Update: Winners announced: https://classicalpoets.org/shortest-poem-contest-winners-announced/\
Scroll down and read the comments section to enjoy all of the submissions.
Write the shortest possible rhyming poem that still has meaning. Post it in the comments section below under your full name and general area of residence (“Bob Smith, Denver, Colorado”). You may choose any topic, but please be respectful and no dirty humor. Two entries allowed per poet.
When: Now June 9, 2018 midnight EST. Winner Announced June 18, 2018.
Who: Anyone in the world, any age or background, may participate. From within the Society, anyone not involved in judging the contest may participate.
Prize: $100
Judge: Advisory Board Members who choose to participate
Entry Fee: None
Examples: Our first example comes from Joe Tessitore of New York City, New York, who came up with this contest. Thank you, Joe!
Cooperation
One ant can’t.
A classic example comes from Strickland Gillilan (1869-1954). It has also been published under the name “Fleas”:
Lines on the Antiquity of Microbes
Adam
Had’em
Zachary Dilks, Austin TX
She left, bereft
Zachary Dilks, Austin TX
“Love Through The Ages”
She left, bereft
Bruce Deckert — Greater Hartford, Connecticut
#1
Wise Career Advice to LeBron James When He Was a High School Senior
Go pro!
#2
Jeopardy Redux: Alex, “How Am I Able to See?” for $1,000
My eye.
“Political Season”
Lavish Lies Loom
The Proper Response to Offers of Government Assistance
Oh
no!
Michael R. Burch, Nashville, TN
Highly Condensed Version of the Declaration of Independence
Be
Free
Michael R. Burch, Nashville, TN
Hello sir Michael!
How beautiful your penning I can’t quantify quintessential quality of a quite quiet quick pen. I doff my hat here at all times.
I can’t appreciate you enough of which I got the improvement I sought for in my writing, the training, you took me through on Facebook, awesome you! My account was later finally blocked by Mark Zukerberg and the Facebook team on those two pieces, poems, I posted with the writing learning codes, “L002AD” and “L003AE”, titled, “Questions to Facebook” and “Sometimes Facebook”.
Thanks a bunch,
sir Michael Burch.
Lawal Jimoh,
Lagos, Nigeria.
One Thing People Hate to Admit.
Yvette Beshier, East Orange, New Jersey
I
lie.
To rhyme thy writ!
Search where my wit?
It’s all in whits…
oh how to knit?
Seafood Festival Fun
Yvette Beshier, East Orange, New Jersey
Grab, crab.
Old Age
What seasons doth a life gone past?
As ventures! do they show,
A body aged, and wisest cast,
Into an embers glow.
Past Tomorrows
Past tomorrows, come and stay,
Timed pressed presents, gifts today,
Passing backwards, thoughts that say,
Gentle times, now gone a way.
David Hollywood, presently: Villars – sur – Ollon, Switzerland
Carole Mertz lives in Parma, Ohio.
Title: To the Progeny of a Bi-racial Marriage
Transcend the blend
Carole Mertz of Parma, Ohio
Fatigued by a Loquacious Friend
Gab, grab cab
Knowledge
I was born, that’s it.
I learned how to spit.
David Paul Behrens
La Verne, CA
A Rhyme For Orange
I tore my pants upon the door hinge
As I walked outside to pick an orange.
~ Oregon State, US ~
—
[Broken Trust]
You lied… I cried,
then died inside.
—
[Clarity]
For disambiguation,
just eschew obfuscation.
—
Abate hate.
Fame came.
(Survival)
Seeds feed needs.
(Freedom)
Uncaged bird;
Music heard.
Fremont, CA
Transcendental
Thoreau
Wrote slow.
Self-reliant
That Ralph
Was top-shelf.
Amy Foreman of Cascabel, Arizona
Short Poem Rules
This sort
Of sport
Is short.
Don’t snort.
My song,
So strong,
Not wrong,
Or long,
Is brief
Relief,
A chief
Motif
That’s small,
Withal,
To all
Enthrall.
Amy Foreman of Cascabel, Arizona
A Parent’s Advice on Winning:
To my children, on winning:
Don’t shun
The one
Outdone,
My son.
Unintentional poems I have actually seen.
A sign in Logan, Utah:
City Center
Parking Enter
A postage cancellation mark from South Australia
Postage Paid
Adelaide
Romantic Summary
When you approach my frequency ascends,
When you depart it falls and slowly ends.
Give.
Live.
