In a way, I take full responsibility for it.
At my day job at MyJewishLearning, we were planning the calendar events of the Jewish year. Some of us were reaching, and some of us were showing off just a little bit. Famed JCarrot blogger Tamar Fox just happened to know when National Blueberry Month was, leaving the rest of our jaws dropping to the floor. As far as cool holidays go, this set the bar.
My best effort to come close was Bad Poetry Day. It’s celebrated every August 18, and has inspired events around the world, the most famous of which — so far, anyway — is Columbia University’s Joyce Kilmer Poetry Contest (named, not for the New Jersey Turnpike rest stop, but for the man who wrote “I think that I shall never see/A poem lovely as a tree”).
But we’re here to change that. Jews are known for writing good poetry — some really good poetry, from the Song of Songs to Leonard Cohen’s “Hallelujah,” to the awesome Hasidic poetry slam in Crown Heights.
Well, Jewish world — here’s your new goal.

See if you can beat the Vogons at poetry. Then send it to [email protected]. And you could win very not-bad prizes, including an iPod, a bunch of JDub CDs, new books from Jewish Publication Society, and a rubber chicken. Just make sure you get it in by August 11…or else someone who’s not nearly as bad as you might take steal your title as Worst Jewish Poet Ever.