WELCOME TO POETRY CONTEST II.
I am immensely thankful to all of you who entered and judged Poetry Contest I for making it such a success! Thank you.
If you participated in Poetry Contest I, worry not, for the rules are the same as before; the only difference you have to worry about is the prompt. If you didn’t participate in Poetry Contest I, read on, and you will learn all you need to know in 1 minute and the lifespan of a fruit fly (give or take a few seconds).
Good luck, and may the Muses muse ever in your favor.
Subscribe and I will refrain from turning you into a fruit fly. (And you will not miss out on future poetry contests like this one.)
The Prompt
The poem you submit should be inspired by this month’s prompt:
Desiderium (n.) the heartbreaking desire you have for everything you’ve ever lost.
Your poem should be about heartbreak, or loss, or sorrow, or pain, or the crushing weight of the world.
Think Psalm 42 kind of energy:
Why are you cast down, O my soul?
And why are you disquieted within me?
Hope in God, for I shall yet praise Him
For the help of His countenance.
Focus on creating a beautiful and resonant poem about sorrow and heartbreak; if it has a redemptive ending, that’s cool, too.
Please note: it is not necessary or encouraged that you include the word "desiderium" in your poem. The important thing is to get the idea the word evokes across.
The Three Rules
Make sure you write your poem in conformity to the Three Rules:
Thou shalt make the poem rhythm and rhyme. It is not enough that the poem merely rhymes. It must also have a recognizable rhythm when read out loud. Examples of poetry that both rhymes and rhythms well are “Noel” by J. R. R. Tolkien, “The Wreck of the Hesperus” by H. W. Longfellow, and “The Ballad of the White Horse” by G. K. Chesterton.
Thou shalt make the poem imaginative and beautiful. The poem must use beautiful and imaginative language! For example, we want the same kind of language that describes the moon as a ghostly galleon tossed upon cloudy seas, stars as silver sky-fish swimming in a sea of darkness, and grassy lawns as worlds of adventure to explore, if only you were the size of an acorn.
Thou shalt make the poem’s meaning easy to understand. The poem needs to not be difficult to understand for the average person. Make sure when you write it that it is something that most people would be able to appreciate.
The Prizes
We will have 3 winners and 3 honorable mentions.
Our 1st place winner will win $120.
Our 2nd place winner will win $85.
And our 3rd place winner will win $60.
The winning and honorably mentioned pieces and every contestant’s name will be featured in a non-paywalled winners announcement post to our 1.1K+ subscribers, published at the end of the contest.
We’re limiting the number of submissions we will accept to 49, so that your chance of winning or having your work featured is around 12%!
The Judges
These are the people you need to impress in order to win this contest!
Me (a.k.a. )
, a talented poet at . She wrote a lovely poem about a lemon tree that I still remember fondly, and I look forward to what she puts out in the future.
, author of and honorably mentioned author of “Mythos” in Poetry Contest I. Some well-informed individuals think he should have been 1st place winner, and for good reason, given that it really is a lovely work.
, poet at Second Hijo and 1st place winner of Poetry Contest I. “A Father to His Waking Child” was his winning piece; it is an exemplary piece of work (and I mean that in the best way possible).
, poet and 2nd place winner of Poetry Contest I. She just crossed the threshold of 700 subscribers, y’all. If you’re not one of those 700, you should be.
, poet and 3rd place winner of Poetry Contest I. Cherith writes poetry and essays about the “glimmers of glory” in her everyday life, and her winning piece was beautiful.
One last mystery person I haven’t recruited yet. Who could it possibly be?
Subscribe or I will trap you in a hedge maze of thornless roses with a picnic basket full of teacakes and pickled gherkins.
How to Enter
First, write your lovely poem. Then, click the button below and fill out the form!
Be sure to submit your poem as soon as possible before June 30th, because submissions close then or when we reach 49 entries, whichever comes first.
Please note that we charge an entry fee of $8 for each entry. We do this so that we can give our winning contestants prizes, and also because we have not yet discovered a money tree anywhere nearby in spite of frantic searching, excessive wishing, and many prayers.
However, if you pledge a paid subscription to All Words Bright & Beautiful, you get to enter this contest and all poetry contests we hold after this date for free. You will be allowed to submit as many entries as you like without having to pay an entry fee at any time, and you will not be charged a nickel until we turn on paid subscriptions.
If you have a question at any time, feel free to leave a comment!
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