A while back I entered a poetry contest. By "a while back" I mean over a year ago. November, 2006. How things were different back then...
Anyway, I didn't expect anything to come from it, in fact, the poem I submitted I wrote on the spot in the little box they give you to copy and paste in your poem. I didn't even email a copy of it to myself or jot it down on a sticky note or napkin. I just filled in the blanks.
About nine months later I got a letter inviting me to a reception in.....Reno Nevada (yeah, classy). Apparently I had submitted one of the "better poems." I ignored it for several reasons. Beside the fact that I was 48% sure it was fake, it was over $500 to go (not including plane tickets) but it was in RENO NEVADA. Who the hell has poetry award ceremonies in RENO?!
A week after this packet (colored brochure included) I got an email containing - you guessed it - my poem. They wanted to include it in the book they make every year, because of its "better poem" status. I reread it, and actually sort of liked it. It's sad, but not the most depressing thing ever, and since I wasn't really putting much effort into the whole process of writing it, I was pretty happy the the result. All I needed to do was to mail a copy of the poem with any changes in case of any typos in order for it to be included in the book. The ultimate question was, however, would I pay the $24.95 to have my very own copy?
Why yes, yes I would.
I am slightly ashamed to admit that I truly wanted to receive this bound copy of the book, but what can I say, it sounded cool!
Well. Guess what?
Fake. Completely fake.
Am I mad at the people who organized it and took advantage of naive teenagers (I found this listing on Fastweb, the scholarship search engine) who merely wanted money for college and maybe just a little affirmation of their perceived talent?
Yes. Obviously.
But even more than that, I simply feel like an idiot for believing that it was real. After all, Reno????
I'd heard of people being taken by scams (former Nigerian dictator, fake lottery winners) but did I ever think that I would be one of them? No, of course not. After all, I'm smart and would see right through those kind of things.
Ha.
So to usher in April I thought I would post a poem to commemorate my story, and hopefully (although, probably not realistically) redeem myself.
THE poem, in fact.
Everything Else
I sit here wondering about things.
My attention flutters from Christmas trees
To garden gnomes and their funny hats.
But never to you, never.
I never think about your face or the way you walk.
Or how I wish to say...
Nothing.
I wish to say nothing because I don't think of you
I think of everything else, because
What else would I think of?
The sound of your laugh,
Or the exact color of your eyes?
No, I sit here alone,
Without you,
Thinking about rubber ducks and lamp shades and rain.
And everything, anything else,
But you.
1 comment:
this totally happened to me. i think it was freshman year of high school i entered a poetry contest and they told me about a poetry ceremony in orlando and how i would receive a trophy and a book with a whole page dedicated to my poetry. but, the trip to orlando would cost $500 (like your reno trip) and the book and trophy weren't included.
so, i figured out it was a scam and i stil get random e-mails from them
LAME!
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