1st Place Arkansas Writers' Conference

MISFIT

I am a fork in a bowl of tomato soup. . .

I am a misfit. . .

I am a poet smothering in prose;

I can paint only in my mind;

I can sing only in my heart;

I am a fork in a bowl of tomato soup.

                                                           Verna Lee Hinegardner

THE WORLD AND VERNA LEE

Thank you world for Verna Lee

A self-proclaimed “Misfit” at almost ninety-three

Continuing to spin her laureate legacy

Thank you world for Verna Lee.

Smothering in prose, her words emerged carefree

Showering us with images, her personal guarantee

Creating minute form for future poets to see

Thank you world for Verna Lee.

Word-filled dynamo on a poetry spree

Lifelong love produced her jamboree

Turned each of us into a devotee

Thank you world for Verna Lee.