The National Poetry Competition sucks,
I tell myself this morning,
Each year I fail to write to their quality.
***
Is it my style that the judges despise,
Is it the occasional spelling mistake,
That my dyslexia may arise.
***
Whatever it is I know this is true,
Each year that I fail,
I end up more bruised.
***
What am I trying to set out to prove,
Who am I trying to prove it to,
Why is this so important to me?
***
I woke up this morning to that email,
That made me feel insignificant and small,
Proving I’m not a poet at all.
***
There are two possible reasons for this,
Either the system is broken,
Or the poetry I write is not working.
***
Poetry suffers from the same,
Insular small minded behaviour,
All writing communities do.
***
Of course the other issue could be true,
A mediocre, half baked poetry writer,
Is all I seem to be,
***
At what point did I start writing,
Poetry to be noticed,
Rather than poetry for me?
***
Whatever the case,
I don’t like this place,
I don’t think this competition is for me.

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