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      'A Curveball of Blackbirds': A Poem by Leland James

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      Culture, Poetry
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      Best Poems, Dante, From the Society, Poetry, Poetry Contests
      15 Comments
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Poetry Challenge

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Poetry Challenge

Poetry Challenge: Anachro-Poem

The Society
April 4, 2025
Culture, Poetry, Poetry Challenge
41 Comments
. Challenge: Take a well-known figure from history or literature and insert him or her into a modern-day situation. Choose any form. Choose any mood. I hope you enjoy my example below. I hope you have as much...

When Less Is More: A Poetry Challenge

The Society
May 7, 2024
Beauty, Poetry, Poetry Challenge, Poetry Contests
63 Comments
. When Less Is More An SCP Poetry Challenge by James A. Tweedie In a recent email exchange with a poet friend, I found myself typing the following sentence: “Poetic forms, such as sonnet, etc. force poets...

Sonku Poetry Challenge: Write a Sonnet-Haiku

The Society
February 16, 2024
Haiku and Senryu, Poetry, Poetry Challenge, Poetry Contests
53 Comments
. Epic poet and poetry video maker Andrew Benson Brown created a bit of excitement with his invented sonnet-haiku or haiku-sonnet published earlier this month---what poet Michael Pietrack has coined as "the...

‘Jack and Jill’ Style Nursery Rhymes Challenge

The Society
November 2, 2023
Children's, Humor, Poetry Challenge, Poetry Contests
55 Comments
. Poet Paul A. Freeman challenges you to write a nursery rhyme in the style of the Mother Goose classic "Jack and Jill." Below is his model example. Post yours in the comments below. . Nigel Neath Nigel...

The Man from Porlock Poetry Challenge

The Society
October 10, 2023
Poetry, Poetry Challenge, Poetry Contests
41 Comments
. One of England’s best-known poems, “Kubla Khan,” was written by Romantic poet Samuel Taylor Coleridge (1772-1834). Waking from an Opium-induced dream, he was 55 lines into this epic when he was...
poetry/bryant/poetry contests

A Poem on ‘Nothing’ Poetry Challenge

The Society
September 24, 2023
Poetry, Poetry Challenge, Poetry Contests
90 Comments
. Poets create marvels of linguistic delights about anything and everything… but what about nothing?  Can your Muse capture the essence of nothing? This could be the hardest challenge your Muse has ever...
poem/rogers/ekphrastic

Ekphrastic Poetry Challenge: Roadrunner in a Sprinkler During Texas Drought

The Society
September 16, 2023
Ekphrastic, Poetry, Poetry Challenge, Poetry Contests
33 Comments
. Phil S. Rogers captured these photos of a roadrunner seeking relief in his sprinkler during drought-like conditions in Texas. Phil's ekphrastic poem is below. Add yours in the comments. . A Summer...
poetry/bryant/poetry contests

Poem of Passion Challenge 

The Society
August 16, 2023
Culture, Poetry, Poetry Challenge, Poetry Contests
88 Comments
. Scenes of passion in literature, on the stage, and on the silver screen, have captivated audiences for years. How about spicing up some poetry with a soupçon of sauciness and savagery (tastefully done, of...
poem/freeman/limericks

World Poetry Day Limerick Poetry Challenge

The Society
March 21, 2023
Culture, Limerick, Poetry, Poetry Challenge, Poetry Contests
42 Comments
. In celebration of World Poetry Day, write a limerick on the theme of World Poetry Day, poetry in general, or poets. Post it in the comments section below. Learn how to write a limerick here. An example is...
poetry/tweedie/equal

Poetry Challenge: Equilateral Proverbs

The Society
February 7, 2023
Epigrams and Proverbs, Poetry, Poetry Challenge, Poetry Contests
66 Comments
Equilateral Proverbs: A Poetry Challenge by James A. Tweedie Construct a rhyming, rhythmic intelligible proverb or saying where the first and last words in each line rhyme. Twin couplets are preferred but...

2022 FIFA World Cup Poetry Challenge

The Society
December 9, 2022
Poetry, Poetry Challenge, Poetry Contests
21 Comments
. Write a poem about the 2022 FIFA World Cup happening now and post it in the comments section below. To get the ball rolling (pun intended), here is a World Cup sonnet by poet James A. Tweedie: . Fast...

Prose-That’s-Really-a-Sonnet Poetry Challenge

The Society
November 22, 2022
Poetry, Poetry Challenge, Poetry Contests
51 Comments
. Construct a convincing paragraph of well-written, coherent prose that also happens to be a properly composed Shakespearean sonnet. This challenge and the below example come from poet James A....

Metrical Clerihew Poetry Challenge

The Society
October 9, 2022
Clerihew, Poetry, Poetry Challenge, Poetry Contests, Satire
79 Comments
. The clerihew is a relatively new poetry form introduced by Edmund Clerihew Bentley in 1905. It is usually a single quatrain of light verse rhyming aabb, without a standard meter. The first line usually ends...

Ekphrastic Poetry Challenge: Fireplaces

The Society
September 23, 2022
Ekphrastic, Poetry, Poetry Challenge, Poetry Contests
23 Comments
. This photo comes to us from Joshua C. Frank of Texas. Write an ekphrastic poem based on it and post it in the comments section...

Rhyme Two Random Words Poetry Challenge

The Society
March 23, 2022
Humor, Poetry, Poetry Challenge, Poetry Contests
46 Comments
. Your poem can be serious, silly, or something in-between. List the “random words” you chose as your poem’s title and feel free to use whatever poetic form you’d like. Then post the poem in the...
Poem Rhet Butler

Poetry Challenge: Write a Classic Movie-Inspired Poem

The Society
February 7, 2022
Culture, Poetry, Poetry Challenge, Poetry Contests
95 Comments
. Write a poem that casts a fresh eye over a classic movie---any form, any length, any mood. This challenge comes from the lovely Susan Jarvis Bryant. Her example is below. Post your movie-inspired poem in...

