The Only Contest in Canyon Where Being the Worst Makes You the Best

When was the last time you thought about poetry in the Amarillo area? Let's face it, even though I write all of the time, it's never in the form of a poem. I used to love writing poetry, but that was back in high school.

I even tried my hand at it a bit in college. I was bad at it. Does it have to rhyme? Can it be longer than a few stanzas? What makes good poetry these days? Or, I guess more importantly, what makes bad poetry?

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That is the question that we want to get answered because West Texas A&M is bringing back the contest where the worst your poetry is, the better.

The Bad Poetry Contest is happening on April 7 at 7 p.m. in the Sybil B. Harrington Fine Arts Complex Recital Hall on WT’s Canyon campus. So if you are bad at poetry, this is your chance to prove it.

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Yes, writing poetry, as it turns out, was not my strong point. I do know that it wasn't award-winning bad, and luckily, anything I wrote while at Canyon High School back in the 1990s is long gone.

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You can still join in the fun. You can write something new or resurrect your most cringeworthy verses from years past. Either way, bring it with you and see how your bad stacks up against others.

Even if you are not all about writing poetry, but you would love to hear some horrible work of art, this is for you. Audience members are welcome too. All you need is some time to sit and try to get through all of the bad writing.

Something tells me, bad poetry or not, this is going to be a lot of fun. It's going to be something that will keep everyone laughing at how outlandishly bad it can get.

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Gallery Credit: Lori Crofford

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