What to Submit?
1 original, poem on the theme of .............
Any form is acceptable.
Hear the sledges with the bells—
Silver bells!
What a world of merriment their melody foretells!
—Edgar Allen Poe
There are “Jingle Bells,” “Silver Bells,” “The Bells of St. Mary’s,” etc…
*YOUR POEM TITLE MUST BE “BELLS”
—Write a poem about bells. It can be about Christmas, New Year’s, Funereal, Wedding, etc… Besides events there are many other ideas you might find.
—20 lines
—Use YOUR voice, not the examples though they might inspire YOUR imagination.
—Lyrical, rhymes, free verse, couplets, etc…not short forms.
—Be creative but not pedantic. Avoid rhymes with suffixes such as -ment, -ing, -ed. Don’t force rhymes or use a bunch of intellectual words. Read and reread your poems and use resources such as rhymezone. Check your spelling and check that your poem makes sense to your reader. That is not to say there won’t be layers to your meaning.
—Of course, have fun!
Prizes
Glory
Preparing Your Entry
Submit one copy of your poem online. Format your poem. Please make your entry easy to read — no illustrations or fancy fonts.
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.