A pause in the elf-ing of established poets to showcase the writing of aspiring ones. Each semester the students in my 7th grade creative writing class compete in a poetry imitation contest. Students are given a poem to memorize, recite, and then to imitate. Local book critic Megan Shaffer (catch her blog at http://nightlightrevue.wordpress.com/) judges the contest. Below are the 1st and 2nd place winners. Congratulations, Ursula and Catherine!
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The Gentleness of Nature
in imitation of “The Peace of Wild Things”
When grief for my grandma grows in me
and I cannot think or sleep without my body shivering
in fear of losing someone again,
I go and sit where my grandma
rests under frosted grass, where the flowers once bloomed.
I come into the gentleness of nature
who takes me in with welcoming
arms. I come into the presence of the shimmering water
where we used to sit,
and I feel the hyacinths springing to life
around me. For a time,
I rest in the hands of God and am free.
–Ursula (first place)
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A Forgotten Word
in imitation of “To a Daughter Leaving Home”
I forgot to tell you
at twelve that love
would find you, so I chased
behind you
as you later left me
at sixteen,
my heart sinking
in anguish as you jumped
into the red BMW of
another teenaged boy,
and I kept waiting
for you to
come back home as I
wished you would,
while you became
different, someone else
with time,
laughing, laughing
at the boy, longing
to be loved, wishing
you had listened
to me,
your despair trailing
behind you like
a lost dream.
—Catherine (second place)
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(Here are links to the original poems. Reading them you can see what a wonderful job these girls did with their imitations.)
Rather fine poems…thanks for sharing them.
Ursula, what a beautiful poem