Enter the Global Voices Valentine’s Day poetry contest! · Global Voices
Georgia Popplewell

HERE AT Global Voices we're in love with lots of things: blogging, international friendships, foreign languages, free wi-fi. And there are even some of us on the GV team who don't consider Valentine's Day a cheesy occasion viewed positively only by Americans, florists, chocolatiers and the CEOs of greeting card companies.
So, when — on soliciting suggestions for a way to mark Valentine's Day in these pages — our co-founder Rebecca MacKinnon mentioned a poetry contest she ran on her blog a couple of years ago, we fell so deeply in love with the idea that we decided to steal it for ourselves.
So if you're in the mood for love, or even if you view Valentine's Day (or love) with a jaundiced eye (as we all know, some of the best poetry is born of distress), please take part in our Valentine's Day poetry contest.
CONTEST RULES
- Entries must be in some sort of verse, not necessarily rhyming
- Entries must be no more than 30 lines long
- Entries must in some way have to do with 1) love/Valentine's Day and 2) blogging/citizen media, and have some sort of “regional flavour” (we'll leave it up to you to decide what that means)
- Entries may be submitted in any language, though submissions NOT in English, French, Arabic, Spanish, Russian, Portuguese, Farsi or Mandarin Chinese MUST be accompanied by an English translation
- Entries are open to anyone anywhere in the world, including Global Voices editors, authors and advisory board members
- Entries must be the original work of the entrant and should not have been previously published elsewhere before February 1, 2007
- Entries  and will be moderated according to the guidelines governing all other comments received at Global Voices (ie no hate speech, obscenities etc). Feel free to send in as many as you wish, but please submit only one poem per comment box
- Entries must be posted  on Wednesday 14 February, 2007 to be considered for the contest (please provide a genuine email address)
The winning entries will be showcased on the Global Voices web site.
So what are you waiting on? In some parts of the world it's already Valentine's Day, so get cracking on that haiku/limerick/ghazal/madrigal/sonnet/ode/gangsta rap/elegy about the wonders/joys/perils of love!
UPDATE: The contest is now closed!
Image: A costume component from the “Heart that Sings” section of “The Sacred Heart”, Peter Minshall's 2006 presentation for the Trinidad & Tobago carnival. Courtesy caribbeanfreephoto.