Title : Life’s Secret
Hibah Shabkhez, Paris, France
Title : Torsade
Crust kist
Chocolate twist
Come enthrall
Us all
Overheard at Ballet Class
“Pirouette?”
“No, yet!”
Oops, Joe Tessitore, New York, New York
fabric hate
fabricated
yam
yum
fabric hate
fabricated
yam yum
sending again…left out place South Africa
oh,mysterious time,
tick tick tick tick…
you keep singing to our ears,
Telling us the end is near,
Bernnard Austin, Lagos, Nigeria
David Watt, Canberra, Australia
Slow Service
We ate at eight.
Too late!
“Capitalism” One man can.
Pawling, NY
Who called whom
The womb?
The tomb!
Since I didn’t know that my example was going to be an entry can I add a second line to it so it reads:
one ant can’t
three? maybe
Joe Tessitore
New York, NY
Of course, Joe.
I
M
A
G
I
N
E
I
M
A
G
I
N
E
.
.
.
I believe,
Therefore
I am.
Lou Fortunato, Apex, North Carolina
My Humor…
I dribble drivel
Origin of deception
Eve Deceive!!!
Shiny Titus New York
Shiny Titus , New York
Epitome of Love
“For your embrace
I forego paradise “
To my cancer scars
The eloquence, a sign of survival
Either visible or hidden, you are a symbol of bravery
The essence, definition of a fighting warrior, a phenomenal
A knock of a slight oblivious rage-subconscious trickery
Let the soul pour out a lavish smile of pride
It is flesh not soul injured, you assured
From a broken temple, courage and bliss you provide
A panacea of battles fought and conquered
To you is hidden a million intriguing reasons why?
The reason you exist is perplexing yet amusing and greater
A mark only a warrior can imprint with no shy
A vanquisher, fighter… A true victor!
I admire you
I embrace you
To make or spend
To earn or burn
Hunt or feast
Bliss in the end
E.J. Hagadorn, Farmington, CT
“Scoff”
Poetry, shmoetry!
When time to Quit
Don’t say Wit!
EULOGY
Fred’s dead
STOOD UP
Bride cried
Jacksonville, FL 32224
RUSSIAN ROULETTE
Bang, poof, the devils dance!
Neither side had a chance.
Trumpster showed his dukes.
and Putin sent back nukes.
—Leo Yankevich, Gliwice, Poland
RUSSIAN ROULETTE
Bang, poof, the devils dance!
Neither side had a chance.
Trumpster showed his dukes,
and Putin sent back nukes.
—Leo Yankevich, Gliwice, Poland
Rachel Holbrook
Knoxville, TN
“Dangerous Disappointment”
Resident president.
LIBERALS (poem 2)
Christians who neither search,
believe or go to church.
Leo Yankevich, Gliwice, Poland
This tome, a song of holy om;
a roaming soul’s journey along
the yonder dome, ov’r ocean foam
to reach the home, we all belong.
(This poem is from my book FINDING THE MOTHER , published in 2012)
Sathyanarayana,
Nellore, India
Many travel the world in search of what’s outside themselves
Yeah, sometimes we go astray before we pass the test
Meditation on Aging
Such amazement
at where his days went!
Here’s a short poem fem Mark Soifer; Where
ver I go-Ego
Invitation
Visitor is a critter.
Wall Tab
Stick ‘um with gum.
Leonard Dabydeen, Brampton, Ontario.
Torture
Well,
tell.
Jose Rizal M. Reyes
Odiongan, Romblon, Philippines
Reconciliation?
No!
Go!
Jose Rizal M. Reyes
Odiongan, Romblon, Philippines
Tonya McQuade, San Jose, CA
Don’t be a fool;
School is cool,
Not your Juul.
I’ve stopped smoking for a month or two by now without Juul. 🙂
But I was wondering earlier today if … I can smoke during my birthday and a month thereafter (being the birthday of my namesake). That means being able to smoke during the said two days each year.
If you were my fairy godmother, Tonya, would you grant to me those two days when I could enjoy the right and freedom to smoke? It means I wouldn’t still smoke for the rest of the year.
Jose RMR
Please reply quickly. There are only a few hours left in my current birthday. 🙁
If you’re able to limit yourself to those two days a year, then sure, go for it if it makes you happy. Happy Birthday!
Too late the heroine. My birthday is over 🙁
But comes June 19, I’ll consider what you said. I posted my 2 entries right before your first. And you mentioned Juul which I found out is related to smoking. Maybe it was a divine sign … that you have been appointed by Heaven … to decide on the two-day privilege or indulgence … that I was contemplating on. Thanks.
