The Poetry of Brian Langley
Poetry Competitions are
common around the world and when the results are announced
there is always comment as to the judging standard.
The rules haven't been followed they say,
It strikes me as just a little "sour grapes" that it is never the winner who complains.
Perhaps those who do
complain have forgotten that one "Golden Rule"
that you can read in my booklet "Driving in the Outback"
There’s been some controversy
About the written verse
Improper punctuation
And other things much worse
The rules have not been followed
Or so some critics say
There’s inconsistent judging
In every kind of way.
There’s syllables not counted
There’s accents out of sync
The judges they have got it wrong
Or so some people think
Are rules so set in concrete?
That there’s no room to move
Should each and every poem
Fit in a common groove.
If so, we’d find them boring
They’d all read just the same
We wouldn’t care who wrote them
They wouldn’t need a name
ooooooooo
© B Langley Jan 6 2006