It’s not the end of the world
Its not the end of the world that my poems were not selected. Its just a learning curve. I entered the competitions not because I thought my poems were amazing and that I would win. I did it because you just never know do you.
The first poetry competition I entered was for button poetry. I got rejected but rightly so as my poetry is nowhere near that caliber of poetry. I got rejected from an online publication that had a competition for poetry on Mental Health. I entered 3 of my poems as there was no entry fee so I thought why not?
I know my poetry needs work but at the same time I thought I would try it to get over my fear of rejection. To not make such a big deal out of entering. If anyone is allowed to enter why should I not?
Okay so I didn’t do any research into the background of the people judging them but If I had I might not have entered at all. Every poet I’ve read is different in so many ways. There are people out there who love modern Instagram poetry. Whilst others like the classic poets of old. There are poets like myself experimenting until I find my style.
I could waste my money on the lottery each week and have nothing to gain. If I enter poetry competitions and have to pay an entry fee then I have a chance of getting picked or getting a rejection letter.
To be honest I’m not sure what I would love most, winning the lottery or having a poem published. I think right now I’d like to have one of my poems win a competition. That for me would feel like a lottery win. It’s not the reason why I started writing poetry but It would be a great bonus and make me smile a whole lot more.