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
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.