March 2018 Winning Poems

The Corsican Spider in His Web by Thomas Rowlandson, 1808, National Gallery of Art, D.C.

There are two winners in the March challenge for poems about insects or other little creatures thought of as "bugs." Several poems were about spiders. Here is one:

Spider’s Web

intricate as life

spun white

more exact than

Euclid’s geometric calculations

laid delicate and strong

in perfect proportions

of thread

in a basket of pine—

where will I look

for perfection

where will I look

for proof of God

~ Michael Escoubas

I was drawn to the quiet simplicity and spirituality of this poem, to the sense that nature has beauty and perfection we can hardly fathom. It is thought-provoking.

The second winning poem takes a very different turn. It is thought-provoking, too, and subtle.

Later Evolutions

Were there men or women

still, they might discuss, dissent

Darwin's insight or some gods' intentions

as to modifying

miracles and mercies,

and after all the words would wonder

at the Monarchs on high honeysuckle

bowing in the breezes,

for the butterflies sing now

with such strong, sweet voices

in the silences we left.

~   Lennart Lundh

“Later Evolutions” first appeared in Pictures of An Other Day (Writing Knights Press).

On first reading, I wasn’t sure I understood the poem. Then I saw that the poet is asking a question that has occurred to me, too: If the creatures living today—including human beings—are the result of evolution, will we evolve into new forms of life over time? What might replace humans? But I never pondered the ways in which the monarch butterflies (or other creatures) might evolve.

Congratulations to Escoubas and Lundh! They retain copyright on their poems.

Bios:

Michael Escoubas began writing poetry for publication in August of 2013, after retiring from a 48-year-career in the printing industry. Early in life his mother said, You have a gift for words; you should do something with that gift. He writes poetry, in part, because of his mother’s encouraging words. Michael also writes poetry because he believes poetry brings people together and that poets are menders of broken things. Michael has published one chapbook, Light Comes Softly, which is available either as an eBook or hard copy on all major outlets.

Lennart Lundh is a poet, short-fictionist, historian, and photographer. His work has appeared internationally since 1965.

© Wilda Morris

March 2018 Poetry Challenge - Insects

Insects with Creeping Thistle and Borage by Jan van Kessel the Elder, 1654

Some people are fascinated by insects and other creatures commonly thought of as bugs. Some people hate them, despite the fact that many are important to the diets of many kinds of birds. Of course, we don’t like it when a tick or mosquito takes a nip from our blood! Jenene Ravesloot and I have each written roach poems:

Elegy for a Roach

Her exoskeleton cracked under the chef’s boot.

Now antennae rest on the floor like pieces of

cut thread.

She was carrying forty-one encased eggs when

he chased her down—if only she hadn’t been

burdened by that.

Her four vestigial wings, three pairs of spiny

legs, and small head have been severed. Her

compound eyes no longer see a mosaic world.

She can’t draw air through the holes in her side.

She can’t feel anything. The ceiling light blinks.

~ Jenene Ravesloot

(First published in The Miscreant)

Dance

If you don’t get up

in the night

how will you know

how many cockroaches

have come to dance

on the kitchen floor?

How will you learn

whether they prefer

an airy light waltz

or the beat of a polka

and how many drums

are in their band?

Don’t you wonder

if they dance till dawn                                           

to heavy metal?

Do they form squares,

one roach calling

Bow to your partner?

Do they slip into the shadows,

one couple at a time

~ Wilda Morris

Check out some interesting insect poems here: https://interestingliterature.com/2017/05/10/10-of-the-best-poems-about-insects/

The March Challenge:

The March Challenge is to submit a poem featuring an insect or other creature commonly thought of as a bug (It does not have to be about roaches). It may be free verse or formal. The insect may be used metaphorically or as an example to further an argument (as in John Donne’s poem, “The Flea.” Your poem may include some scientific vocabulary and concepts, as does Ravesloot’s poem, or be whimsical (which is the effect I was going for in “Dance”).

Title your poem unless it is a form that does not use titles. If you use a form, please identify the form when you submit your poem. Single-space and don’t use lines that are overly long (because the blog format doesn’t accommodate long lines). Read previous poems on the blog to see what line lengths can be accommodated.

You may submit a published poem if you retain copyright, but please include publication data. This applies to poems published in books, journals, newspapers, or on the Internet.

The deadline is March 15. Poems submitted after the deadline will not be considered. There is no charge to enter, so there are no monetary rewards; however winners are published on this blog. Please do not stray too far from “family-friendly” language (some children read this blog). No simultaneous submissions, please. You should know by the end of the month whether or not your poem will be published on this blog. Decision of the judge or judges is final.

The poet retains copyright on each poem. If a previously unpublished poem wins and is published elsewhere later, please give credit to this blog.

How to Submit Your Poem:

Send one poem only to wildamorris[at]ameritech[dot]net (substitute the @ sign for “at” and a . for “dot”). Put “March Poetry Challenge Submission” in the subject line of your email. Include a brief bio that can be printed with your poem if you are a winner this month. Please put your name and bio under the poem in your email.

Submission of a poem gives permission for the poem to be posted on the blog if it is a winner, so be sure that you put your name (exactly as you would like it to appear if you do win) at the end of the poem.

Poems may be pasted into an email or sent as an attachment (no pdf files, please). Please do not indent the poem or center it on the page. It helps if you submit the poem in the format used on the blog (Title and poem left-justified; title in bold (not all in capital letters); your name at the bottom of the poem). Also, please do not use multiple spaces instead of commas in the middle of lines. I have no problem with poets using that technique (I sometimes do it myself). However I have difficulty getting the blog to accept and maintain extra spaces.

Poems shorter than 40 lines are generally preferred but longer poems will be considered.

Bio:  Jenene Ravesloot is a member of the Poets’ Club of Chicago, Poets & Patrons and the Illinois State Poetry Society. She has led numerous poetry workshops for poetry groups and various Chicago educational institutions. Her poetry has been published in the Chicago Quarterly Review, after hours, THIS Literary Magazine and other poetry journals in print and online. She has published several books of poetry.

©  Wilda Morris