Elvie enjoys both reading and writing poetry. Her favorite poems are “Ox Cart Man” by Donald Hall and “Enough” by Suzanne Buffam. She also likes the works of Edgar Allen Poe, Gwendolyn Brooks, Dylan Thomas and Langston Hughes. Elvie believes the purpose of poetry is to write freely without the constraints of grammar.
Summertime By Elvie Underwood
We walked through tall sharp grass Blades alive with bugs and heavy with the morning's dew Not following the dusty trails but Making our own way across the field We ran down a twisted path Bare, dirty feet tripping over roots and rocks Snuck into the empty house to abscond with sodas and bread Grasshoppers and flowers snuck into our lunchboxes Packed lovingly with fruit, sandwiches, And Grandma's homemade cookies Eaten in the shade of a chokecherry tree We hid in the woods, lush and green Full of birds, bushes heavy with raspberries and roses Whispered conversations in the safety of the trees Sitting on a log only we knew how to find The world slowly disappeared Until only that verdant field remained
The Last Cheetah By Elvie Underwood
A cheetah searches for me in the barren desert Where my thirsty footsteps lace the sand He runs by the baobab tree where hungry vultures rest Past the vanishing oasis And among toppled worlds Where sandstorms ravage empty neighborhoods Until he finds me standing In a shallow canyon that stretches for miles and miles Of waterless ground Here we meet I, the half dead vagabond And he, the last cheetah Implores me with crying eyes He speaks to me And I answer