On the printed copy of this poem, mark up the right margin with details about what you notice about your poem. What choices did the author make?
Abandoned Farmhouse
by Ted Kooser He was a big man, says the size of his shoes on a pile of broken dishes by the house; a tall man too, says the length of the bed in an upstairs room; and a good, God-fearing man, says the Bible with a broken back on the floor below the window, dusty with sun; but not a man for farming, say the fields cluttered with boulders and the leaky barn. A woman lived with him, says the bedroom wall papered with lilacs and the kitchen shelves covered with oilcloth, and they had a child, says the sandbox made from a tractor tire. Money was scarce, say the jars of plum preserves and canned tomatoes sealed in the cellar hole. And the winters cold, say the rags in the window frames. It was lonely here, says the narrow country road. Something went wrong, says the empty house in the weed-choked yard. Stones in the fields say he was not a farmer; the still-sealed jars in the cellar say she left in a nervous haste. And the child? Its toys are strewn in the yard like branches after a storm—a rubber cow, a rusty tractor with a broken plow, a doll in overalls. Something went wrong, they say. In your emulation, think about something you can describe (a person or object) by the objects left behind. What do these things say about your topic? Perhaps you could use a picture that is meaningful to you. |
Foul Shot
by Edwin A. Hoey With two 60s stuck on the scoreboard And two seconds hanging on the clock, The solemn boy in the center of eyes, Squeezed by silence, Seeks out the line with his feet, Soothes his hands along his uniform, Gently drums the ball against the floor, Then measures the waiting net, Raises the ball on his right hand, Balances it with his left, Calms it with fingertips, Breathes, Crouches, Waits, And then through a stretching of stillness, Nudges it upwards. The ball Slides up and out, Lands, Leans, Wobbles, Wavers, Hesitates, Plays it coy Until every face begs with unsounding screams-- And then And then And then, Right before ROAR-UP, Drives down and through. In your emulation, think about an exciting moment in your life that you can describe through action. |