Today, I get to share another failed writing contest entry. This one was a freebie to enter from my province’s Writers’ Federation. It was poems to be displayed on our transit buses, with the theme of connections, a limitation of ten lines or fewer, and be suitable for an audience of all ages. There were 70 entries, and ten was chosen, so pretty good odds, but mine was not one. It didn’t earn the accolades, but I’m sure I didn’t help in writing not only semi-classical format with rhyme and even meter in a modern poetry world, but I also wrote on subject matter that might not be suitable for all ages. By that, I don’t mean violent or sexual content, but just the harsh realities of relationships and friendships. I’m sure if some kids read the poem on the bus, they’d have some hard questions for their Parents or adults with them! Regardless, I really liked it, not the least because it’s personal enough to reflect my situation that is core to poetry, while having enough universality as people are re-thinking their relationships and friendships the world over in reopening post-COVID. Read and see what you think.
Modern
A Self-Study of a Contest’s Winning Modern Poetry Entries
A few weeks back, I was able to share a short poem I had written this year that didn’t fare well in a local poetry competition, with anticipation of seeing the finalists and/or winning entries so I can “self-study” them as one more of many attempts to “get” modern poetry. Well, I got them and have shared them below, along with some self-study notes.
Earthlings
Each of about eight billion
Ever-changing chameleons
Trying to blend in with others
Trying to stand out from others
Trying to find their true colours
Trying to be other colours
Trying unnatural colours
Trying impossible colours
Trying to achieve some balance
Trying to maintain that balance
All at once
The Rejected Poems
I have a poetry blog. It’s nothing special, and I am absolutely not being modest here. Pretty much nobody reads it, right now or ever in the past, and that’s quite fine by me, because I don’t write for the readership. You don’t write and post over 1800 poems for readership over a few decades if you’ve never gotten any readership, so I am honest in saying I don’t write for the readership.
What’s Good Poetry These Days?
After eight weeks since beginning my two-year journey in writing on Jan 1st this year (2021), I have finally found a poetry contest I am willing to enter… not that I have been searching hard for it. I’ve been relying mostly on my local writers’ federation newsletter to introduce me to writing contests to enter, which I work on like writing assignments in a course, and this was the first one for which I qualified and was interested in. By qualification, I mean from not having self-published poetry in the past. By interest, I mean with a very low entry fee because I have no fucking clue what counts for good poetry these days.
Digital Citizen 