From Italian kitchens and Welsh poetic heights,
A champion’s mind takes flight tonight.
With ninety seconds on the clock,
He climbed the peak, Monadnock.
He spoke of stars, of Denebola's gleam,
An enthymeme left like a hidden dream.
From Brazilian Iguape trees that grow,
To Louisiana's historical Natchitoches flow.
He tasted sweet torrone on the tongue,
While Cajun fais-dodo songs were sung.
He braved an émeute, a riot loud,
To stand as a flaith before the crowd.
Beneath the sea, the
nannofossil sleeps,
While on the waves, the
tongkang leaps.
And where New Zealand’s borders meet the sea,
The red pohutukawa tree.
With letters woven, sharp and fast,
Thirty-two words from first to last,
Cywyddau rhythm in his stride—
He claimed the trophy with a scholar's pride.
You pour your heart out in a poem
bursting with emotion and sincerity,
then share it with the world to see.
You rush delivery ignoring any typos.
Your readers may not be too understanding
that you did not care to make an effort.
Readers honour you with their time
when they read the lines you've written,
the least you could do is make it worth their while.
If you don't think highly enough of your poetry
to warrant scrutiny and revision,
you'll find many will not take you seriously.
Not only will you be overlooked...
but you may just come off as the amateur
in competition with a fifth grader
AP: Honorable Mention 2026
Nailing Jell-o to the Wall 4-2-26 AABB
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Spelling Oops!
Spelling bee champ rewarded
Holds high trophy awarded
Pride in hard work, done so well
Oops! "Spelling" on plague misspelled!
Bought four A4 ,two forty page ruled books
a dozen lead pencils, sharpener, whitener and a rubber
Get some words upon a page
hope any sad poems, they won't may make me blubber
Number one book is done, but not all is okay
Here comes second book, editing underway
Third book swap some words around
fix spelling, punctuation, all other errors found
Into fourth book still some whitener left shouldn't now be needed
I reckon all now looks good, I think I have succeeded
And now the time has come to upload poems onto soup
thank heavens, as there's still some minor errors, and I can utilise the edit poem link
I assume that I'm not too far removed from methods used by other poets
if you have some time i'd love some feedback, tell me what you think
Footnote: Andddd after all of that still some ddays later there are still some minor aaaaadjustments
rrrrrequired
When Anthony started to trip,
he turned it into a back flip.
He then finished big
by dancing a jig
and closed with a hop and a skip.
Milquetoast is not spelled with a Kay
Pronounced milk toast, by the way
Vacuum has two u’s, which is crazy too
Spelling should not be done by me or you
Subpoena is one of those words I cannot figure out
Fuchsia too is a confusion, round and about
Enuff should be spelled like this I think.
Spelling enuff the other way is a waste of ink.
Three days ago, my ophthalmologist performed my first cataract operation,
All went well I must say,
But I am seeing double today,
So please everybody who I have answered with persistent determination,
Excuse my typing, incorrect spelling and my intense unrelenting frustration.
when students ask about metaphors
and similes
i love it
but please stop identifying juxtaposition
i hand them a
dictionary
look it up yourself pal
i never had a classical education
and can't pronounce Persephone
and don't
believe anybody can
so just avoid that bit of the curriculum
avoid the greeks
give me the graphic novels unit or give me death
metaphors be with you
You are charming with words.
In your magic book,
spells arrive with no mistakes.
Sometimes I suspect,
that you entice me to think with my heart,
which can be quite a conjuring trick,
for guy like me.
Mostly I just write,
about anything or anybody but you,
living on top of each other, as we do,
sharing the same alchemist's crucible,
our wands clash at times.
but nothing stirs our pot for long,
'hubble bubble' (a tasty dish),
keeps us, entranced,
though never dangerously bewitched.
Witch in Salem, you see,
Needs spelling, tee hee,
Wizard held another,
Toad was his mother,
Witchy cast charms,
Warts on his arms,
Bald was his head,
Maidens did dread,
Pustules appeared,
Grinning, witch feared!
I tried to read a favorite poem of mine for you.
Your eyes glazed over.
You could have been a lizard on a rock
sunning yourself, entirely unaware
that I felt as though I were there in front of you
reciting my words of such beauty
that an angel could have been
singing them while playing on a harp.
You may have even fallen quite to sleep.
Not once did you look up or glance at me.
You told me later, in fact, you had no use for poetry.
Another time I tried to read a poem to you.
It was a poem meticulously crafted just for you.
I could tell you liked it, for you were its centerpiece.
You pricked up your ears a little bit.
You thanked me, but no sweet words
of great appreciate did you return.
I am a stranger in your world of pure practicality.
Your love for me is steadfast and real; however,
asking if you’d love me if I were not a poet
is like asking a mother if she’d love her baby
if it were not merely there cooing in her lap.
Spelling
Please don’t correct my spelling.
To me it is a pain.
I tell this to my readers.
Their reaction is the same.
Please don’t correct my spelling.
I show you my ID.
It’s Josehf not Joseph.
I know just who I be.
Please don’t correct my spelling.
I’ve heard an owls call.
It’s who to all that listen.
Not whom I say to all.
Please don’t correct my spelling.
To this I loudly cry.
For if no one will listen.
I think that I will die.
By
Josehf Lloyd Murchison
I love vocabulary games, and these odd words came up in English words games, recently: Bute ( I know "Butte" but not BUTE) & "abseil," "landau," and even "Bourne" (identity?).
A poem about a simpler word, FLIERS.
When we say FLY,
Buzzing by and by
Which is it?
Plane or insect?
But when we use "Fliers"
The letters reveal secrets:
"liFe," "selF," "lies" & "Flies" again
LIFERS is best of all
In this game; Hope for us all
I offen soffen neether content nor intent,
eether explicit or implicit about
devices to rearrange things in
the Care-ah-beein Sea or
pahkin karz at Hahvad
in Bostin.
The English are a lazy species.
They use the squiggly ampersand
to save a second and not bother
with 'and'.
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