Vocal Has a Poetry Community

I don't even pretend to be a poet nor do I have any aspirations in that direction with my writings. My knowledge of poetry runs about as deep as my knowledge of crochet. However even I recognize the absurdity of trying to apply a minimum word count to works of poetry. Can you imagine if such a thing were the normal standard of practice in poetry throughout history? If not, fear not, I shall imagine it for you. See below.

Sorry Percy Shelley's Ozymandias - 99 words

The king of kings would never have been and neither would that excellent Breaking Bad episode with the title of the poem, and sure he was probably the weakest character in Watchmen but still, Watchmen dude. Watchmen. Thank you for your submission Percy Shelley but your poem does not meet the 100 word count minimum for publication on Vocal.media poetry page please expand upon your ideas and resubmit.

Sayonara Robert Frost's Fire and Ice - 43 words

Some say the world will end in fire, some say in ice, others say when private entities implement censorship policies that slowly begin to creep into the public sphere until the world becomes a dark dystopian nightmare where arrests and torture for speaking your mind become commonplace until the people decide to rise up only to be brutally repressed by the censors resulting in a total world war and the end of humanity as we know it. At least some people say that. Not sure who. But they definitely say it in at least 600 words, if they hope to see it published on Vocal.media. Unless it is a poem, then they could say it in 100 words or more. But who decides what is poetry and what is not? Who decides what is fresh meat, and what is rot? Surely, someone from this spot, or perhaps not, perhaps not.

Beat It John Donne's No Man Is an Island - 69 words

It may be a 400 year old masterpiece but it is less than 100 words. So sorry, but apparently the bell tolls for thee Mr. Donne. Please expand upon your ideas and resubmit.

Nice try but so sorry Ogden Nash's A Word to Husbands - 18 words

To keep your writings brimming

With tips in the Vocal cup,

100 words or more, submit it

100 words or less, shut up

Please expand upon your ideas and resubmit.

Good luck with that Strickland Gillilan's Lines on the Antiquity of Microbes (also known as Fleas) - 3 words

100.

Need ’em

Get Lost and don't come back Dr. Seuss's Green Eggs & Ham - 55 words

I do not like them at 100 words or less. Sorry, please expand upon your ideas and resubmit, Sam.

Author's disclaimer: Publication of my works on Vocal.media do not represent in any way an endorsement of their outrageous and unjust censorship policies. I do not support those policies and in fact find them absurd, abhorrent, and an affront to free societies everywhere. Thank you for reading my works here, but know they are published under conditions in which freedom of expression is being restricted. Therefore, any works of mine you read in these pages will not reflect the full range of my interests and certain topics will be by necessity greatly minimized or entirely absent. Please accept my sincere apologies on behalf of the editors and moderators of Vocal. Since they won't do it for themselves I will do it for them. You can read my original post explaining my position here. And, for the record, despite some softening of policies and rhetoric from Vocal.media make no mistake, this is still a heavily censored web-site.