Poetry Contest

Poetry Contest
I once entered a poetry contest and lost
I thought the poem was good, that I would be able to boast
My friends supported my opinion about the poem, it was great, it was the best
The poem was submitted with such certainty and hope
That it would win first place, it was submitted at my friend’s behest
But, it lacked a certain flair, certain words did not make it better, nope
At the time of submission, my mind was muddled by the offered prize
The prize was big, bigger than I have ever seen, it was of great size
It didn’t matter that the poem was really lousy, it didn’t make sense
I was looking at the poem as an astronomer looks at the stars, through a lense
Only certain words mattered, the ones found buried in a dictionary
The big words that only poets could understand
Everything else about the poem was inhibitory
An everyday person reading the poem, the words could not withstand
However, reading the poem people did
To criticize it.  I read the criticisms and hid
This is how to lose a poetry contest
Write a lousy poem thinking it was good, thinking it was the best