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
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!