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
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.