Gloating

I apologize blog-sphere, but I am going to fill this blog post with shameless bragging.

Recently I joined an online community of poets in order to find a social group where being a poet doesn't equal being lame. Since most people, including immediate family, do not know or have never read any of my poetry, I felt that my poetry has been sadly neglected for many years. I decided to pursue finding a more public outlet for my pieces, and very soon after making this decisions I created a profile on allpoetry.com. Along with being able to publish my poetry, allpoetry.com also offers many contests every month. Since I had recently joined the community, I got an invitation to join December's new member poetry contest, and I decided to enter.
I had originally intended to simply enter one of the poems that I have already written, but after reading the rules for the contest I found that none of the poems I already have would qualify. I began writing a new poem, one which would fit the guidelines for the contest, and several days later, I published this poem in the new member's poetry contest.

Immediately, I began getting messages praising the poem I had written, and although I found this to be very flattering, I didn't think much of the contest after that. Much to my surprise, the next time I logged in, there was a message in my inbox telling me that I had placed third in the contest! There were over 100 poems entered into the contest, and I had won the bronze medal! Along with the prize, I found out that an anonymous site member had purchased for me a six-month gold membership to the site, a subscription which was worth over $80! The only thing he or she asked in return for the membership was the request that I enter at least one contest every month. I was ecstatic! This contest has been the only poetry competition I have ever entered, and I was very well received!

Overall, allpoetry.com has provided me with a new outlet for my poetry, and a new source of inspiration. I am extremely happy that I decided to join this poetry community, and I'm sure that it will continue to feed my creativity for months to come.

If you would like to check out my winning piece, follow this link: (December Bride)