One must compete where loss is served
more often than the win;
like tennis players,
peers in their power,
vying to beat the best.
As gamblers test their nerve
against the fifty-two -- no tells,
a card finds flush,
lands out of straight,
and fortunes fall or rise.
Some sculpt sonnets,
hew haiku, lay out limericks,
venture a villanelle,
or paint a portrait in prose,
positioning for approval.
Meter meets format,
alliterative allusions align,
rhyme and rhythm are read
by presumed impartial peers,
and favor found.
Competition
leads
to
a
more
perfect poet.
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