Miranda Hawley
(Click for Poet Info...)

My name is Miranda and I am a married empty nester.  I met my husband in April of 1998 and married him on June 6, 1999.  We met at Andrews University where neither one of were students at.  

I grew up in Norwalk Ohio and am a product of the public schools they had.  I was never "Miss Popular" or anything, but rather the kid everyone bullied.  I am class of 1995.

My husband just got his CDL class A.  He has been a box truck driver since like 2011.  Driving 18 wheels came with a pay raise.  It is my dream "job"  to sit beside my husband in the truck when he drives all over the country.  That won't happen with his current job because he delivers local.  My job is a bus monitor for special needs students.  The school I am a monitor for only does special needs students.  You have to qualify to go to the school with an IQ of 50 or less.  I have 7 children on my bus 3 are in wheelchairs and I have 4 walkers.  5 of the kids on my bus are non-verbal, and one of my talkers has a very limited vocabulary.  No matter, those kids have worked their way into my heart.  My job is by far the most fullfilling job I could imagine, and it is really easy.

 

My Last contest and regret

Blog Posted by Miranda Hawley: 3/29/2025 11:29:00 AM

Please Login to post a comment
Date: 4/4/2025 3:22:00 PM
I'm late to this party, but I think rules should be followed, keep everyone from willy-nilly-doings and such. That being said, I am one of the problem children who didn't REGISTER the line max, but that's on me. A reader kindly pointed out my mistake and I just had to pick 2 stanzas to submit to the contest, but did keep the original because it is a personal write. Still, though, my personal belief is to do what you say and say what you do because people might begin to feel they can always get sponsors to change their minds, then we'll have chaos, and everyone will stop wearing socks ... CayCay
Login to Reply
Date: 3/30/2025 9:59:00 AM
It is so hard to know what to do in these situations once you state rules because a really good one may have only broken the rule a wee bit. And a worse poem didn't. I fear people thinking I am going against my own rules if I place rule breakers so it is such a conundrum to be in! I did see a few poets with more than ten lines and told them about it. Actually I didn't notice it myself at first. We get so used to what judges usually expect and don't notice when they make a change!! I think in this case just use your instincts, Miranda
Login to Reply
Hawley Avatar
Miranda Hawley
Date: 3/30/2025 5:54:00 PM
I agree with you fully. I avoid contest that contain a style of poems I haven't at least tried. It is better to learn a style before presenting it in a contest, I feel. If I would have gone with my usual 16 lines or sonnet then I think choosing some winners would be harder, because far less would be ruled out.
Date: 3/29/2025 8:55:00 PM
I find rule breakers to be blessings. They speed up the judging process because they are immediately eliminated. The only problem I have with them is that they waste a spot, but this can be mitigated by increasing the entry limit. Don't regret just learn to love them.
Login to Reply
Jennings Avatar
CayCay Jennings
Date: 4/4/2025 3:24:00 PM
This view made me laugh, so honest, so true ... CayCay
Dietrich Avatar
Andrea Dietrich
Date: 3/30/2025 10:01:00 AM
I think that way too, Rob
Hawley Avatar
Miranda Hawley
Date: 3/30/2025 5:55:00 AM
Yes, I normally love the rule breakers. They make it super easy to weed out a few entries. In this case I think I am left with 7 or 8 entries.
Date: 3/29/2025 7:13:00 PM
Apologies Miranda. I missed 10 line limit, sorry.
Login to Reply
Dietrich Avatar
Andrea Dietrich
Date: 3/30/2025 10:01:00 AM
I too only want to read with ease, so my length requirements are a must.
Hawley Avatar
Miranda Hawley
Date: 3/30/2025 5:56:00 AM
I don't often give types of poems requirements because I'd be the wrong person judge how "correct" they are, so the length requirement is so that I can read with ease.
Date: 3/29/2025 12:07:00 PM
Fascinating. Thank you for this. Confirms so many things ..
Login to Reply
Woody Avatar
Tom Woody
Date: 3/30/2025 6:21:00 AM
Thx for honest admission
Hawley Avatar
Miranda Hawley
Date: 3/30/2025 5:58:00 AM
I don't often give types of poems requirements because I'd be the wrong person to judge how "correct" they are. The requirement on the length is for ease of reading.

Previous Blogs

 
My Last contest and regret
Date Posted: 3/29/2025 11:29:00 AM
Please Follow the Rules
Date Posted: 2/4/2025 3:24:00 PM
My contest, &Judging It
Date Posted: 6/28/2024 6:51:00 PM
My last contest
Date Posted: 2/3/2024 8:08:00 PM
My Pick a topic sentence contest
Date Posted: 10/14/2023 3:30:00 PM
My Random Phrase Poetry Contest
Date Posted: 6/9/2023 8:56:00 PM
My contest
Date Posted: 5/20/2023 2:37:00 PM

My Photos


Get a Premium Membership
Get more exposure for your poetry and more features with a Premium Membership.
Book: Reflection on the Important Things

Member Area

My Admin
Profile and Settings
Edit My Poems
Edit My Quotes
Edit My Short Stories
Edit My Articles
My Comments Inboxes
My Comments Outboxes
Soup Mail
Poetry Contests
Contest Results/Status
Followers
Poems of Poets I Follow
Friend Builder

Soup Social

Poetry Forum
New/Upcoming Features
The Wall
Soup Facebook Page
Who is Online
Link to Us

Member Poems

Poems - Top 100 New
Poems - Top 100 All-Time
Poems - Best
Poems - by Topic
Poems - New (All)
Poems - New (PM)
Poems - New by Poet
Poems - Read
Poems - Unread

Member Poets

Poets - Best New
Poets - New
Poets - Top 100 Most Poems
Poets - Top 100 Most Poems Recent
Poets - Top 100 Community
Poets - Top 100 Contest

Famous Poems

Famous Poems - African American
Famous Poems - Best
Famous Poems - Classical
Famous Poems - English
Famous Poems - Haiku
Famous Poems - Love
Famous Poems - Short
Famous Poems - Top 100

Famous Poets

Famous Poets - Living
Famous Poets - Most Popular
Famous Poets - Top 100
Famous Poets - Best
Famous Poets - Women
Famous Poets - African American
Famous Poets - Beat
Famous Poets - Cinquain
Famous Poets - Classical
Famous Poets - English
Famous Poets - Haiku
Famous Poets - Hindi
Famous Poets - Jewish
Famous Poets - Love
Famous Poets - Metaphysical
Famous Poets - Modern
Famous Poets - Punjabi
Famous Poets - Romantic
Famous Poets - Spanish
Famous Poets - Suicidal
Famous Poets - Urdu
Famous Poets - War

Poetry Resources

Anagrams
Bible
Book Store
Character Counter
Cliché Finder
Poetry Clichés
Common Words
Copyright Information
Grammar
Grammar Checker
Homonym
Homophones
How to Write a Poem
Lyrics
Love Poem Generator
New Poetic Forms
Plagiarism Checker
Poetry Art
Publishing
Random Word Generator
Spell Checker
Store
What is Good Poetry?
Word Counter