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Billie Preston’s prize winning poem from the
Poetry Society of Texas, July Conference
The Poetry Contest
Aunt Alice always said I was poetic
And I put great stock in whatever Aunt Alice said
So I painfully began my life as a poet____
Actually in the cellar where my mother always took us
Because of her paranoia of storms and coincidentally
The discarded backless literature book lay encellared.
It was there I dissected the poems of the masters
Substituting my own words interspersed at irregular intervals.
It plagued Mrs Matthews to see my entry of
Such a rendition in the Freshman Class Poetry Contest
Her red-
Flashed out at me like neon lights -
Willa Hinds won– Who cares, anyway?
So I spilled soda pop all over her paper.
Being justly vindicated, I deserted the art of poetry
Until later in my life, only to reappear
In the State Poetry Society of Texas Yearbook Contest
I practiced diligently, submitting to magazine contests___
Using entries from last year’s winners of the PST Yearbook contest
Freely interspersing my own words at irregular intervals.
The many rejection slips left me somewhat rejected
And I spilled coffee all over Fannie Mae Doogle’s first place poem.
Resilient, I secretly submitted to a rather unusual contest
Sponsored by a state congressman, trying a one-
Ultimately, I was both ecstatic and gratified to read:
Congratulations, you have been awarded Honorable Mention
In our contest for: “The Most Plagiarized Poem”.
©2008 Billie Preston