A couple of weeks ago, I did something I never expected I would do. I impulsively entered a poetry contest. Yep, that’s correct. A decidedly non-poet entered a poetry contest.
One of the blogs I follow (and highly recommend for all writers) is Rachelle Gardner‘s.
On March 16 Rachelle posted a quick haiku writing contest for her readers. In case you need a refresher, haiku is a 3 line poem that has a pattern of 5 syllables, 7 syllables, and 5 syllables.
I was about to dismiss it when I thought I’d give it a shot. After all, how hard could it be to pen 17 syllables? I quickly came up with something that I felt was passable and posted it so I could be part of the process. The haiku I submitted was:
March seventeen green
not a color I don, yet
clover four doth seek
A few days later, to my complete shock, I learned that my haiku was selected as one of six finalists! Readers of Rachelle’s blog were invited to help select the winner.
Though I never expected to win, I was dismayed at coming in dead last with only 1% deeming my haiku to be the best. I only garnered six votes—and one of the votes was mine.
It was fun to participate, but I’m not so sure about coming in dead last.
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Peter Lyle DeHaan, PhD, is a full-time, career author. He’s published scores of books, hundreds of articles, and thousands of blog posts, with experience as a publisher, editor, and commercial freelance writer. A passionate wordsmith, his goal is to change the world one word at a time. Learn more at PeterLyleDeHaan.com.
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