Poems about the Bible Bee

Haha! Love it Hannah! :)

Thanks! :)

LOL!

This is exactly how I feel (except I'm not quite to deleting my BB files). Thanks. :)

Oh, don't throw anything away!!! I'll keep it for you…you might want it someday. ^in case you can't tell, this has happened a few times at my house :)^

Your rhythm could use a little improvement in spots, but your rhymes were superb!

I liked how you didn't use all super common rhymes (like cat and mat) you sprinkled in some unusual ones even if they were paired with a "normal" rhyming word (Iike write and Ninevite). I still have the most trouble with rhythm myself. There comes a point when I've read the thing so many times my brain "forces" it into rhythm, so sometimes it helps to sleep on it and going with my gut reaction for improvements in the morning, and then read it again after I've given my brain a complete break from it for a while. Keep writing poems; some things just take practice, and if your rhymes are any indication, you have potential to become Dr. Seuss III.

Who's Dr. Seuss II? You? :)

In reply to Margret Eddy

Because I am trying to gently ease myself back into prose, and end on a bright note, and make up for faithfully griping about the Bible Bee all those years. They had better announce that location tomorrow…

Teaching me to study hard and take to
Heart God’s word and how it should impact my life, while being
Always aware of context and
Never losing sight of the goal:
Knowing God and His attributes

Years of making prayers more than griping and nagging God
Overcoming fear of Greek words and Cross References
Under the rug became my favorite part…

I'm posting Saturday's poem tonight. Prepare to weep. ON BEING AN ALUMNI AND FEELING REALLY OLD This is the ending My heart is rending I guess it’s time to realize I hold my Nats shirt Along with beige skirt A little part within me dies. I knew that sometime I must write a rhyme On saying all my last goodbyes I put it off long Because I’m not strong On writing solemnly or wise. And so goodbye, cards From easy to hards You look like you’ve been through a war I kept you with me So I could study Now you take space up in my drawer. The commentary I was so wary Of tripping over on my floor Which turned to stacks Ripe for toe cracks I’ll never trip on anymore. And every file For quite a while That now I view with sentiment On my poor laptop I guess I should drop Straight into “trash” where last year’s went. I now arrive On Google drive Dispose of every document With all my feeling Wishing for healing The dreadful thing called “tidy bent”. The one solution Is resolution To start studying something new There’s no suppressing The sad confessing I’m not sure if I’ll follow through. With no more deadlines That make the headlines Of websites yellow, red, and blue I’m at a loss A little cross And not quite sure what I will do.

AMEN SISTER! PREACH IT! XD
But yeah…It's really sad. :( For real. You captured that well, especially in v. 2-3 (and 4).
Sighs and misses BB

ON HESITANT HOPE BEING MERCILESSLY CRUSHED

This morning doing my routine
I know it's Monday, March sixteen
But still I check my calendar
Observe a full day while I wonder
If they perhaps announced IT yet
I check my email and fret
They only hope to get confirmed
The Nats location, still, hope wormed
It's stubborn way into my heart
I clicked the link to do my part…
The website took so long to load
It almost made my brain explode
And then, at last, while braincells fried
It laughed at me: that same old slide.

That's what happened to me this AM! Grr! :P

Who's Dr. Seuss II? You? :) In reply to Margret Eddy

I like to think so. The position will be open in about fifty years, if you are interested. (However, there is already stiff competition, so I suggest practicing your rhythm and actively expanding your vocabulary in the meantime.)

@Nicolas, Rachel, Esther, and Seth: Thank you. I was a little worried about writing on such a sad topic, as I generally do best at bringing out the ludicrous, or variations on a theme of exasperation, but still, I endeavor to give satisfaction, so I am glad you liked it.

hugs your dummy You know what I say! :D

*hugs your dummy* You know what I say! :D

What do you say? You mean about the "pomes"?

Uhh… I just knew you were going to refer to my misspellings somehow. ;P Yes! I love your poems and I haven't seen one I didn't. ^Although I did quite understand the haiku poems^

Who's Dr. Seuss II? You? :) In reply to Margret Eddy

I like to think so. The position will be open in about fifty years, if you are interested. (However, there is already stiff competition, so I suggest practicing your rhythm and actively expanding your vocabulary in the meantime.)

