Ode to Ordinary

The Prompt

At the beginning of the year, we hosted the Uncommon Poetry Challenge. Now, it's time to embrace the opposite: the ordinary. This poetry challenge prompts you to pause and appreciate the unsung heroes that add value to your daily life — to find beauty in the most mundane. From the reliable old toaster that browns your bread each morning, to the humble pen that captures your thoughts, or the warped key that opens your home - we invite you to bring these everyday items to life in verse.

An ode is a form of lyrical poetry traditionally used for expressions of praise. It's about shifting perspectives, unearthing depth and complexity in the simplest of things. Entries can range from humorous to sentimental, abstract to concrete, as long as they embody the spirit of celebrating the ordinary.

In order for your submission to qualify, it must be:

The Prizes

• Grand Prize: $500
• Second Place: $200
• 10 Runners-Up: $50

For your poem to be eligible, it should be submitted to the Poets Community, and adhere to our Community Guidelines. Poems published on Vocal and entered into the contest up until August 10, 2023, at 11:59 PM ET will be entered for consideration. Official Rules for the Challenge can be found here.

The Ode to Ordinary Challenge is exclusive to Vocal+ members. To learn more and upgrade to Vocal+ visit https://vocal.media/vocal-plus.

To be eligible to win the grand prize, second place, or runners-up prizes, you must be over the age of 13 and residing in a country where Stripe is available at the time of entry. A complete list of countries where Stripe is available can be found here—winners will need to have a Stripe account created and connected in order to receive the prizes. For this reason, entrants located outside of any of these countries will not be eligible to win.