Poems about poetry and the experience of poetry writing - any or no form; as serious as you care to be. Please explain in your author's notes why your poem is about poetry or the artistic, creative or personal experience of poetry writing. (For some entries, this is quite obvious; for others, the connection is a little tenuous.)
Last Friday night at my favorite bar -
Ben: [An incredibly insightful remark on almost any topic imaginable]
Big Mike: Wow, Ben, you're very insightful!
Laura: Ben's a poet, you know.
Big Mike: No! I did not know that!
Ben: [Modestly] Oh, I only mention it if I think it'll impress chicks.
Laura: I'm impressed! [to Mike] He's got a book!
Big Mike: Oh man, that is impressive! Do you write serious poetry or the kind that rhymes?
Ben: [With a blank stare, speechless, to himself] What the heck do you say to that?
The foregoing is a snippet of an actual conversation. You may use it as a prompt, but I just want to see poems about poetry and your experiences with it. Serious poetry in any form is welcome, so long as it is appropriate for all ages. 'Serious' includes humorous, if you like, but not lazy writing.
Contest Rule No. 1:
No disrespecting individuals, ethnicity, age, gender, gender preference, political parties or movements, religion, spirituality or faith
Specific subjects and language to avoid:
Abuse
Addiction
Adult
Cruelty
Erotica - Sensual is allowed. If you do not know the difference, this is not a contest for you.
Gratuitous profanity - If you do not know how to use strong language without swearing, this contest is also not for you.
Obscenity - I know what is obscene, and so do you. Do not be a twerp.
Thanks to Maldronah who contributed his 500 winner's points for "Apples" entered in my last contest.
Contest is Over
- Contest was judged on July 29, 2008
- Rewards: Gold: 750, Silver: 450, Bronze: 200, Honorable mention: 7 people
- Final notes: The participation of all who entered this contest is greatly appreciated. I chose a winner and ranked the other finalists. However, if I were to start judging again tomorrow, I might have a different winner and a different set of finalists. I encourage each who participated to read the entries of the others. Besides being considered the polite thing to do, I believe many of you will be as pleased as I was to have these come to your attention.
Contest Winners
- Error: Unable to find finalist item 4334339, it seems to have been deleted :( [remove]
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A muddled inky masterpiece of words
Reflects the blueish moonbeams in my eyeby PsydewaysTears 17 lines, 25 comments, on May 20 2:58 AM 2006. In Sad, Personal, Love
Silver trophy winner
• Commented on by judge. Prewrite [remove] -
Verse without rhyme
Is Poetrys crime• Commented on by judge. [remove] -
I wrote this poem because I'm having a bad day. I wrote some poetry that was pretty crappy and people told me it was crappy. I even think it was crappy. So I• Commented on by judge. Prewrite [remove]
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Find the rhythm / Let it rhyme / Love the words / Make them mineby Still Anonymous 32 lines, 42 comments, on May 23 9:22 PM 2008. In Writing, Beauty, Inspirational
Honorable mention
• Commented on by judge. Prewrite [remove] -
A trochee fidgets / opposite an iamb, / while the dactyl hungrily / eyes the anapest. / The couplet feels inadequate / next to its heroic n• Commented on by judge. Prewrite [remove]
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These words
My artby Oresama 10 lines, 4 comments, on Jul 13 8:13 PM 2008. In thoughts, lost in thought Honorable mention
• Commented on by judge. Prewrite [remove]
Bronze trophy winner
Entries [27]
1 - 27 of 27
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Deep from the soul, blood fills our pens.
The words on paper is our focusing lens.• Commented on by judge. -
Do you write earnestly or write in rhyme?
by ea 7 lines, 1 comment, on Jul 14 12:43 AM 2008• Commented on by judge. -
• Commented on by judge.
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by WisdomWarrior 45 lines, 8 comments, on Jun 8 12:44 AM 2006. In Personal, Contemporary, Spoken Word• Commented on by judge. Prewrite
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There are some words that change the way I see
I can't explain the way they make me feel• Commented on by judge. Prewrite -
• Commented on by judge. Prewrite
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Be warned the following are not included in this poem:
my family, other animals• Commented on by judge. Prewrite -
Cruelly seduced by the night, into darkness my mind took flight,by Suzianne 14 lines, 2 comments, on Jul 14 1:29 AM 2008• Commented on by judge.
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by Vera Rich 23 lines, 9 comments, on Mar 16 12:58 AM 2007• Commented on by judge. Prewrite
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Fugue / (or Revision’s Decisive Utterance) / I have birthed you, my darlings / From the womb between my ears / And bit and chewed you delicby Avatar of Innocence 18 lines, 4 comments, on Oct 30 9:19 AM 2008• Commented on by judge. Prewrite
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i sit and sway and sit and stare
still the page is unawareby Darkwell 28 lines, 6 comments, on Jul 14 10:52 PM 2008• Commented on by judge. Prewrite -
Poetry is homemade soup:
Cracked bone of the past• Commented on by judge.
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Comments
1 - 20 of 20
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LoL at that conversation
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Any time I need a good laugh, my vanity is right there for me.
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One Art
The art of losing isn't hard to master;
so many things seem filled with the intent
to be lost that their loss is no disaster.
Lose something every day. Accept the fluster
of lost door keys, the hour badly spent.
The art of losing isn't hard to master.
Then practice losing farther, losing faster:
places, and names, and where it was you meant
to travel. None of these will bring disaster.
I lost my mother's watch. And look! my last, or
next-to-last, of three loved houses went.
The art of losing isn't hard to master.
I lost two cities, lovely ones. And, vaster,
some realms I owned, two rivers, a continent.
I miss them, but it wasn't a disaster.
