One-Sided Conversation

I love it!
I could envision an annoyed expression whilst reading this.
I wish to create that same perfect imagery in my poems as well.

Lol, I love this piece, definitely worth the nomination!

I couldn't find the comment that I have written. It's weird. I saw it a few days ago. I can't believe that I may have deleted it with other files. :( I'll try to replicate it.

But what I like about this poem is that I'm seeing passed the humorous aspect. I mean the sole question "How do I enter the weekly contest?" is semi-ambiguous. In the sense that the question, it's not clear. As a reader, I could think that the question could refer to either "how do I participate in the weekly contest?" or "how do I enter my poems in the weekly contest?".

( I have two ways to think about that question).

For one, if I focus on my first interpretation of the question "how do I participate on the weekly contest?" the reply "You don't enter it, someone else has to enter you in it," makes no sense because anyone who has access to this site, in a way, participates in the weekly contest by either: just reading the winners in the front page, participating as a judge, participating as nominators, or by reading the weekly contest threads in the main forums, or by hosting the weekly contest thread, etc... So technically, it doesn't take much to participate in the weekly contest. So based on that, I know that the question "How do I enter the weekly contest?" is not refering to how do I participate per se, rather to "how do I enter my poems in the weekly contest?". Thus, I can deem the reply given "You don't enter it, someone else has to enter you in it" to be somehow the truth.
Because in order for the poems to go into the nomination list, a nominator would have to nominate it. As a member, no one can nominate their own poems. However, there's a thread in "the ask for comments thread" where a member can suggest poems up for nomination and the Mods would consider the suggestions. If the mods deem the poem worth it, the mods nominate it. Hence, either way, the reply given is true. The member can't still enter his own poems in the nomination list. Someone else would have to do it for him.

Though now that I'm clear as to what the poem refers to, I can go ahead and analyze the rest of the stanzas. Thus in the second stanza and the rest of them, I'll think that the question is "how do I enter my poems in the weekly contest?" instead of "how do I enter the weekly contest?."

Second stanza, the reply given was "try commenting on others' poems," and yes, no doubt, commenting on others poems could let other poets know of a member's existence, and often, the commenting can be reciprocated, thus by doing so, the members chances of getting his poems known increases. And if his poems are viewed more, plus if they grab a reader's attention, his chances of someone else nominating his poems would increase. Hence, the reply given was also somehow the truth.

Third stanza, the reply given was " If you help other people they may return the favor," yes, it goes hand in hand with the previous stanza. The word " May" indicates that there's a possibility but that there's a chance that it may not happen. So it's also the truth.

Fourth stanza, the reply given "Are you even listening? comment on others' poems!," this reply shows annoyance.

Fifth stanza, the reply given " Okay, I looked at your poetry, don't hold your breath" this line holds the bitter truth.

Sigh, throughout my comment I have mentioned "somehow the truth," and till the end, the bitter truth. See, When I read this poem, instead of laughing I found myself sad, and a bit frustrated because when I read the poem the reference in the reply " BUT" kept nagging at me, the word "BUT" ( Is it a conjunction or preposition, or something else?) kept indicating to me, that the one asking the question had already done everything that was told and still no use. Why is that? The reply "Ok, I looked at your poetry, don't hold your breath" answers the Why.

I have to look at what the idiom "don't hold your breath" meant, and it means to "not stop breathing waiting for something to happen that won't happen." In other words, the one who replied to him, deems his poetry not worth the nomination. It's sad news for the one asking the question. After all, it's the bitter truth. I mean, if he kept wondering how to enter his poems in the weekly contest? and after trying everything told, he probably wasn't satisfy with the answer because he already had done that, thus he kept asking the same question. Hence, his reply to when he was asked " Are you even listening? ... Yeah, but how do I enter the weekly contest."

On the other hand, I think I can also see the humorous aspect. ( I probably don't lol) Specially due to the title "One-sided conversation". If I understood correctly, the one asking the question only cares about entering his poems in the weekly contest and doesn't listen to anything being said. He wants the easy way. With that type of attitude, he'll get nowhere. Though, It can also be that the one asking the question . . I mean, that that's his way of getting his poems noticed. His insistence is overwhelming. lol
It could go anyway.

I like the poem. Sorry for taking so long to comment. It's hard to write comments. I don't know how people do it so easily.

P.s. Your poem challenged my definition of creativity. I no longer know how to define creativity. Plus it showed me a little bit of how ambiguity can work.

Haha, love it!

I really really like this poem. There's more to this poem than just the humorous aspect. I saved my original comment in my laptop. I know I did. I am searching for it but I don't remember how I saved it. I have a mess in there. :/

I hope I'll find it. If not I'll try to replicate it. I'll be back.