Haha! Well, you definitely the BB Dr. Seuss! :)

To GraceAnn, Mrs. McMahan, or whoever from SKF is reading this
Hi, GraceAnn
Or Mrs. McMahan.
If one of you is reading this,
You'll notice somethin's amiss.
The kids are going crazy;
Their brains are rather hazy
They can't even think
Or sleep a wink.
They're writing silly rhymes,
For which they don't have time.
So please announce it soon,
And definitely before June!
I thank you very much!
Now I better go start lunch… :)

Bad rhythm, I know, but maybe if my poems drive them crazy enough, they'll be more anxious to go ahead and announce it. :D

The kids are going crazy;

One more thing, "kids" (in this case) is referring to human kids, not goats. Even if our goats are going crazy, I'm assuming it's completely unrelated to Bible Bee.

So hope they announce it soooooon!

So hope they announce it soooooon!

Same here! ^but I guess you already knew that :)^

No, I didn't know that! ;P jk! ;)

is trying to write a BB poem, but thinks I'm not doing a good job. ;D

No, I didn't know that! ;P jk! ;) *is trying to write a BB poem, but thinks I'm not doing a good job.* ;D

Well, post it anyway :).

My poems aren't great,
But I couldn't wait.

I might. ;D I've only written one poem before, and that was when I was about 5. XD

I might. ;D I've only written one poem before, and that was when I was about 5. XD

I wrote poems a lot when I was eight or thereabouts, but I hadn't written one just for fun in awhile. Now I better leave and really go start lunch :). See you later!

Okay, goodbye! hugs

The rhythm in this one is actually a good deal better than the last one; "much" with "lunch" is a bit of a stretch, but it will aid and assist the end goal of getting them to announce it sooner. If you would like the rhythm to be better, you could change "And definitely before June" to "Please do not wait till June", and "Now I better go start lunch" to "Now I should go start lunch" for better rhythm and grammar. If you would like that couplet to stay more or less how it was before, please at least make "I better" into "I'd better", and you could say "They cannot even think, and have not slept a wink" to make the syllables of that couplet go with the rest of the poem. Just some thoughts. Overall it held together well. The whole thing wasn't a handful of almost completely unrelated couplets, which I appreciate.

Perhaps though, you purposefully made the rhythm that way to emphasize our brains going hazy and our lack of sleep and ability to think. There are times when I use this tactic as well, though there is a danger that the general population will not realize that you were doing it on purpose. First you must have firmly established a reputation for flawless rhythm, and then, still only those who know you and your poetry well will suspect that the mismatching of syllables was for effect. You must be well versed (so to speak) in the science of poetry before molding it into an art.

(This post is an example of what happens when I read poetry on my piano teaching days. Do not take any of it personally.)

By request of Anna….here is my "poem". XD I guess it would be more of a Free Verse Poem. I know it's not good at all, but…I'll risk the embarrassment. XD

Oh Bible Bee Nationals…
The place where we have lots of fun
Reciting verses one by one
And spending time with awesome chums
Seeing Daniel win first place
And taking the grueling written test.

There is one thing I’d like to know
And that one thing is this:
Where, oh where is Nationals
Planned to be this year?
All they tell us is autumn time
And that’s not good enough for me!
I like locations! Dates! Directions!

Oh Headquarters dear…
Please select a town and date
And don’t forget to please
Announce it very VERY soon.

*To GraceAnn, Mrs. McMahan, or whoever from SKF is reading this* Hi, GraceAnn Or Mrs. McMahan. If one of you is reading this, You'll notice somethin's amiss. The kids are going crazy; Their brains are rather hazy. They can not even think And have not slept a wink. They're writing silly rhymes, For which they don't have time. So please announce it soon, Please don't wait 'till June! I thank you very much! Now I should go start lunch... :)

This time with recommended changes by Margaret Eddy (except that I changed do not to don't on the third to last line).

As for the fact that the rhythm sounds as if I'm tired or something…well, it's not intentional, but may be a true representation of what my brain's like right now :).

Margaret, thank you for the suggestions! Here's my next poem. :)

We've learned lots of things from Bible Bee
Like, "How does Nahum compare to candy?"
That question would have stumped us all
Until we took the test last fall.
We even learned a brand new song
That's only 30 seconds long.
While the finalists write on iPads
The songs they play become new fads.
We learned we can go on 3 hours of sleep
We learned about a fast involving the sheep.
We learned about Joseph, the servants, and Pharaoh
We learned the Word of God divides joint and marrow.
We learned that the LORD is always nigh
And about Jonah, the son of Amittai.
We learned that the bellys of fishes are spacious
But most of all learned that God is gracious.