---Even losing you (the joking voice, a gesture
I love) I shan't have lied. It's evident
the art of losing's not too hard to master
though it may look like (Write it!) like disaster.
-- Elizabeth Bishop
Too bad this is set at 20 entries and allows pre-writes because it won't allow enough time for most people to write something based on the title which I must say - is so arresting - I hate to see it go to waste and even to see it fall off the contest list so quickly today. -
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I already bumped the entry limit to 32, and I may go higher. I did not expect this many responses this fast. My last contest languished for two weeks with 4 entries. I had not even finished editing this one when entries started pouring in.
I see your point regarding the pre-writes. I don't want to exclude them altogether, but in the future I'll exclude previous trophy winners.
You gave me some good points on my first contest, and I appreciate the things you've mentioned for this one.
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LMAO! My answer, sweet and simple would have been: Yes. Just because poetry rhymes doesn't mean it isn't serious
(Book Marked)
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OK, for this old guy who doesn't chatspeak or text, what does LMAO mean?
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Laughing My A** Off! (I thought it was pretty funny)
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That is the dumbest thing I've ever heard. What kind of moron...
Damn, now I'm aggravated... -
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Aw, c'mon. Mike's a good guy.
He's just been influenced by the dreadful cynicism of modern, post-modern and "Beat Generation" writers of the 20th century who have infected the public and educational literary consciousness. In their lemming-like rush to tell us life is hard and then we die, they cannot be bothered with classical rhythms or the artistry of rhyme. Maybe the 21st century will generate a little more "serious" diversity of style and theme.
Mike is not a moron, but if he was he could teach poetry at almost any university in the English-speaking world. (OK, that was unkind. I apologize to all the "serious" poets.) -
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I must agree...
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There are plenty of Beat poets who appreciate the classics including Ferlinghetti, Kerouac, Ginsberg... need I go on? I don't think they felt the great need to put down any kind of poetry the way morons do. They enjoyed it all, in fact, they drew on it. The rich mix.
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The prevailing tone of 20th century poetry and criticism of poetry is dark and cynical, and against the conventions of form. Many individuals have put their oars into the water against that wind, but the public awareness and academic direction of poetry is toward the dark side of style and theme.
Ginsberg started writing as a formal romanticist. Smacked down for it by William Carlos Williams, he took his genius in a different direction. Ezra Pound wrote incredibly stirring poetry of form before succumbing to the dark side. He hated Whitman but supported Eliot, was an apologist for Mussolini, and horn-swoggled Frost to convince the world he was rehabilitated. Yep, some of the greats have not been opposed to putting down other poets, or at least unfavored forms of poetry. Even Frost made his tough comment likening free verse to playing tennis without a net. Poets are as prejudiced, temperamental and affected by criticism as any other community of people.
The Beat has a positive side, and certainly some great names attached to it. However, many writers have tried too hard to find the jazz-influenced rhythmic style and have ignored the syncopated beat of its heart, hearing and repeating only its negative themes. Their poetry is as dark and lacking in variety as their fashions and the shadows on their unshaven jaws.
For much of the public, like my friend Mike, negativity and gray stylistic sameness define the concept of serious poetry. -
I never said that they did not. But I do, yes, think that anyone who implies rhyming poetry is not serious does not know what they are talking about.
Ea, I would really appreciate it if you would stop following me around and harassing me. If it goes on I'll put you on my ignore list and quite frankly I don't want to do this because I liked you before you started all this (and no I am not referring to just the above comment). -
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and I totally agree with you that anyone who implies that rhyming poetry is not serious does not know what they are talking about.
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OK, I don't know the background, but a personal issue might be served better by a private message exchange. All civil comments from anyone are welcome, and I haven't seen anything offensive from anyone here.
Despite my occasional and regrettable sarcasm, I believe everyone should be allowed to make a case for her or his style or preferences by performance or essay. Each of us who present in public should prepare to defend our art based on its merits as we see them, respectfully and without rancor for those whose perceptions (well-informed or not) differ from our own (well-informed or not).
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It's already got a trophy from somewhere else, but Morning passed your thoughts on to me and I decided to enter it.
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seeking information
I am new to the site and entered this contest without really knowing what I am doing....LOL... my poetry always rhymes and I would like to think I put some thought behind everything I write... how does the contests work so I can be more prepared the next time I enter one? -
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Well, so far I have only viewed the entries. The only one on which I have commented was one I read before it was entered. Your entry looks as appropriate as others in the contest. It looks like you were as at least prepared as anyone else to enter.
The contest title in this case is ironic, for a view of poetry common to much of the un-literary public and to many poets, reviewers and critics. If your entry is about poetry or poetry writing - whether it rhymes or follows a conventional form or is a stream of consciousness free verse effort - I will be judging on how "poetic" I find it, how compelling I find its content and how well it speaks to the contest subject.
All contests are subjective, with winners based on a judge's preferences no matter how fair and open-minded one might strive to be. That's one reason why I am not seriously reviewing any entries (other than the one mentioned above) until the contest is closed. -
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I write a lot of narrative and epic poetry and have had an epic published as a book. I was once asked - by a high school English teacher - what the point was in writing my story in that form rather than prose. I, like you, was speechless.
celtic queen
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Poetic Addiction
Tick... tick... tick...
See, you don't understand.
This is...
no less than
a poetic addiction;
paper, pen, and me;
like crack heads and pipes,
destine to repeat;
never satisfied;
pursuing that elusive, ultimate, high;
I push ink
into paper veins
in pursuit of poetic euphoria
but only find release temporarily
before my mind has me back
on poetic crack streets.
Too much to say.
Too little time.
Tick...
© 2008 John M. Swails
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