# They must be mad too... **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [March 25, 2000, 8:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/they-must-be-mad-too/15131 "2000-03-25T08:19:00Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 4\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![MadPoet](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/8c91f0/32.png) [@MadPoet](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MadPoet)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2000, 8:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/they-must-be-mad-too/15131/1 "2000-03-25T08:19:00Z")
So [poety.com](http://poety.com) has this poetry contest where they invite all the wanna-be poets on the web to send in a poem and then they turn it into a big ol book and publish it, then charge 50-70 bucks a copy to the “poets”. Well, this time around I’m one of those “Poets.” 🙂 🙂 🙂 I have no delusions about the contest, but it’s still neat to see that my name is gonna be printed somewheres. They say I’m one of the semi-finalists, so I’ll keep y’all posted on how it goes. If anyone cares, I submitted Icarus: [http://www.madpoet.com/cgi-bin/pscript.pl?icarus](http://www.madpoet.com/cgi-bin/pscript.pl?icarus) because they seem to like symbolic poems, and that is as symbolic as I get. Now I just have to figure out what to submit this time around… * * * [http://www.madpoet.com](http://www.madpoet.com) “I never meant to hurt you,” you said, And buried yourself in lies instead. Next time I would rather be slain, Than forced to bear your mercy again. ---
**Author:** ![Jophiel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jophiel/32/66_2.png) [@Jophiel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jophiel)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2000, 8:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/they-must-be-mad-too/15131/2 "2000-03-25T08:43:00Z")
I remember reading an article about one of these “poetry books” in the newspaper. Basically, the columnist sent in a poem in which every last word in the line was “Pumpkin” as in: I love you, my pumpkin You’re sweet as a pumpkin If desire were a pumpkin, You’d be the pumpkin Suprise, suprise, he was written back to in a form letter saying that his poem was excellent for inclusion into their volume and they were sure he’d want to buy a few copies at $75 a pop for friends and family. Oh, and they’d need for him to buy at least one copy for his poem to be included to cover the printing costs. It’s your $50 I guess, but if you really want to see your name in print, send me $25 and I’ll send you a print out with your name on it 😉 * * * “I guess one person can make a difference, although most of the time they probably shouldn’t.” ---
**Author:** ![MadPoet](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/8c91f0/32.png) [@MadPoet](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MadPoet)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2000, 8:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/they-must-be-mad-too/15131/3 "2000-03-25T08:56:00Z")
I just said I knew it was a scam, don’t deflate my already frail ego! But, no, it’s going in the book whether I send them money or not. According to their little letter. I can pay $25 to tell the world about my poem though. Bleh! * * * [http://www.madpoet.com](http://www.madpoet.com) “I never meant to hurt you,” you said, And buried yourself in lies instead. Next time I would rather be slain, Than forced to bear your mercy again. ---
**Author:** ![sorrel554](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/91b2a8/32.png) [@sorrel554](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sorrel554)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2000, 1:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/they-must-be-mad-too/15131/4 "2000-03-25T13:31:00Z")
Good luck, **MadPoet**!