Hi everyone,
We had another energetic month of poetry. If you are here for the fun of choosing a favorite poem to receive your vote, you’ll find all fifteen offerings from our adult poets listed immediately below the ballot box.
Don’t forget, you are entitled to one vote but it’s acceptable and encouraged to contact your network of friends, family, and fellow poetry enthusiasts to seek their support. The highest number of visits this blog has received was when two of our student poets locked into a contest that eventually brought more than 1,800 hits during a twenty-four hour period.
Even as we are selecting our July Hall of Fame Poet by popular vote, I’m sending poems to our panel of professional judges so they can select their top pick for July Word of the Month Poet. To remind you of our judges, here’s a link with their names, pictures, and places to learn more about them. As always, I ask that you read their work and let them know you appreciate their time and talents. https://davidlharrison.wordpress.com/2011/05/28/word-of-the-month-poetry-judges/
I’m sorry to report that we didn’t receive enough student poems this month to hold a vote, but that’s understandable during the summer. Our thanks to Taylor McGowan and Madi Montford for their delightful contributions. As for those missing other student poets, just wait until school starts again!
1, “Sour?” by Susan Carmichael
fever, achy, muscle pain
it feels just like the flu
drippy nose and droopy eyes
croupy coughing too
sinus pressure, ears stopped up
what am I to do
when Doctor Sunshine
breezes in and asks,
“S’our YOU?”
2, Sourpuss, by Steven Withrow
Too tart today
To grin—
The sour mood
I’m in
Tastes vinegar
And bittersweet.
I woke up late
And tried
To greet
All with a smile—
And faked it for
A little while—
But the tangy mango
On my tongue
That is my placid
Disposition
Suffered acid
Indecision
And now life’s flavor’s
Cursed—
How thin my lips
Are pursed—
With coffee made
With lemonade.
©2011 Steven Withrow, all rights reserved
3, Woodland Epiphany, by Sidanne
Treading silent, slow
Soft pine needles give
Grace to aching knees
Blue sky beckons forth
Come on, just a little more
Girl, you gotta go
Forth and find your dream
Amidst these trees, secrets
Stay kept, and greening leaves
Rustle flutter-by whispers
While the winds says hush
Now, quiet is kept and the
Birds betray nothing, chirp
Joyful nonsense, singing
Sweetly sour melodies of Now.
4, TESTY, by Mary Nida Smith
Sour is what
sour does
it gives puckerpower
to sing a sour note
while being a sourpuss.
5, Sour, by Joy Acey
(Note from David: This is a concrete poem but my program won’t let me establish different lines and margins. So sorry, Joy! To see what the poems really looks like, see it on Joy’s blog: http://poetryforkidsjoy.blogspot.com/2011/07/another-concrete-poem.html )
I’m
standing
atop the
Eiffel tower
feeling a great
sense of power
when along comes
an April Shower.
Boy does that make
the day seem sour!
I walk back down,
it takes an hour, all the while
thinking of a whiskey sour.
I guess I shouldn’t be so gloomy
and dour. But SHUCKS,
only ducks like rain
on their parade.
6, PUCKER UP, by Beth Carter
He’s such a sourpuss.
What a grouch.
That hateful old man
Who lives next door.
He never smiles.
He never laughs.
Maybe he just needs
a big kiss.
Pucker up!
7, SOUR, by Janet Kay Gallagher
What a powerful big bower.
Tall as a tower.
It’s pretty when in flower.
Big red cherries, “mighty sour.”
8, Moonshine Pie, by julie Krantz
Cocoa, sugar,
milk ’n salt—
nothing’s
sweeter than
chocolate malt.
But when my
mouth
gets good
and dry,
all I want is
Mee-maw’s pie—
pucker-up cherries,
blue tit plums,
sour mash rhubarb—
yum, yum, yum!
So…
when the
weather’s
blister-hot,
one thing’s
sure to hit
the spot—
skip the sugar,
skip the salt,
even skip that
chocolate malt.
But forget those
berries?
Forget those plums
Heck, no, Mee-maw—
pleeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeease
get some!
9, Immigrants So Often Ask – “What Does That Word Mean?” by Liz Korba
I am Lemon.
Not “Sour” as they call me
(If they do not use my name to say –
“Too broken to be fixed”)
Here
I am.
Summer sunshine’s twin.
Soft buttercup’s first cousin.
A golden glow that grows within a single tree
Alive.
Bright as table’s candlelight
Notwithstanding wind, the night.
Lemon
Is my name.
10, The Way of All Things, by Jane Heitman Healy
Deals dissolve
Fortunes fail
Success sours
Friendships fade
Marriages mire
Families fracture
People pass
Egos erode
Memory misses
Faith fixes
Hope heightens
Love lasts.
11, Mud, by Don Barrett
6 am the morning is fresh
summertime in the ozarks,
in just a minute or an hour
the temps go from wonderful
to hot and sour.
my morning shower left me feeling refreshed
my morning walk as always a delight
by 10 am i am the one who is a fright
physical labor and a lot of sweat
makes the one who is sour.
I thank the good lord for this wonderful
heat, but ask if we could spread it out
from july to december and make our winters
more fun to remember.
12, A Sour Poem, by Jeanne Poland
Eeenie, meanie, miney moe
Catch a pickle by the toe;
If it hollers let it go
Sweet to sour it did go.
13, SOUR LUCK, by Cory Corrado
blushing-red pearls dangle
tantalizingly
from fertile boughs
appraisers of every feather wing to the feast
P E R C H
aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaand
pick
peck
pluck
deeeeelicious!
pick
peck
pluck
deeeeelucious!
sourliciously-sweet
to
the
ve-ry
last
pluck!
pick
peck
pluck
ONCE AGAIN
I’m out of luck!
pits dangle, frustratingly bare
sated birds scatter, never twittering a care
my-once-cherry-mood has turned
cheeryless-sour…
14, Sour, by Michele Ellison
Sour is the word to describe
the feeling in my stomach
when my daughter has turned away from me.
Her parting shot
hit me in the gut.
I feel the fluid
reacting to the pain
and filling me up
capsizing my heart
and spilling out of my eyes.
Sour is the expression on her face
as she walks away.
15, tart text, by Heidi Mordhorst
so
u r screwing up yr mouth
so
u r squinting yr eye
so
u r sending me not
sweet ❤ xxx’s
but sour H8
+ silence
so
sugar i guess
we r thru?
YOUNG POETS
1, Secrets, by Taylor McGowan
Middle School
a haunted place
Your enemies
Found face to face
Sour expressions
And bitter tones
Populars chatting
on jewel-covered phones
Avoid the cliques
and find a cove
Of peace and quiet
a treasure trove
Find your friends
And keep them well
Protect them from ambush
And where enemies dwell
Keep secrets safe
Give them to friends
If your wounds are still painful
They’ll help you mend
Like an overripe lemon
Plucked late from the tree
Middle School has its chains
Now set yourself free
If you simply keep quiet
and don’t fight, only face
You’ll win your school battle
And do best in life’s race.
2, The Sour Ones, by Madi Montford
Gummy worms are my best friend
the sour ones are the best
I suck on them til the end
Til I chew them like the rest
Children's Author David L. Harrison's Blog 