Hi Again – I would not ever encourage you to use heroin, even on your birthday. You asked whether I thought it was okay to smoke a Juul twice a year (at least that’s what I thought you asked). To that, I said go ahead, if you can do so without being addicted. I personally hate any kind of smoking, and a lot of middle and high school students have recently taken to smoking Juuls, thinking they are “cool” and not as bad for them as cigarettes. They can be equally addictive and are a very bad choice, especially for young people – that’s why I wrote the poem I did.
Hi Tonya! I don’t know what Juul is. I first met the word in your post. It had a strange, unusual spelling so I looked up for its meaning. My understanding was that it was some sort of a safe substitute substance or something — just like candy or chewing gum, for instance.
So what I meant was I stopped smoking cigarette for a month or two without the aid or Juul or anything. I simply quit smoking (which I offered to God in exchange for healing my mother who developed a rare disease in her blood vessels.)
I was thus surprised by your mention of heroine. I have never taken any drugs in all my life … and grew up in a culture where drug addicts … were looked down upon. Cigarette is — or was — my sole vice. I drink very occasionally but I can live without it. But when I do drink, I only enjoy it if … I am smoking. So if I would celebrate my birthday with a drink, for instance, I could only enjoy the drink if I can smoke cigarette at the same time.
James Lewis Huss
Taipei, Taiwan
Gasp
My grasp
Would surely
Make you gasp,
But I
Am rightly
Paralyzed.
James Lewis Huss
Taipei, Taiwan
Stake
My stake in her
My heart may break.
Meditation on Aging
So múch amázement
At whére his dáys went.
(Variation on first submission; accents added to clarify stressed syllables)
Tonya McQuade, San Jose, CA
That
map
app
is
crap.
Aurora, Illinois
Title: A Plea from SAT Questions Twenty-Seven to Thirty-Three
BAD DAD
Nathan Evans, Baltimore OH
“Love Emancipated”
First Kiss
Heart’s bliss
“Waking Nightmare”
Decaf morn’, forewarn!
The functional way
Of feng shui
Jason W Larsen, Connecticut
(1)
Meditation
for a nation.
(2)
Tolerance, Compassion,
Acceptance, in fashion.
“Discontent from Living in an Ugly City”
There is no quaint churchyard for which to speak
Or romantic tumult for which to peek;
And the only place I can read my Keats
Is at home, in bed, atop linen sheets.
Adina Wagner, Brunschweig (GER)
I lived. And died.
But I tried.
Zachary Dilks, Austin TX
“I’m Okay”
Ok, okay!
Romantic Couplet
For love at first sight, spreading waves begin,
We most perceive the content, not the skin.
Being Human is…….being you!
I came to my aid.
I have already submitted these two entries but probably to the wrong web address. Please pardon me if they are duplications.
Motivation
Gun?
Run!
Bede’s Need
“Need mead!”
Cried Bede.
Oops — Alabama
I already submitted this one, but forgot to add my name and general area of residence below, so here goes:
Meditation on Aging
Such amazement
At where his days went.
Bruce Wren, Chicago Illinois
Time is but a rule
To the fool.
“Roses are red voilets are blue you are my mummy and I love you”.
Kendyll Gambone, Royersford PA
“Free Nation”
It is our right to speak
until it is our right to remain silent
Kendyll Gambone, Royersford PA
“Lost History”
Call me paper back
Even my ashes tell a better story
[Title: “Portuguese from the Sonnets III”]
Mine, with pulses, beats double thine;
Thine double, beats pulses, with mine.
[Bio: B. L. Pérez; Fuchū, Japan]
[Notes/Hints: chiasmus-like, palindrome-like (not sure there’s a word for it)]
Get out of house =
Happy Spouse
Cute rhyming 🙂
why thank you very much!
Rhyme for all of time
Wine for the mind
Tokyo Japan
Daniel Galef, Montreal, QC
Budget Honeymoon
For us,
a bus.
Daniel Galef, Montreal, QC
Much Fun
A saint
ain’t.
***I put this in the comments above, but it looks like the website took it out as spam: Both of the poems I posted have been previously published, which I hope is no issue. I tried to put the URL underneath, but the comments showed up without them. Just FYI, “Budget Honeymoon” was printed in Light Quarterly in 2015, and “Much Fun” was printed in LUPO in 2017. Both are available for reprinting if desired.
Who’s watching?
Time is the name
of the silent spectator
at every game.
