Poetry Contest

My mother explained to me that the poetry contest for the community college was just a minor stepping stone, and that I shouldn't place much emphasis on it nor any much energy.

I guess I just don't see it that way. My Creative Writing Professor praised my latest poem, called: "Paresthesia," even though he never said much in person about my two short stories. I decided that I would enter the poetry contest again in the spring. Who knows? Maybe if I win two years in a row, I can call myself a "poet" without inducing an ironic gag in myself whenever I say it like trying to swallow a bitter Norco pill without water.