Years ago, when I was a new mother with a mild case of post partum blues and a great dose of homesickness, I wrote this poem –
SILENCE
Memories flowed
like a swollen stream
drowning the mind
with long forgotten pains
refreshing the soul
with joys back again.
Music once unheard
echoes clear
in the heart once burned with cares.
Thoughts gather and are lost,
they are distilled in a moment’s pause.
Convinced that I wrote the magnum opus of my life and that the world would be a much better place if it read my poem, I entered it in a so-called poetry competition hosted by Poetry.com. Boy! Was I glad when my poem was chosen a finalist. I was so glad, and even proud, in fact, that I did not blink when they told me that I had to cough up $50.00 to have that poem published in a book, Timeless Voices, when $50.00 was a fortune for a struggling couple like us. And more if I wanted to have my profile on the book.
After I sent in the money, I worried that the whole thing was a ruse. There were publication delays and I did not get the book on time. But I got it alright. My work was on the first page. How wonderful that was! Weeks and months later, I got other invitations for my poem to be published by London-based Noble House, or something. I also received invitations to join a poetry conference in Las Vegas where Ruben Studdard would be the guest entertainer. Woohoo! I had to decline each invitation. Sigh. I had no money.
A couple of years later, I visited the site again. It was down, closed by the Better Business Bureau for running a scam. My husband did warn me though. “Don’t rain on my parade,” was my reply.
Shh….Let it not be said I placed my confidence on the con man.
———————————
I have long wanted to write about this experience but somehow, it always got shelved for one reason or another. The other day, I learned that April is National Poetry Month and I was motivated to write about my Poetry scam experience again. Now, I thought that I would not be able to join Trifecta this week because the new prompt is rather difficult. Then I realized that the theme of my anecdote jives perfectly with this week’s prompt – ‘Confidence’ , i.e., 3 a: a relation of trust or intimacy
b : reliance on another’s discretion c : support especially in a legislative body.
I hope the Trifecta gang will not mind me linking a non-fiction. If this does not meet their criteria, I will not mind this being deleted from the links, or me being summoned into the ‘office’. 😀 Just a thought. If this lack of inspiration continues, I might just have a biography from all the prompts. 🙂
Thank you all for dropping by. Your comments are much appreciated. Please head over to
Trifecta: Week Twenty-Four
for some great writing.
~Imelda
Yes unfortunately they took advantage of a lot of people.
For what its worth, I think it was a great one! You kept the theme going and the contrast (burning) was well placed. 🙂
Thank you for visiting and the kind comment. 🙂 The blues and desire for affirmation just do not go together. :-))
You might be interested in this website, which might be useful to others as well, that exposes and warns writers against all sorts of writing scams, and disreputable publishers and agents too. Here it is for anyone who might be interested:
http://accrispin.blogspot.com/
http://www.sfwa.org/for-authors/writer-beware/
As well as this other website here:
http://pred-ed.com/
I hope these resources will be helpful to you and to others in avoiding scams.
I just wanted to share them here because I thought of them immediately after I read this story. I hope you never go through such an experience ever again, and that this serves as a warning to all writers out there.
Just noted those sites down, Scriptor – Having a look today. Thanks!
Thank you for dropping by and for these links, Scriptor. They are very handy. I am glad I only parted with $50.00 and had not much more to spare then. :-))
This was a great story on a lesson learned the hard way (aren’t they all really learned that way?)! I am sorry that it happened to you, though! I don’t think Trifecta limits writing to fiction — there have been many pieces of nonfiction linked! Nice response to the challenge, Imelda!
Thank you for dropping by and the kind words, Sandra. As I told Scriptor, I was glad to part with only $50.00. I knew of others who parted with their life savings – not through Poetry.com though. 😛
It’s so easy to get sucked into a scam like that, so don’t feel bad. I just read another nonfiction story earlier tonight, so I think you’ll escape a visit to the Trifecta offices this week 🙂
Thank you Janna for visiting and the comment. I am very glad to escape Trifecta discipline this time around. 😉
One of those “lessons learned” stories – I have too many of them. I enjoyed reading this.
One other lesson I learned is to trust my husband more. 😉 Thank you for dropping by and the comment.
A good read and a good lesson! thanks.
Thanks for visiting and the nice words. And welcome. If people escape some folly because they see its result through me, then my folly was not for naught. 😉 🙂
I thought this was really well written! I think its great when people can gently poke fun at themselves. So I liked how you said you thought the world would be a better place if people read your poem. ;). That was cute. And what the heck, 50 bucks and you ended up with a good story. Right?
Thank you for this comment. Yeah, $50.00 and I have a book to show for my effort and pretend that I was published, right? Not too bad. :-))
Once again, I am sorry for the lateness of this reply. WP filed your comment in the spam category. And I don’t know why.
That is words for thought truly. Inspiring read.
Thank you, Ruby, for dropping by and the nice words. 🙂
Ouch. What a painful lesson to have to learn, even if it wasn’t really *that* much money.
Ouch indeed. 🙂
No trip to the office for you. We accept non fiction. Stick to the word restraints and the third definition and you’re golden.
Thanks for playing. We’ll see you back for the weekend prompt. We hope, anyway.