What to Submit?
1 original Contra-Poem (see description below).
A Contra Poem is something I am fiddling with the idea of and is not any actual accepted form (or lack of form as you will see)
The concept is derived from the Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy where the author enumerates the worst poets in the universe. My premise is this. All good poetry has at least certain defined characteristics. Even this site defines
What makes good poetry?.
A Contra poem turns every convention of conventional poetry on its head.
...But Why?
In a word: Contrast. Not everything in life needs a deeper profound meaning. Sometimes the mundane needs to be portrayed mundanely. Maybe in throwing off the constructs of poetry we will gain a better understanding of how the literary devices we use truly make a difference in reading what we define as poetry.
Honestly, I'm not even sure I fully understand what I'm trying to achieve here, but I'm very interested to see where it goes.
Rules of this Contest
Please put the word CONTRA in your poem title. This is just so I don't read it in the poem list for the day. Failure to do this won't necessarily be a DQ, however, if I read it and know who wrote it, I will have to DQ the poem. Just don't risk it.
Conventions of this style
- Topic/theme should be in opposition to typical poetic norms.
- Minimal use of poetic devices.
- Lacks consistent meter.
- Uses broken, uneven and/or otherwise forced rhymes.
- Line breaks and punctuation occur in odd and disruptive places.
- An anticlimactic or redundant ending.
- Poem should not be overtly humorous.
Examples
Heralded as the "worst poem in the universe"
The dead swans lay in the stagnant pool.
They lay. They rotted. They turned
Around occasionally.
Bits of flesh dropped off them from
Time to time.:And sank into the pool's mire.
They also smelt a great deal.
-
The Hitchiker's Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams
Other examples:
Coffee Stain CONTRA
Mud Puddle CONTRA
Rankings will be based on
- Really, just following the "rules" of the form
- that is, breaking all the conventions of poetry
- I don't want to say that the worst poem will win, but that is perhaps an accurate assessment by any normal poetic standards.
- My subjective opinion (this is implied with all contests, I make rules to be as objective as possible)
Prizes
Possibly quite a few placements.
Preparing Your Entry
English Language
Poems should be in English. Poems translated from other languages are not eligible, unless you wrote both the original poem and the translation.
A Note to Poetry Contestants
You are welcome to enter this contest, whether or not you won a prize in one of my previous contests.