Company
by Josh Wallaert
They are serious, these poets.
They send copies of my favorite books
which were obviously dropped in bathtubs.
They send photographs of small dogs, and birds,
the foil wrappers of European chocolates,
packets of artificial sugar.
They circle the surgeon general’s warnings.
I get blank postcards twice a week,
in strange sizes, with additional postage—
These poets they spare no expense—
hand-stamped in obscure towns like Indian Neck,
Connecticut, and Cut and Shoot, Texas,
and postcards covered in red ink, and letters
written in pencil and erased.
I have informed the authorities.
I have taken the hands of authorities in my own.
I have run their hands across these pages, tracing
erotic drawings, Sinatra lyrics, lines from the Cantos.
I have explained to them the threat.
The authorities will do nothing.
They are poets, or relatives of poets,
or they are paid by poets in contributor’s copies.
These poets they own everything.
They have the latest surveillance equipment.
They send me what they’ve severed, pressed
flowers, asters, fresh newspaper clippings
of industrial accidents.
They send the fingers of fat men wrapped
in wax paper, they send thumbs only,
they send knuckles.
I make my girlfriend open the packages.
I refuse to answer the telephone.
I send her out for Chinese food when we need to eat.
poem found here : http://www.bu.edu/agni/poetry/online/2007/wallaert.html
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be inspired by the poem
but please, oh please, do not emulate it.
left align
take your time
and don't attempt
elementary rhyme.
(you know, like I just did?)
Contest is Over
- Contest was judged on July 18, 2007
- Rewards: Gold: 700, Silver: 150, Bronze: 50
- Final notes: This contest . . . this one contest with its 16 entries . . . has been an absolute pleasure to judge. Every poem entered is a gem, a wonder to read and I thank each and everyone of you for such beautiful poetry.
Every poem entered is worthy of a trophy. I mean that.
- To judge this contest, you need to have at least as many finalists as you have rewards. You have 3 awards but only 1 finalist.
Contest Winners
Gold trophy winner
Entries [9]
1 - 9 of 9
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• Commented on by judge.
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Ink blots and hasty misspellings / Crosses against untidy writing / Angry slashes on the stamps / Too many smudged words / A publisher’s worst dream / As he tears open the envelope / Slowly reads the smudged• Commented on by judge.
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The first part is the original that we are supposed to use for inspiration / &nbby cherche -d -ame 97 lines, 3 comments, on Jul 14 8:12 PM 2007. In Contest entry, Dark, Other, Weird, Society, Hate, Freewrite, Abstract, Angry• Commented on by judge.
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I need a cake, / one topped / with peanut butter / filled with jelly / but not jam! / The candles should spout from the sides / so the waxby alexandrathegreat 54 lines, 3 comments, on Jul 14 10:56 PM 2007• Commented on by judge.
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Comments
1 - 24 of 24
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"left align
take your time
and don't attempt
elementary rhyme."
LOL!!!!! Nice poem. Maybe I'll think of something, though I think I'm done with my creative capability for today.
Good luck with the contest.
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that is an awesome poem.
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i don't get it
is it about being hated and recieving death treats? -
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The poem or the contest?
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the contest
is that what you want us to write about?
or what?
i don't know how you want us to be inspired by the poem -
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No. I do not want poems on death threats or being hated. I pray that one can find something else in the poem than death threats. I do not believe the person who wrote this poem was actually receiving death threats from poets.
If I have to explain what I want out of the contest. . . then I probably don't want it.
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Well, I'm inspired. I'm orderin' chinese right now!
And I'll um...enter something while I eat.
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I just finished Chinese - sesame chicken and pork fried rice, which I was 'inspired' to eat after just now returning from seeing the play Glengarry Glen Ross, the entire first act taking place in a Chinese restaurant.
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I love this idea....
I will be thinking on this and just may return and give it a try...Very unique contest..... like you!
Lynda
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It seems to of mystified many people. ~Sigh~ Mayhap I should start holding quickie contests. Seems to be all the rage here nowadays.
LOL I just figured I have 18000 pts stashed away... I might as well start holding some contests.
Hope to see you back.
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oh, I am feeling very inspired by it!
It is great, and I will be back...I have all kinds of ideas flowing
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This was inspiring
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Hope that means you'll be returning?
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I keep coming back to this.
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oh and no -- it is exactly the type of contest that is good to have -- makes you think, reach, leap. even if you don't get too many entries the people that do will have had to stretch their minds. i like that.
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Dont know how I ended up here
though after reading the writing...I pondered the many thoughts of what could I do if it were a whole hand wrapped in wax paper....knuckles and thumbs....errrrrr.. trunk of a cadilac comes to mind...
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wonderful poem and it speaks to me; inspiration? we shall find out later today, thanks...PK
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Isn't poetry wonderful? Each one of us sees something in these lines - might not be the same thng, but we take something back with us that helps us understand (?) this poem. Will bookmark. Thanks for hosting.
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Thanks for the poem that made the Poem.
I'm submitting mine today so I'll let you know if anything happens with it. and if so, I'll have to add you to the dedication.
I enjoyed reading all the entries in this contest and seeing where the minds went.
Congrats to everyone who let their minds go ... or at least let their minds go a bit more than usual.
P.S. Find another.
Lisa -
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Good luck with the poem.
As soon as I find another poem that smacks me the way this one did, I'll be holding another one of these contests. These entries impressed the hell out of me.
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Thank you so much, Annalise. Thank you especially for bringing us a new poet.
Congrats to all.
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congrats to the top two, and to each entry...all were well done.
thank you, Meli.
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I've been traveling so here's a better-late-than-never Congratulations to the winners! Very fun contest! Thank you Annalise.
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congrats to all the winners and thank you to the hostess for coming up with this "extremely different" type of contest. Normally I would shy away from anything like this---but obviously something called out to my Muse ....and that is exactly what writing is supposed to be about [to stretch now and then] and I thank you for the opportunity to do s
reenie
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