40th Issue - 20 Years of Fighter Poems

This will be our 40th issue of the Fighter Poem Collection.  We've been doing them for 20 of their 34 years.  The first one was in our Principality days, A.S. XI, spring of '77.  We started doing them fall of '91.

Ironically this will be one of our smallest books, with only 16 contenders.  Sadly it will also contain some elegies for Rorik, who just died in China.

Last Poet Standing - Challenge #1 - Elegy

Elegy for a Garden Lizard



Little sun basker, stretching in the light
Soaking up rays your singular delight
Sidewalk surfer, always under foot
Darting and dashing when you should stay put


Stucco trekker, clamoring up the wall
Tiny tree hugger, wonder you don’t fall
Sure-footed gripper, snacking on a gnat
Patio streaker, quicker than the cat


Grass blade wriggler, leaving naught a wake
Skittering lightly, stealthy as a snake
Suburban jungle wee backyard creeper
Sad grim victim of the rotary Reaper.


-- Ellen Shipley