The Rotten Poets: “Rotten” is a collaborative poem written by Dr. Summer Qabazard’s Writing 102 class at Pima Community College, Northwest in Tucson, Arizona. We are “The Rotten Poets”: Alfred Betancourt, Victoria Combs, Talia Delgado, Kate Funk, Alexis Lopez, Abbey McGowan, Neo Northington, Summer Qabazard, Grace Stone, Gus Vazquez, and Taylor Williams. When we collaborated on this poem, one person started us off with the first line, then another person followed. After that, we stopped going in order and people started to contribute randomly. It was fun to build off other people’s ideas. It bonded us as a group. It also made it easier to write, since we could bounce ideas off everybody. Since we weren’t on our own, we didn’t ever stay stuck. Each person contributed at least a line. As we built and revised the poem, everyone had a say. We all listened to one another and respected our differences of opinion. We disagreed on some points but were able to reach a consensus peacefully every time.

Rotten, Volume 6, Issue 1