- A Shrinklit poem uses rhyming lines of poetry to summarize a novel’s main plot, conflicts, and themes. This poem is based on War of the Worlds by H.G. Wells.
Shrink, a pane of common world
That lives and breathes in smoke.
An unknown pod, a race unfurled
Yet ne’er a word was spoke.
Turn and toil, walk and boil,
For we could never face a foil.
So slow we rise and slow we trot,
Till slimy crawl and eyes of blots
Hammer and claw until it’s done.
Alas! A presence! Another – one!
The weed now crawls and makes us slave.
Known’s the trick, the escapade.
The prayer now a reverie,
Our greatest strides may never match.
All our blood now in the sea
No way to run, to storm the hatch.
But ‘spite our dwindle,
The Earth rebukes!
Is it our faith that proves to save?
Or is it just the natural lathe?
Leo Graham is a graduating senior from Pembroke Pines Charter High School, a National English Honor Society member, and an AICE LIT A level student. Leo enjoys critical analysis of literature, as well as creating original works. “Righteous Earth” won PPCHS’s Shrinklit Poem contest and 2nd place in the 2021-22 Broward County Literary Fair.
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