Guest-posted by Mary for The Hundred-Character Poem Challenge.
F I N D I N G T H E
Q X M E A N I N G C
I N T H E M I D S T
G K B U O F M S V I
G F S O P U V L W Q
J L C H A O S E E F
O B C L E D S O r A
T H E M E A N I N G
T V B L X D L E S S
I S G C P O E T R Y
I a m e x p o s e d
f r o z e n c o l d
w i t h f e a r o f
a r e j e c t i o n
I t h i n k i t i s
i m p o s s i b l e
a l w a y s f e l t
i m p r o b a b l e
B u t w h a t d o I
k n o w O n w a r d
I am exposed,
frozen cold,
with fear of
a rejection.I think it is
impossible;
always felt
improbable.But what do I
know? Onward!
I w a s r e a d y t
o w r i t e y o u a
p o e m B u t n o p
r e t t y w o r d s
c a m e t o m y m i
n d I a m b i c p e
n t a m e t e r n o
w h e r e B u t o h
l o o k m y s y l l
a b l e s a d d u p
I was ready to write you a poem,
But no pretty words came to my mind;
Iambic pentameter nowhere;
But oh, look: my syllables add up!
“Correct me if I’m wrong, but are you asking for a challenge?”
The challenge is to write a poem that is made up of exactly one hundred characters. You are only allowed to use letters of the alphabet; no punctuation or spaces or numbers or anything of that nature.
Ideally, poems should be submitted as ten lines with ten characters on each line. Neither the deadline nor method of judging has yet been determined, but extra points will be awarded for rhyme, meter, and general cleverness.
There is an official entry form if you want to submit your entry by post or distribute the challenge around you school or place of work. That would be just plain cool.