2017 Poetry Contest!

At last! After a break that was three years too long it is time for a new Poetry Contest! (But, you know, I had good reasons...like sewing for a fashion show, and moving...)

Anyway... Today is April first and, as you all know, April is National Poetry Month and, as I already told you a few weeks ago, my birthday is in April! This means it is time for the annual (almost annual) Loralee's Fancy Poetry Contest!  Yaaaayyyy!!! 

If you want to read poems from the past you can look here (2013),
and here (2012),
and here (2011),
and here (2010),
and, for the one that started it all, here (2009).

BUT If you want to live in the present and submit a whole new poem, written by your very own self––with the promise of fabulous prizes to come––then now is the time to learn about the new 2017 contest! Hooray!

This year's challenge, in keeping with my childish birthday wish for dolls and story books, is to write your very own nursery rhyme. I'm sure you are familiar with nursery rhymes, but here's a couple of examples:

Little Bo Peep
has lost her sheep
and doesn't know where to find them.
Leave them alone
and they'll come home
wagging their tails behind them.

Humpty Dumpty sat on a wall,
Humpty Dumpty had a great fall.
All the king's horses and all the king's men
Couldn't put Humpty Dumpty together again.



So, basically a nursery rhyme is a very short story that is told using rhyme and meter, and only takes four to eight lines to tell. (For more in-depth instructions and some examples, click here.)


Your 2017 Poetry Challenge, then, is to write a clever nursery rhyme for me.
* It must have a clear, although simple, story to tell (like a little girl wasn't able to find her sheep).
* It must be between four and eight lines long.
* It should have an A A B B  rhyming scheme (like Humpty Dumpty),
or an A A C B B C rhyme scheme (like Little Bo Peep). 
* POST YOUR WONDERFUL RHYME AS A COMMENT ON THIS VERY BLOG POST. (Just click on "Comments" and type your way to poetic perfection. Make sure your name shows up with it.)
* All entries are due on Sunday, April 9, by 7:30 p.m.

The contest will have two divisions: the Children's Division, for anyone up to twelve years old, and the Everyone Else Division, for everyone older than twelve years old. You may enter as many poems as you like.
The winner of the Children's Division will receive a lovely certificate and a large-size candy of their choice.
The winner of the Everyone Else Division will receive a lovely certificate and a delicious home-made dessert, prepared by my own lily hands;

* Winners will be posted on April 10 (my birthday!). *

So enter! Enter lots of poems! Enter many times! Tell your friends, and your children, and your friends' children to enter! Call it a birthday present to me. ;-) Or just think of the fabulous prizes. Or, hey! Just do it for fun!

I can't wait to see your amazing nursery rhymes!