2010 November PAD Chapbook Challenge: Day 12
For today’s prompt, write a “forget what they say” poem. To do this, you could take a familiar saying and spin it on its head. Or comfort someone who’s being…
For today's prompt, write a "forget what they say" poem. To do this, you could take a familiar saying and spin it on its head. Or comfort someone who's being told they can't do something. Or have the narrator of the poem pledge not to listen to the crowd. Or forget what I've said here, and do it your own way.
Here's my attempt:
"Finding a place in line"
We are no better, but we are no worse
than anybody else. We all have blood
beating in our veins. We all wake troubled
or ready to start the day--unless we're
confused, though even then, we get at it:
one leg, then the other, or we just wear
the same clothes, because we have our reasons.
I tell you this not to embarrass us--
look as we hide--but to remind we are
not gods, though sometimes we can't help but feel.
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Learn how to publish your poetry!
Use the 2011 Poet's Market, edited by Robert Lee Brewer (yes, the same one who puts on these challenges). The 2011 Poet's Market is loaded with listings for poetry publications, publishers, contests, and more.

Robert Lee Brewer is Senior Editor of Writer's Digest, which includes managing the content on WritersDigest.com and programming virtual conferences. He's the author of 40 Plot Twist Prompts for Writers: Writing Ideas for Bending Stories in New Directions, The Complete Guide of Poetic Forms: 100+ Poetic Form Definitions and Examples for Poets, Poem-a-Day: 365 Poetry Writing Prompts for a Year of Poeming, and more. Also, he's the editor of Writer's Market, Poet's Market, and Guide to Literary Agents. Follow him on Twitter @robertleebrewer.