Something we don’t say
Aye
I
Lie
Chinua Ezenwa-Ohaeto, Nigeria
The Pincode
4.1.9
Chinua Ezenwa-Ohaeto, Nigeria
Hard luck!
Empty stomach…
I kill…
Against my will!
The Crazy Train Password
I, eye, aye
Aidan Turner
God bod
Infinity, Oh Divinity,
Makes my eyes weep.
Give me immunity prom continuity.
Forever, Let me sleep, and sleep, and sleep.
Annabelle Fuller – Yorkshire, England
Neptune
A Divine
From the brine.
Overheard At The Bar-be-que:
“Franks? “Thanks!”
Men fight
women’s might
Poets compose
Critics dispose.
Tragedy
Too late
Fixed fate.
Martyr’s Imperative
I
Die.
Juleigh Howard-Hobson, Cascadia USA
Grass=Milk
How
Cow?
Juleigh Howard-Hobson, Cascadia USA
First Love:
Miss
Bliss
Brian Mc Cabe , Ireland
The Wonder of Grass
Green
Sheen
The cold and bearded heaven
looms ready to hurl his scepter of levin,
an atonement from the barb of a sheep.
Skip Hughes of central Indiana
Even Though God Didn’t Give Me Wings
I
Fly.
Skip Hughes, central Indiana
Inevitably
You
Grew
Katherine Todd
Manhattan, KS
First Submission/Saving Grace:
What chases you in your nightmares
is what you send to your god in prayers.
Second Submission/Wilting:
Wilting flowers in a vase
get thrown away with great haste,
and I see the smile slide off your face.
Cathy Watness
Indianapolis, IN
Trump America
Tariff risen prison.
Cathy Watness
Indianapolis, IN
Death’s Oxygen
Meth breath of Death.
“River Bodies”
There are shadows,
In the shallows.
End
WATER LOVE
Ripples kiss the pool’s edge.
The Epigrams
The epigrams of Wilde
console the tortured child.
Damian Balassone, Australia
ineluctable legal tender
one Benjamin current enticement.
Melancholy –
Alone in crowd
He is nobody,
But proud.
Love Will Never Do This Wrong
Still
Thrill
Lawal Jimoh Ishola, LJ, L27, Lagos, NG
Many
One done cone.
Two too
three.
Lawal Jimoh Ishola, LJ, L27, Lagos, NG
Shadows shadow shadows
Me. We.
Vanity. Humanity.
Choose, ye.
Abdul Wahab Lawal, Lagos, Nigeria.
[When the sky’s so blue]
When the sky’s so blue,
I can’t be, too!
Trip of a Lifetime
The place within.
Shall we begin?
Abdul Wahab Lawal, Lagos, Nigeria
Mother
She almost murders her soul
To mother your whole
Mother her.
Jack Wolfe Frost, Wales, UK
Madness
Society.
June 2, 2018
Here, for better or [much] worse, my pale effort:
True poets’ lot:
To be forgot
And in defense of the above, slightly longer, but by any standard brief:
True, a shorter might be found
But none such fun, or more profound
Ted Hayes
Elkton Virginia
JahB Prescott, San Diego, CA
“Wassup”
Yo!
Yo?
Justin Zhang, Rockville Maryland
The end transcends to infinity
Hi
Bye,
Theodore Eisenberg
North Caldwell, NJ
Limns
Palms alms qualms psalms
Tomes domes oms poems
Justin Zhang, Rockville Maryland
Title: on a boat in the white sea
seasick with the Bolsheviks
Brady Alexander, Louisville, Kentucky
“Blueprints for a All Life”
1.) Fizzy
2.) Dizzy
3.) Busy
…
4.) Done
5.) and Gone.
I’m so sorry, I totally goofed.
The title should be “Blueprints for All Life.”
If anybody knows how to edit my comment, you can totally hit me up
-SALVATION AWAITS-
B.C.
-SILENT POET-
Mime Rhyme.
old days and
lives
for what I
long
with tear stained
hands
the cold stone
kept
Ann Can
Kathmandu
I love you
Timbuktu
He cried
as he lied
that he’d tried.
Count’s Outrage
Killed,
Licked.
my email’s [email protected]
Too Much
When we take on too much
more often than not we might
accomplish quite a lot
with not
one thing taken on done right.
I, TOO, WEAR BEAUTY
Sometimes,
I want to open my hijab,
and show the world,
…that I too,
am beautiful in the people’s definition.
But, deep down here,
in my huge heart,
I know that beauty is by definition, a mystery.
