Thursday, April 2, 2009

Bad Poetry Friday: Untitled & Apparently Unfinished by 17-year-old Betsy Bird

Whoo hoo! Bad Poetry Friday is Back!!

Here in San Francisco it is not quite Friday, but in NY it is...
So here we go! Just in time for National Poetry Month--it's an untitled and apparently unfinished poem by Betsy Bird of SLJ Fuse # 8, written when she was 17 years old.

Back in 1492
Columbus sailed the ocean blue
And 92 was once for us
The year we rode that great old bus

Of dusty metal, brown and old
That smelt of rotting gum with mold

Betsy comments on her contribution to Bad Poetry Friday:
"...here is a bad poem I just found from my big black high school notebook. A lot of the poems were the usual existential ennui, but there's at least one truly terrible one in here that has nothing to do with boys, body image, or self-pity...Can't imagine why I didn't cap off that bit of 17-year-old brilliance with further lines."

It's not too late Betsy. You can still add more. Personally, I do not think you have captured enough forced rhymes yet!

We'll check in with the Poetry Police shortly and see what they have to say about Betsy's 1492 poem. In the meantime, thanks Betsy for joining in the fun.
And Imaginary Readers, feel free to send in your own bad poetry any day of the week to BadPoetryFriday@gmail.com (no attachments, please)

Everyone’s invited--writers, editors, marketing folks, librarians, agents, reviewers, booksellers, and readers—cast your meter to the wind and send us your BAD POETRY please.
I’ll post the best (or the worst) every Friday.

Look here for the official rules on how to play Bad Poetry Friday!

The Rhymes, They Are A Changing
(sung to the tune of Bob Dylan’s Times They Are A Changing)

Come gather ‘round Bad Poets wherever you roam
And admit that the oddities in publishing have grown
No need to like blogging—you’ve found your new home
If your bad poem to you is worth saving…
We’d better start laughing, or we’ll feel all alone
For the rhymes, they are a changing…

Forecast: Still looking for a talented volunteer to create an inspiring logo for Bad Poetry Friday. I'm sure there is a brilliant one out there. Imaginary Logo?

© 2009 by Lynn E. Hazen of Lynn E. Hazen's Imaginary Blog. All rights reserved.

2 comments:

Julie said...

Hiya, Lynn -

I salute Betsy Bird's poem written with heart at age 17 - nothing beats sincere poetry written by a teenager, unless it's poetry by Leonard Nimoy, which beats ALL other comers. But here is my contribution for the week, shaped by your suggestion, Lynn, that if it's going to be bad, it should be brief:

Stellar Thoughts

Every time
a star twinkles
it means
an angel tinkles.


I love Bad Poetry Fridays. Like sherbet - it clears the palate.

Lynn E. Hazen said...

Thanks, Julie.
I added your fun poem for Friday April 10th's contest. Star-gazing for years to come will now always have a twinkle of mischief in my mind.
For others brave enough to dare the Bad Poetry Friday Contest, please send your poem to BadPoetryFriday@gmail.com (separate from the comments so I can easily save them for Fridays all in one place--thanks!)