Nice poem! :)

Margaret, thank you for the suggestions! Here's my next poem. :) We've learned lots of things from Bible Bee Like, "How does Nahum compare to candy?" That question would have stumped us all Until we took the test last fall. We even learned a brand new song That's only 30 seconds long. While the finalists write on iPads The songs they play become new fads. We learned we can go on 3 hours of sleep We learned about a fast involving the sheep. We learned about Joseph, the servants, and Pharaoh We learned the Word of God divides joint and marrow. We learned that the LORD is always nigh And about Jonah, the son of Amittai. We learned that the bellys of fishes are spacious But most of all learned that God is gracious.

Excellent. For the most part it has exactly matched syllables within each individual couplet. If I were you I would put a paragraph break between the 8th and ninth line to make the poem into two stanzas, because that is where you go into what we learned, it is exactly halfway through the poem, and the syllable number per line becomes consistently higher than in the first half. It may make it easier on the reader to do the syllable transition, as many songs etc. have a different number of syllables per line in the verse and than chorus. Next challenge: make a poem where all the couplets have the same number of syllables. Don't try for a super long poem, mine that are this way usually are about four to eight couplets long.

@Hannah, Anna, Rachel, and whoever else wants some advice:
Do not be afraid to go through and count how many syllables are in each line of the couplet to see if they match up, and if they don't, even if it "feels" right, see if you can make a minor change to get the exact number of syllables and see if that "feels" even better. Also, if I want to get really nit-picky I tend to go through syllable groups in smaller sections than the two whole lines of a couplet. For instance, "We even" has rhythm that goes with "that's only" on a 1 syllable word 2 syllable word pattern, though "We even" has stronger/more aggressive syllables/consonants and "That's only" are softer syllables with less distinction, but "We even learned a" and "That's only 30" goes great because "thir-ty" is stronger than "learned-a", so they all balance out, and "Brand new song" and "seconds long" are also pretty well balanced as far as rhythm and syllable strength go. "B" and "N" in "Brand new" are softer, but "song" has an "s" which is stronger, and "s" and "c" in "seconds" are stronger, while "l" in "long" is softer. This all combines so that this couplet is actually read more like this:
We even learned a— brand new song
That's only thirty— seconds long
Making it an even stronger couplet than if it just had the exact same number of syllables in each line, with the ending words rhyming great.
Hopefully that is helpful and makes sense to someone; I came up with all these observations and deductions myself (since I've never officially taken poetry or advanced linguistics or anything) so I don't know exactly how to explain it, or even if it is accurate (though logically it seems so and in practice it tends to hold together) so you can take it all with a grain of salt.

I'M WISHING THERE WAS NO NECESSITY TO BE WRITING A POEM RIGHT NOW

I fight the urge to in denial
Refresh THAT PAGE instead I wile
Away my time writing in verse
Then posting it here on Memverse…

Hours spent in analyzing
Then with care in criticizing
The work of those I do not know
Hopeful attempts to help them grow
Their sense of rhythm and of rhyme
And syllables to make sublime
This Bible Bee-ers' Poem thread
Will they remember when I'm dead
That Bible Bee-er in the past
Who asked them all to please stand fast
And not forget to think it through
Each time they get the poem flu?

I have been inspired; I think I will briefly try my hand at a little Bible Bee-related poetry as well.

ON OBSERVING THE EFFECTS OF A DELAYED ANNOUNCEMENT UPON MY FELLOW COMPATRIOTS

In recent days I have observed
A thing that's left me quite unnerved.
For a reason somewhat inane,
My friends seem to have gone insane.
Complaints and gripes coursed through the pen–
All for the cause that one thing's been
Left unannounced a bit too long.
Retaliation's been quite strong
To BBHQ's long delay
In telling us where we will stay
That fateful week called Nationals–
The time toward which we'll set our goals.

For months they've waited patiently;
They wonder if they'll ever see
Their curiosity sated.
Desires being yet unfulfilled,
Those who were sufficiently skilled
Poetic works created.

They've labored long; they've labored hard,
Hoping perhaps to be the bard
Who irks HQ enough to take
Action, and the decision make.
We've yet to see their toil affirmed
By said location being confirmed–
But till then, dear friends, please press on!
For even when this year's long gone,
Your poetry will yet remain,
A shrine on Memverse to proclaim
Your passion for what we all see
Is a gift from God: the Bible Bee.