And it is forever more rewarding,
to be beautiful in God’s eyes.
Sometimes,
I want to wear ruffled dressed and tight jeans,
show off what I really look like,
under those baggy shirts and loosely fitted pants,
make a statement,
that I too,
have a figure and worth looking at.
But, I know better,
to avoid entering the world of men’s imagination,
for I love my future husband,
and I am ashamed,
what should be his, has already been unveiled by others.
Sometimes,
I want to show the world,
the other side of me,
in the raw, buff and crazier me.
Put myself on display,
for everyone to see,
to be desired and admired upon.
But, I know that eyes are not just eyes,
seeing is not just seeing,
Image and respect are gained,
Shame and humility deserve a better place.
I too wear beauty.
Modern Poetry
When I ponder
modern poetry
in words that don’t
connect or complement,
I hang them out to wonder
then wonder why I bother
to figure out just what
that author meant.
On the need to appreciate art.
“Behoove the Louvre”
Bird Flight
Watching bird flight by the shore,
A poet asks: do words as adequately soar?
Bird Flight
Watching bird flight by the shore,
I ask? do words as lofty soar?
Love Takes Two
He slept.
I wept.
Love Takes Two
I wept.
He slept.
It’s going to be a beautiful day
Because I’ll make it that way
And you will see that I am right
Before today turns into tonight
John Kolyav, Kottayam, India
Gandhi
For religious harmony he did a lot
But became a scapegoat
A bomb blast
Sight last
WAR…FOR?
Bruce Deckert — Greater Hartford, Connecticut
#1
Wise Career Advice to LeBron James When He Was a High School Senior
Go pro!
#2
Jeopardy Redux: Alex, “How Am I Able to See?” for $1,000
My eye.
“On Changing the world”
Only one man
Or woman can.
Williams Oladele, Lagos, Nigeria.
“Why I Write”
I write
To right!
Williams Oladele, Lagos, Nigeria.
Jais C.K.
Kottayam, Kerala.
BURDEN
Excess of my treasure
Increases blood pressure
Jais C.K.
Kottayam, Kerala.
The Road to Life
I miss
Accident’s kiss
Worrying About International Relations
China
gives
angina
LOVE
Red rose
…sows
MOTHERHOOD
Womb
bloom
My grandmother lifted her dark veil
It fell on my grandfather’s dead cell
I want to ask my grandmother
If till death us path is her new wedding with my grandfather
J. Simon Harris, Raleigh, NC
“On the Homeric Hymns”
A Homer
misnomer.
*Footnote: the Homeric hymns were probably not written by Homer.
Deep
Black hole
Mary Joshy
Vazhakulam, Kerala, India
Flower and Nail
A good man’s words may soothe us like a rose
A bad one’s often fix us to a cross
Vazhakulam, Kerala, India
Vegetarian
Chicken in kitchen sickens me
Hörgertshausen, Bavaria, Germany
The struggle of a dying art
Information in sensation?
Hörgertshausen, Bavaria, Germany
The forgotten first verse
Fright makes might,
Jacob Foreman (son of Amy Foreman), Cascabel, AZ
Poem #1 “My Old Farm”
Airplanes fly low
Over milo,
And the silo
Stands so tall.
Poem #2 “The Stuck Pig”
See the hog
In the bog
Through the fog
And the smog?
Grace Foreman (daughter of Amy Foreman), Cascabel, AZ
Poem 1: “Tax Time”
Take some pills
For all your ills,
Then go ahead
And pay the bills.
Poem 2: “Uncle Fred’s Haircut”
“Get all ready,
Uncle Freddy;
Just hold steady
For Aunt Letty.”
Ben Foreman (son of Amy Foreman), Cascabel, AZ
Poem #1: “Double-Fudge Ripple”
Taste this cream;
It’s so supreme,
Just like a dream,
It makes me scream.
Poem #2: “Cheesemaking”
Find a way
To weigh
The whey.
Why bees don’t have knees
Stems
Wreck’em
How the snake knew the apple in the Garden of Eden was poisonous
It
Bit
Deep
Black hole
Weep
Soul
So . . . what won
This thing you run?
http://classicalpoets.org/shortest-poem-contest-winners-announced/
Nietzscheism
transcend gravity.
Wind Blowers stay warm.
Brave is he who walks among the pigeons
A man’s best friend
A
Dog
Lust Blasts, Love Lasts.
Ingenious!
War over.
Scar forever!
M’s Figure
Roundly graced,
But little waist.
Here and now then and gone
The moment lost in this sweet song