or study Spanish, or make lesson plans, or write my Slice for that day. First I couldn't think of anything. And then I wrote five bad limericks for my Daily Slice. I posted those. And tried again. Looked up allegedly in the dictionary. Messed around with allegedly. Ledge. Sledge. Wedge. Pledge. Allegedly I took a pledge. A pledge to do what? Allegedly. This poem could drive a wedge, between two former friends (one who shall remain unnamed in this paragraph anyway). Allegedly, I took a sledge hammer… 
Oh wait, no violence, we don't do poems with violence.

That night, no poems were coming. I gave up and went to bed. Only to wake up at 1:30 in the morning, to get up and write my "poem." Allegedly.  And somewhere between 1:30 and 5 yesterday morning, I messed around and mucked in an online rhyming dictionary and thesaurus. and allegedly, I wrote a poem. So here, allegedly, it is. I haven't shared it with my students yet,
but I'm thinking I am going to give it a try today. 

  “The Deed”

Supposedly, ostensibly, allegedly,

I did it.

Dreadfully, recklessly, uncaringly,

            I hid it.

Unconscionably, emphatically, unceasingly,

            I denied it.

Unthinkably, regretfully, and sadly,

            I lied.

Carol Wilcox

Joking aside, you really need to go over to Ed's website, THINK KID THINK and read some really wonderful poetry. And then head to TWO WRITING TEACHERS to taste the almost 200 folks participating in SLICE OF LIFE. Finally stop off at Greg Pincus' GOTTA BOOK site to see what's in store for National Poetry Month in April! Greg's 30 poets in 30 days feature has been a huge favorite of mine for the last three years.

Happy March Madness! Go CU!
Happy Poetry Friday!
Happy Slice of Life!