SCANSION . . .. . . about the PoetsThere was only one category, “Poet's Choice”, with a 2-page/100-line limit per poem. Submissions ranged from three-line haiku and senryu to 14-line sonnets and a few long narrative poems ranging from tall tales to historical sagas and patriotic/political statements.For the first time in the competition's 16-year history, several poets entered clever, uncentered shaped poems in the form of objects like an earthworm and cat, and centered objects like wine goblets, ornaments and tree-shapes. Also, prose-poem entries rose but faith-based rhymes fell. The number of poems written in free verse and blank verse skyrocketed; traditional rhymed poems using the couplet scheme, such as aa—bb--cc shrank. Short poems of less than a half-page length (24 lines) constituted the majority of entries; long, two-pagers were few and far between. An overall mood of resignation about death was noted. That is, instead of fighting it, the presence and ultimate reality of death was accepted. A lot of poems were heavy on usage of the word “I” because poets talked a lot about themselves in this contest. Love—of self, others or even pets--for better or worse—lost or found—was the golden thread that bound the submissions together in poetic spirit. Reminiscence prevailed; many poems palpably worked as tear jerkers. Other sentiment conjured up flavorful sensory treats: family picnics with fish fried in corn meal; turkey and pumpkin pie at family Thanksgiving meals; spice smells of grandma's cookie-baking apron. Noticeably missing was the almost-always-included light verse about an overweight person who stuffs tonight and vows to start a diet tomorrow. Relationships that died, are about to die, or that were unfulfilled fantasies were popular themes. Humor was sparse, but what little we got was great. Romance and magic—the essence of poetry since time immemorial—needed digging to find. So the contest was a treasure hunt. The winning works were the gold nuggets the judges found. There were many others that were gems. Our regret is we could not give them all the awards they deserved. And our hope is that readers of this online book will be inspired to make the 2009 contest even bigger and better by becoming participants. Interested? Read on for details about how to get next year's contest rules. |