Poetic Tides Through Time

Ode to Merit Badges

Gaily unfolding her banner of green
Threading a needle, for this thread's unseen,
Sewing her badge to her prized Girl Scout sash,
She counted earned merit badges like cash.

She watched her sash fill with wee circles stout
Earning each one as a happy Girl Scout.
She saved her green sash for a rainy day;
She folds this treasure she found tucked away.

Who knew that someday as time grew older
Of new badges, she'd become a holder?
Cool merit badges, in her writing life,
Bring back fond memories; there is no strife.

These circles are not sewn on a green sash;
To commission a badge, one spends points’ cash.
Writers’ badges are won, well deserved though,
Treasured like Scout badges earned long ago.

Entering contests and winning is fun
Especially when the merit badge won
Was sought, but highest peer recognition
Honors her Quill Awards nomination.

What a thrill, to reach finalist strata,
(She sends mute thanks to persona grata
Who thought her writing deserved the honor;)
Hope her poem is not thought a yawner!

She thinks of a finalist, who missed the win,
Will his work be nominated again?
Near but not reaching the Quill Awards stage;
How does one deal with hurt feelings or rage?

Or sadness, gladness – depends on one’s view;
He only desires his Quill award too!
He was nominated once, in 2015,
In 2016, his name held no gleam.

His peers did not choose the work he produced
What keeps him still writing, becomes his ‘juice’?
Why the cool merit badges of course, fine friend!
And this is where her winning Quill tale ends.

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Entry: April 6, 2017
Prompt: Poem based on a tiny object
For: Dew Drop Inn Poetry Workshop
Form: Quatrain poem, stanzaic, in iambic pentameter.
Rhyme Pattern: aabb, ccdd, etc.

Poetry is when an emotion has found its thought and the thought has found words.~~Robert Frost