Citizen science and citizen journalism

Believed,

the pensioner

enjoyed brief fame.

Someone had a video.

Doubt.

Busy, 

the traffic

kills many beasts.

Count those you see.

Understanding.

Disillusioned,

a land 

needs new stories.

Citizen journalism seeks them.

Maps.

Risky.

The firm 

pays its dividend.

Sewage taints its water.

Bacteria.

Thriving,

the company

pays huge bonuses.

But watch its sewers. 

Fines.

Wild,

the starlings

decline in numbers.

But they keep mimicking. 

Life.

The above things represent a form its inventors call Elfchen, from the German for 'eleven'. It's based on a pattern of words rather than of syllables, feet or rhymes. Eleven words, disposed as follows:

1 Word: An adjective

2 Words: A noun with an article

3 Words: An action of the noun

4 Words: Complement the action

1 Word: A noun that closes the story

This whole thing was the brainchild of the 'Storytelling and other arts' working group of the European Citizen Science Association (ECSA). I heard of the project from my scientist wife Clare.

The links in my Elfchen are to stories in East Anglia bylines, a citizen journalism outlet I've been involved with for a couple of years now. The linked stories are not mine, but I hope writing Elfchen about them gives me a vague sort of association with them.

The Elfchen were included by ECSA in their collection Citizen science through poetry, available both as A3 poster and as a foldable booklet. The plan is to share printed copies at the ECSA 2024 conference in Vienna, 3-6 April 2024.

Copied here with ECSA's blessing -- thanks. They ask that everyone use the hashtags

#PoemsForCitSci and #citizenscience

and tag

@eucitsci, when promoting their work on social media. Done!