Poetry Challenge: Write a Tetra-Pentameter Poem

The Society
October 2, 2021
Poetry, Poetry Challenge, Poetry Contests
54 Comments
Write a rhyming poem that works as either ten lines of tetrameter or eight lines of pentameter. Post it in the comments section below. This challenge comes from poet Paul Erlandson who learned of it some time...

Bedtime Prayer Poetry Challenge

The Society
August 26, 2021
Humor, Poetry, Poetry Challenge, Poetry Contests
108 Comments
. This challenge comes form poet James A. Tweedie: Perhaps the most familiar of all formal, English-language poems is the classic 18th century bedtime prayer that reads: Now I lay me down to sleepI pray the...

What Rhymes with Orange? Poetry Challenge

The Society
August 11, 2021
Humor, Poetry, Poetry Challenge, Poetry Contests
109 Comments
. Write a poem rhyming the word "orange" with something else. Post it in the comments below. This challenge comes from Cheryl Corey, who provided the below poem as inspiration: . Nothing Rhymes With...

Turn a Famous Poem into a Limerick: Poetry Challenge

The Society
July 11, 2021
Humor, Limerick, Poetry, Poetry Challenge, Poetry Contests
153 Comments
. Choose a famous poem and write it in limerick form, putting the title of the original poem at the top. Please fit your chosen poem into one limerick (five lines) only. See "How to Write a Limerick." Post...

Poetry Challenge: A ‘Raven’-like Poem on the Death of Edgar Allan Poe

The Society
June 24, 2021
Culture, Poetry, Poetry Challenge, Poetry Contests, The Raven
32 Comments
. Edgar Allan Poe was known for strange and mysterious tales, in poetry and prose. Perhaps fittingly, the circumstances surrounding his premature death at the age of 40 were also strange and mysterious. (Read...

Split Nursery Rhyme Poetry Challenge

The Society
May 7, 2021
Culture, Humor, Poetry, Poetry Challenge, Poetry Contests
69 Comments
. Split a line from a nursery rhyme and use the halves to open and close a poem. Post yours in the comments section below. This challenge comes from Joe Tessitore, who offers the below two examples: . "The...

National Poetry Month Challenge: What Is Poetry?

The Society
April 16, 2021
Culture, Poetry, Poetry Challenge, Poetry Contests
78 Comments
April is National Poetry Month. On this occasion, take words about poetry from a famous poet, or anyone else you deem fitting, and turn them into a quatrain (four-line poem). Below are four examples from poet...

Poetry Challenge: Write a Sonnet in Iambic Monometer

The Society
March 2, 2021
Poetry, Poetry Challenge, Poetry Contests, Poetry Forms
122 Comments
. This challenge was conceived by Paul A. Freeman after reading a sonnet in iambic monometer by James A. Tweedie, "Allergies." Mr. Freeman's example is below. Make your own and post it in the comments...

Turn a Joke into a Poem—Poetry Challenge

The Society
December 8, 2020
Humor, Poetry, Poetry Challenge, Poetry Contests
87 Comments
Poet Susan Jarvis Bryant challenges her fellow poets to adapt a favorite joke into a poem with meter and rhyme. Enjoy her examples and then post your own joke-turned-poem into the comments section...

Poetry Challenge: ‘My country used to be… ‘

The Society
May 14, 2020
Beauty, Culture, Deconstructing Communism, Poetry, Poetry Challenge, Poetry Contests
51 Comments
  New York poet Joe Tessitore challenges poets to begin a poem with these words:   My country used to be...   Post your poem in the comments section below. (Poems should be...

Homophonic Poetry Challenge

The Society
September 16, 2019
Culture, Humor, Poetry, Poetry Challenge, Poetry Contests
88 Comments
by Joe Tessitore and James A. Tweedie We are issuing a challenge to all poets to create poems that incorporate word homophones. Call it what you like, but we are calling it a Homophonic Poetry Challenge....

ABC Poems: A Poetry Puzzle Challenge

The Society
March 20, 2018
Poetry, Poetry Challenge, Poetry Contests, Popular Poetry Archives
113 Comments
By Amy Foreman A cold and rainy afternoon recently gave rise to this little idea of a poem-puzzle.  I challenged myself to write a poem where each word started with a different letter of the alphabet, in...
  1. C.B. Anderson on ‘A Taste of Northern New England’ and Other Poems by C.B. AndersonMay 28, 2025

    If snakes tasted as good as lobster, I would welcome more into our country. But ....

  2. C.B. Anderson on ‘A Taste of Northern New England’ and Other Poems by C.B. AndersonMay 28, 2025

    Saad is a right smart guy, though I think the whole psychobiology thing is a bit overblown. When it comes…

  3. C.B. Anderson on ‘A Taste of Northern New England’ and Other Poems by C.B. AndersonMay 28, 2025

    My understanding of elephantiasis is that its victims sometimes need to carry their infected scrotum around in a wheelbarrow in…

  4. Cheryl A Corey on ‘Forsythia Fading’: A Poem by Cynthia ErlandsonMay 28, 2025

    Cynthia, "Nothing Gold Can Stay" is one of my favorite poems, but I have to point out that it was…

  5. Cynthia L Erlandson on ‘Forsythia Fading’: A Poem by Cynthia ErlandsonMay 28, 2025

    Thank you so much, Brian! Blossoms, and their brief lives, move me deeply. (Especially yellow ones. :) ) I'm grateful…

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