An inside look into the Curation Team’s favorite poems from the Dancing with Distraction Challenge
Acrostics are one of the first writing exercises we do as children and are often forgotten soon after. Maybe it’s their apparent simplicity that leaves them behind as writers scour the landscape for an interesting form in which to put their thoughts. But (I’m sure you can guess what’s coming), we think acrostics are wonderful vessels for writing because of their restriction. And, as with all Challenge prompts that promote limitation, we, the judges, are always looking for those Creators who embrace the prompt rather than work around it.
Not sure what we mean by working with rather than around a prompt? Try reading a dozen of the entries and winners to this Challenge with the Challenge prompt clearly in your mind. After a dozen (or a few hundred for us), you too will see what we mean by working with the acrostic (or any Challenge prompt) rather than around it. There have been incredible stories and poems that ignore or circumvent or muddy the prompt, but as judges, we are always trying to see what writing takes the most advantage of the prompt itself.
Here are the winners of the Dancing with Distraction Challenge and spotlight on one of the Runners-Up. You can check out the full list of winners HERE.
$500 Grand Prize Winner
sleepy drafts for Horizons
sleepy drafts gave us a poem that hit fast, deep and light. Straight to the point, out of the gate, we are in the moment. What we loved most about this stellar poem was that first stanza
Don’t beat yourself up, kid.
That single line set the tone for the rest of the poem. A friend is writing to you, telling you that it’s all normal, everything you’re feeling isn’t just okay, it’s great. You don’t want to rush this time in life. You might implode those plucky neurons.
The message of this poem was pure and swift just like the writing. We absolutely love when a medium matches a message. It shows that the writer was fully dialed in during the act of creation. It’s a level above good writing. It makes the poem feel preordained. Congratulations, sleepy drafts!
$250 Second Place Winner
Suze Kay for Through the Window, 2:30 PM
Our top two poems this week shared a swiftness of youth. In Through the Window, 2:30 PM, Suze Kay snatches a moment we’ve all had and ends with a brilliant non apology.
No is a complete answer.
What a slap of a thought. No! I didn’t find anything in my distraction, in the trees outside of this classroom. I was just spacing out. It’s not easy to set a scene so quickly then blow it up so elegantly, with such restrained wit and depth. To say nothing of writing a DISTRACTION acrostic about distraction…
We also loved the title of this poem. It was flawless and did a lot of work. We’ve said it before and we’ll say it again; titles should never be an afterthought. They are the amuse bouche of the literary world. Congratulations, Suze Kay, on another win!
Honorable Mention
Lucia B. for Where My Mind Wanders
We wanted to spotlight this acrostic for the simple fact that it’s so, so difficult to speak of love in a way that feels established yet fresh. We enjoyed this poem so much because it somehow threaded through the purplest of love prose without taking anything from it other than the good stuff. There’s intense subtlety in this work. It feels diaphanous, fragile, new. Well done, Lucia B.!