Juxtaposed paint chips

How to be Well-versed in Poetry

Linda Kruschke has reached the letter J in John Drury’s Poetry dictionary. There was only one entry, leaving a problem for the second time through! My go-to poetry reference book is How to be well-versed in poetry edited by E.O. Parrott.

Linda writes:

This week I’m only giving you six paint chips to work with. If you’d like, you can juxtapose each of these pairs. Or you could mix them up. Or maybe you want to pick your favorites and juxtapose them with ideas from your own imagination.

The words and phrases you have to work with, listed as I’ve paired them, are bougainvillea and fountain of youth, blue ribbon and panther, and lightning and lighthouse. You only need to use two, but extra bonus points if you use them all.

Juxtaposed paint chips and text books

Plants like bougainvillea regenerate,
Needing no fountain of youth.
Loitering youths in the park
May be shockingly uncouth.

A blue ribbon is not strong enough to hold
Back a panther on the prowl.
Better to form a rosette –
Panthers roar and hiss and growl!

On a stormy night sailors watch the lightning.
The forked flashes are quite random.
Unlike the regular light-
House beams. Strikes happen seldom.

Juxtaposition was John Drury’s J choice,
E. O. Parrott’s J’s Jingle.
Both authors agree on this –
Entry for J is single.