Is there any reason a poem can NOT be a story as well???

[Flesh_4_Fantasy]

I have been posting stories/poems here since May 2010, but have only recently been frequenting the forum. It's only about a week ago that I saw how to enter the Halloween contest so I missed out when I posted a very apropos story earlier in the month: Them Black Eyes of Hers. I did not know to include the magic phrase in the Notes field when submitting.

Since the ship had already sailed for the prose piece, I decided to enter a poem: True Story. That piece was released onto the site today, but I can't find it listed on the contest link. Would it have failed to be entered in the contest based on category (Non-Erotic Poem) or is there a lag between posting to the site and getting linked on the list of entries?

I've not received any notice advising me that it didn't meet contest criteria...

Form aside... The narrative is telling a story. I noted that at least 18 editorial views occurred before the piece was accepted to the general board. I thought perhaps there would be a decision to include or exclude based solely on form. It would be nice to know definitively if the exclusion were based on prose -vs - verse.

I'm aware it was a calculated risk to submit in the form which I did, but I also feel that necessary story elements are all in place...

I'm awaiting a PM reply from the powers that be which will hopefully clarify the matter.

What is the opinion of LE's practicing poets: can verse tell a story as well as prose?

Or better?

 

[Angeline]

Sure it can. A poem can be narrative and tell a story. A poem can also tell a story with metaphors and implications, without being directly narrative--at least imho it can. My guess is that your poem is not long enough to qualify for the contest. Lit distinguishes poems from stories by number of words (hey it's not my definition), so unless your poem is x words long (not sure how many, but you can find out in the faqs here), it's not considered a "story." I do know that one of our poets here, champagne1982, once entered the Halloween contest with a poem, but it was an epic, long enough to make the "story" quota.

Well there can also certainly be a lag between entry and posting, but you definitely submitted it for the contest, right? Even if your poem were long enough, if you did not specifically submit it as a contest entry, it wouldn't matter how you categorized it.

 

[Flesh_4_Fantasy]

It's 785 words, I believe the minimum is 750 words...

And I did paste the "magic phrase," HALLOWEEN STORY CONTEST 2011, into the notes field. I'm very curious to find out the reason it didn't make it onto the field of entries. NOT that I'm betting on it placing, but I thought it might be nice to make a showing in the contest with something a bit unexpected.

 

[Flesh_4_Fantasy]

Hmmm... My humble offering had gotten one vote of 5 yesterday before I'd even checked in and seen it had posted. While I slept last night it garnered another vote - a 2. (???)

Thank you for the support, Kind Readers.

Meanwhile, I've not heard back regarding my PM. Doesn't look like True Story will make it intro the contest after all.

 

[champagne1982]

Hmmm... My humble offering had gotten one vote of 5 yesterday before I'd even checked in and seen it had posted. While I slept last night it garnered another vote - a 2. (???)

Thank you for the support, Kind Readers.

Meanwhile, I've not heard back regarding my PM. Doesn't look like True Story will make it intro the contest after all.

After arguing the fact that my poem, Halloween Bill meets the requirements of the story section, it was posted far too late to even advertise that I'd entered. Ahh, such is the frivolous muse of Hanky-Panky. She comes and goes on the whims of the mysterious Literotica editorial staff.

I'm off to read yours...

 

[bronzeage]

I have often been told my poems are stories. I believe this because most people can understand what I write. At least that is my goal and if someone calls it "text", I assume they read it, which is all I really want.