It's a little thing,
should a jackstraw
aught bagatelle,
for trifle are common men
to a figurehead's puppet ~
however,
a hollow man's inanity
rien du tout;
his paltry affairs
fill voids with nebbish.
Ciphering nought,
his life, a matter of indifference.
Yet still...
Whippersnappers,
with their peu de chose,
hardly amount anything
except goose eggs
and small potatoes.
Let's not forget
those tabula rasa runts,
freed on a technicality ~
they claim their nonentity
is no such thing...
To me, that's just hogwash.
Empty minded little men
with inflated egos
mastermind minor matters,
se valoir,
peanuts their reward.
Apenas diferencias,
wisdom of Solomon
in their minds, nonexistent.
No, nix nihility
ye faceless men,
wash away thy mediocrity ~
for empty spaces
filled with men of straw
serve only as
lightweight strongholds
in pointless grand schemes.
Author notes
POY Contest
Theme: Zip, zilch, zero, nada...
The pointlessness of nothing, and the results thereof.
Note: anything you see written in a foreign language is a synonym for "nothing" 
A contest entry
- Poem of the Year - POY - by Bear by Arkbear.
12500 points, ended January 1, 2009, 41 entries
Honorable mention
• next poem in this contest, remove from contest
Comments
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Cleverly done, most certainly!
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I do believe that before us we actually have here the freakin' Keys to the freakin' universe! Anybody know where the lock is??? great stuff...
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Hi Tim,
It's good to see you in the POY! It's the one we've all been waiting for, isn't it? And here I missed most of it. 
Still, I wanted to be sure and stop by to comment on this, as it's one I pondered for a while...but wait...that wasn't your intention, was it?! 
lol
Anyways, the poem...
I am always wary of poems that use foreign phrases. For one, it messes up the flow big time...simply because I could never pronounce the phrases as they are meant to be, only as my brain thinks they might...maybe...possibly...be.
Beyond that... [and this is probably more of a reflection on me than it is on your poetry] but seeing those foreign phrases makes me feel like I'm missing something in the poem and...sad to say...but I end up feeling rather stupid for not knowing. 
Not a really good confidence-boosting poem, if that makes sense? One other thing to consider, and I've said this a lot in the PO contests, is that so many poetry outlets don't give the poet a chance to "explain" any part of their write the way AP does. So for me, the poem itself really needs to be all-inclusive, without need for any explanation. But as always, these are only my opinions. 
That is my only real "critique" of the poem, and yet I realize that without it, there probably wouldn't be much of a poem left. Well, then again...how many synonyms did your "simple little dictionary" have?
Congrats on the HM...I'm glad to see this landed in the top 10!
s
~J.
P.S. Much thanks also for all the hard work and time you and Lisa put into, most especially, the SO contests...I still say I couldn't have done it without you!
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I think this is a fantastic idea using the different languages. Original and creative just like the contest rules specify.
Love,
Amera♥
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I am another fan of much of what you write left a little non-plussed here, the theme is well handled and original, and apart from anything else poetry is about nothing really except poetry so it is perfect
I shall certainly re-read before deciding on my "ten"
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Welcome to this competition. I liked what you didwith your poem. I thought you had a creative theme. At least, i never ead a pom about nothing before. Alas, I am not a judge.
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Hi Tim, and welcome back
This is definitely an interesting write, and being a linguist, your use of different languages appealed to my more verbose side Yet somehow, this was different from other poems I've read from you; it was amazing, but for whatever reason, it just hit me the wrong way. No idea why, since I love your work. I'm still trying to figure it out... 
Either way, good luck, and I wish you the best in the contest!
Laura
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The reason people come away from this write with a feeling of indifference, or that nothing is "wow" is because the entire thing is NOTHING There is nothing here, hence a feeling of emptiness and not getting anything from it! When people say they don't get it or they got nothing from it, that's the genius of this write, for that is exactly what I was aiming for!
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Hello ~
The choice of grammar here is what has hindered the Flow and Poetic Tone.....for me ~
I appreciate all of the thought which went into this write, but when I have to stop....start....stop....and then start again considering words of foreign thought, the beauty has been taken out of it.....not all of it.....but definately, some ~
However, if I read this 3 or more times.....which I had to, I find quite a lovely piece of Poetry here ~
I appreciate the note in your AN's about each foreign language = nothing, etc ~
Over-all, a very pretty write.....except..>>>now that's just hogwash*...yikes!
Good luck & God bless....I expect this to make it to the top 10 spots......we'll see
Bear ~
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Thanks bro ~
You always coach full stops & commas Now I'm stopping too much? 
The "hogwash" line is a play on the "tabula rasa runts" line from the S* above it...
The foreign language was chosen for the beauty of the words, to be read as if part of the flow. Pop songs on the radio use French, Spanish & sometimes German phrases ~ we just go with the flow, many times we have no idea what is being said. In my case, I've said that they are syns for nothing At least I helped
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Hi there and welcome to the POY I like this a write bout nothing that means something is very uncommon to me I think you did a good job here remember no editing once a judge has touched your work.
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This was really well done and a thought that was indeed new to me. I love it, the pointlessness of nothing. How far does it truly go? Your words were capturing and the changes in language to prevent repetition of nothingness was beautifully done. best of luck to you my friend, take care
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Ce morceau est un triomphe! vous avez raison aussi nous sommes si minuscules quand vous pensez a l'univers. Votre muse est impressionnante!
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We're tiny when we think what about the world? Translation please
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i should have said quand vous pensez à l'univers entier et notre partie peu dans elle or when you think of the whole universe and our little part in it my french is rusting (._.)
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I like the last stanza the different language maybe i didn't understand other than that it was good
~GOOD LUCK~
*Mystal* -
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Thank you ~
Just to let you know, all phrases in foreign languages are synonyms for "nothing"
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oh makes more sense putting that in there thanks
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Aloha Tim!
Thanks for entering! I am only one judge of many as you know, BUT I am not at all fond of the esoteric phrases you have included...Just me....but it does nothing for me..Zip, zilch, zero, nada!!! lol...
Thanks so much for your entry! Best wishes in the contest.
Write on!
REMEMBER: NO editing once a judge has commented!
My scores will appear in final notes…
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Esoteric:
1. understood by or meant for only the select few who have special knowledge or interest; recondite: poetry full of esoteric allusions.
2. belonging to the select few.
3. private; secret; confidential.
4. (of a philosophical doctrine or the like) intended to be revealed only to the initiates of a group: the esoteric doctrines of Pythagoras. (Dictionary.com)
There's nothing esoteric about it absolutely nothing! Hmmm if you thought it was esoterical, perhaps it left you with something to ponder.
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LOL....
I am a fairly simple person...and my simple little dictionary says esoteric means 1. requiring special knowledge to understand...
Best wishes, now and always!
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my simple little dictionary gave me 50+ syns for "nothing" and, by golly, i used most of them
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Yes...and fairly well....BUT take this line for instance:
Whippersnappers,
with their peu de chose,
hardly amount anything
except goose eggs
and small potatoes.
hardly amount anything isn't a well contructed sentence in my opinion either...BUT again, just me...and as you well know...you can still end up with the GOLD!!
Happy Holidays my friend!
Write on!
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