Well, folks, we finally have it! The top ten poems of 2017, as voted upon by the contributors to Next Line, Please. No fear: all can be found with a little bit of scrolling!
Angela Ball, “The Difference (for G. C. Lichtenberg)”—7 votes
Ricky Ray, “Forbidden Diamonds”—6 votes
Christine Rhein, “Simplicity”—6 votes
Berwyn Moore, “Picasso’s ‘Woman with a Crow’”—5 votes
Elizabeth Solsburg, “To the young woman in the university hallway”—5 votes
Courtney Thrash, “The Present”—5 votes
Millicent Caliban, “Valentine’s Day Dream…”—4 votes
Millicent Caliban, “Input, Output”—4 votes
Diane Ferraro, “Death Rehearsal”—4 votes
Paul Michelsen, “emptyhanded”—4 votes
Paul Michelsen, “Never Say Forever Again”—4 votes
Berwyn Moore, “MS”—4 votes
Christine Rhein, “What The Soul Craves”—4 votes
Michael C. Rush, “Failure Story”—4 votes
Emily Winakur, “Ruby Red”—4 votes
We also have in this week's post, a great many poems inspired by these seven specific titles: “Quick Question,” “Cheap Tricks,” “Long Story Short,” “Estimated Wait Time,” “Headline Risk,” “I personally guarantee,” and “The Take-Away.
The winner took a title from the heap and made it his first line and gave his own title, the date, which I think works very well for the poem and specifically, the last line. I also really like the music made by half rhymes that show up whenever they want to, in mostly unexpected places, and the way the story unfolds, leaving most of the details in between the lines.
“January 1, 2018” by J. F. McCullers
Long story short,
My father didn’t join us
This New Year’s Day.
He didn’t smoke on the porch.
He didn’t eat black-eyed peas.
He didn’t go home full and sleepy.Instead he sat alone in the sun
On the little bridge
Over the dark creek
Where we opened the urn
And scattered her ashes
Last New Year’s Day.
I also couldn't help but share this witty haiku.
"Cheap (Reader) Tricks" by Clay Sparkman
I once asked a friend
“Did you read my new Haiku?”
“I started,” he said.
Visit the American Scholar's page to read the full post with more poems, more anecdotes, and the prompt for next week!
--Virginia Valenzuela
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