^Please consider the word "being" as a one-syllable word for the purposes of this poem, as it is used twice in this way. Also, pronounce "Is a" in the final line as one syllable as well.^

Hope you enjoyed.

With the considerations as stated, it was fabulous, especially considering the length. Sarah and I both derived a great deal of amusement out of reading it. We especially like the "bard" bit.
You made good use of your extensive vocabulary for the rhymes, and there was great flow throughout the thing. Sometimes it is hard to make couplets sound connected to each other, and what you occasionally lacked in same syllable number for all the couplets (which is very hard to pull off in something of this length), you made up above and beyond in the poem keeping one theme and the theme having a good start, progression, and a strong ending. I also liked how you made a different stanza for when you needed the A-A-B-C-C-B (instead of A-A-B-B) form, and you made the stanzas on either side of that one equal, so that it had a verse-chorus-verse feel, making it much less awkward than it would have been otherwise.
Overall, great job. Did you find any of my tips I gave earlier helpful?

Thank you; I am greatly pleased that you enjoyed it, and very much appreciate your criticism. It really was little more than a short burst of inspiration that I had last night; I don't know if I'd be able to replicate it if I tried. But indeed, your prior advice was helpful in the formation of the poem, and I thank you for it (though it was not specifically directed toward me). I had fun writing it.

(For the record, however, I wish that I had been able to come up with better ways to phrase line 3 of stanza 1, line 5 of stanza 2, and line 7 of stanza 3; but considering the pressure of time at the time, I am glad that I did not have many problems with syllable flow beyond these.)

WIZENED WORDS OF WISDOM

What, I wonder, on the web
Has come of common courtesy?
Such I ask for so I've seen
Some really rotten rhapsody:
A forum fraught with foolish verses
Causing coarse cacophony:
Ranting, ruthlessly deriding;
Brashly bashing Bible Bee.

Contestants, try to type with tact
And pen your poems patiently;
Though rhyme and rhythm rule your ravings,
No more is made than mockery.
You ought to wait if unto autumn
To learn the locus latterly;
Vent not vehemence in verses;
Time will tell, if tardily!

See? My poems are the best because I alliterate. You should all take lessons from me. (Kidding, of course. Alack, the scop's craft is all but dead…)

Excellently done. :D Excessive alliteration is certainly a nice touch to a humorous poem.

Nice poem! is wondering if I should take it seriously

Thanks to both of you. And yes - you should take it very seriously. :P

Hey, that's not fair! You live in OH and get to see BB people all the time; whereas, for me, the only way I'm going to see most people is at Nationals! ^jk…sorta :)^

EDIT- Oh, and I'm working on a poem that does not beg SKF to announce it :). It's BB related, but not about Nationals locations or anything. But it may be awhile till I'm finished with that one.

Bit of a stereotype, maybe? :P I don't see Bible Bee families that often - considering that the one family from my church that participated last year probably won't this year. (Being antisocial helps in such situations. Try it sometime.)

I look forward to reading your poem. :)

Actually, even though we live in Ohio dosen't mean we get to see eachother very often…. unfortunately.

Bit of a stereotype, maybe? :P I don't see Bible Bee families that often - considering that the one family from my church that participated last year probably won't this year. (Being antisocial helps in such situations. Try it sometime.) I look forward to reading your poem. :)

Didn't two or three families from your church participate last year…?

Just us and the D's, I think… oh, duh. And the H's. Silly me.

What about the E's…?

Them too. :P Guess that's four families, including us. (Never was a people person.) Still, I tend to consider those families more as "church" families than "Bible Bee" families, considering that I knew all of them before I started doing Bible Bee. So my original point remains. sigh

It might be a stereotype, but…
Four is a lot! We have never had anyone from our church compete :(. We even switched churches a couple months after starting BB and we still have not had anyone. Or wait…we actually have had a family compete twice who were in our first church but left before we did, but they are much more like friends than BB friends. Hopefully we can convince somebody at our church to compete this year!

The number is irrelevant, though, because I would see all those people even if they didn't / don't do Bible Bee. This appears to (have) be(en) true of you also. We're even.

In conclusion… the fact that you should jokingly take my poem seriously is fair. :P