Five Ways to Celebrate Bad Poetry Day

August 18^th is Bad Poetry Day. Bad Poetry Day is always celebrated on August 18^th. The holiday was created by WellCat.com. WellCat is a company devoted to the medicinal uses of herbs and spices. They have created holidays in order for people to realize reasons they should celebrate life.

Bad Poetry Day also gives people the opportunity to learn a new vocabulary word. That word is doggerel. Merriam-Webster's Learner's Dictionary defines it as " poetry that is poorly written and that often is not meant to be taken seriously."

While Bad Poetry Day is not an official national holiday, it is a copyrighted holiday. Wellcat says that this is a change to "get back" at your high school teacher for having to study "good poetry." You are supposed to gather with your friends from high school, write bad poetry together, and then send it to your high school English teacher.

However, you can celebrate this holiday in other ways.

Read Bad Poetry

There is no limit to bad poetry that can be found anywhere. Some people have managed to publish terrible poetry. One book that comes to mind is "The Iconoclast." Don't seek it out, but if your local library has a copy, find it and read it. Of course, the Internet is full of bad poetry. There are even sites devoted to bad poetry. All you have to do is search for "bad poetry" and there will be plenty of sites.

Write Bad Poetry by Yourself

Writing bad poetry by yourself is easy. It doesn't have to have any rhyme, rhythm, or theme. This is because it is bad poetry. It can have those things, though. Put in bad words, terrible jokes, terrible puns, bad grammar, and misspelled words and other parts that make it bad.

Write Bad Poetry with Friends

Writing bad poetry with friends can be fun. There is even a website where you can make "friends" and write bad poetry. It is known as MC5. There are two types of poems being written there. They are "Limericks" and "Glow Worms."

In "Limericks," a line of a limerick is written one at a time by each person so there is no idea of how the poem may end. The only rules are that they are not too childish and they follow the rhyming pattern and meter of a limerick. A fairy recent result of this game is:

My life has been turned upside down

In my new job as "famed Head-stand Clown."

The blood to my head rushes

Which gives me hot flushes

Which at least bring some kind of renown.

In "Glow Worms," each line is written one at a time by a different person. The poem is four lines (a quatrain) in which the last word of the second and fourth line rhyme. The name "Glow Worms" is taken from the following anonymous poem known by many:

I wish I was a glow worm.

A glow worm's never glum.

A glow worm's never grumpy

'Cause the sun shines out his bum.

Sometimes they are also known as "Peas and Honey Recipes." This name comes from the well-known anonymous poem that follows:

I always eat my peas with honey.

I have done it all my life.

It makes the peas taste rather funny,

But it keeps them on the knife.

A recent "Glow Worm" from MC5 was one in which people tried to make a word puzzle in poem form. They did find an answer, but they were not sure if it would work. The result of the poem follows:

My first appears in sun and rain,

The next in ears and nose,

My third in fourth but not in fifth,

My fourth in drawers not hose.

Can you figure out what answer works?

Recite Bad Poetry

Reciting bad poetry is easy. All you need to do is read at least one bad poem. You can also recite a bad poem that you have written. Then go up to people and let them know you would like to recite a poem. Continue by either first reciting the poem or giving an introduction that this poem is one you are reciting in honor of the fact that it is bad poetry day.

Force People to Read Bad Poetry

While it is not easy to actually force people to read bad poetry, you can trick some people into reading it. Ask for criticism on your poetry. Of course, you know it is bad poetry. It can be funny to watch people who do not want to be mean try to critique bad poetry. Have fun watching these people squirm and then tell them that it is bad poetry day and watch them sigh in relief!

Sources:

August 18 Holiday Bad Poetry Day at Holiday Insights. (n.d.). Holiday Insights August, 2011 Holiday fun, about holidays, Left Handers Day . Retrieved August 4, 2011, from http://www.holidayinsights.com/moreholidays/August/badpoetryday.htm

Merriam-Webster's Learner's Dictionary. (n.d.). Merriam-Webster's Learner's Dictionary . Retrieved August 4, 2011, from http://www.learnersdictionary.com/search/doggerel

Roy, T., & Roy, R. (n.d.). Bad Poetry Day. Wellcat.com . Retrieved August 4, 2011, from http://www.wellcat.com/august/bad_poetry_day.htm

Roy, T., & Roy, R. (n.d.). Wellcat.com. Wellcat.com . Retrieved August 4, 2011, from http://www.wellcat.com/

mc5. (n.d.). Holding page . Retrieved August 4, 2011, from http://www.rab.org.uk/mc/