2014 November PAD Chapbook Challenge: Day 13
For today’s prompt, write an optional poem. And no, that does not mean that writing a poem is optional today–I know a few of you were thinking it. No, no,…
For today's prompt, write an optional poem. And no, that does not mean that writing a poem is optional today--I know a few of you were thinking it. No, no, no. No, I'm thinking of how some things in life are completely optional; in fact, most things are. So you have options for today's poem--maybe too many--but can one ever have too many options?
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Write a Poem That Wins $1,000!
Writer’s Digest has extended the deadline to their Writer’s Digest Poetry Awards competition to November 21. As you may have guessed from the bold statement above, the winner will receive $1,000 cash!
The winning poem will also be published in a future issue of Writer’s Digest magazine. And the winning poet will receive a copy of the 2015 Poet’s Market.
Even poets who don’t win can win, because there are prizes for 2nd through 25th place as well.
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Here's my attempt at an Optional poem:
"Options"
He asks, What are my options? I say, You don't want
to know. Give it to me straight, he says. I can take
whatever you got. I ain't got anything you
can take, I say. He says, Level with me, brother.
I'm not your brother, I say. But here you go. Yeah,
he says. You're going to die, I say. He staggers
back and asks, When? Someday, I say. It will happen.
And probably when I least expect it, he says.
The circumstances are not so clear, I say, but
they never are, are they? No, never, he mumbles.
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Robert Lee Brewer is Senior Content Editor of the Writer’s Digest Writing Community and author of the poetry collection, Solving the World’s Problems (Press 53). He edits Poet’s Market, Writer’s Market, and Guide to Self-Publishing, in addition to writing a free weekly WritersMarket.com newsletter and poetry column for Writer’s Digest magazine.
He has plenty of options, and he prefers spending his mornings writing poems. And eating breakfast, because it's the most important meal of the day.
Follow him on Twitter @robertleebrewer.
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Find more poetic goodies here:
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.
