#BadPoetryDay

Bad Poetry Day is celebrated on August 18, and the only rule is that the poem has to be awful on purpose. That makes it one of the easiest hashtag holidays to join, because there is no skill barrier. If you can rhyme "cat" with "hat" and then force a third line that does not fit, you are qualified to post under #BadPoetryDay.

Why Bad Poetry Is So Much Fun

Terrible verse has a long and proud history. The Scottish poet William McGonagall is often called the worst poet in the English language, and his 1880 poem "The Tay Bridge Disaster" is still read aloud today because of how badly it scans. Fiction joined in too: in The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, Vogon poetry is described as the third worst in the universe and is used as a form of torture. The joke works because everyone knows what a good poem is supposed to sound like, so a clumsy one lands right away.

How to Write a Truly Bad Poem

• Pick a subject that does not deserve a poem: a stapler, a parking ticket, leftover rice.
• Force the rhyme. Bend the sentence into an unnatural shape so the last word fits.
• Ignore the rhythm. One line of four syllables followed by one of nineteen is ideal.
• Add a dramatic metaphor that falls apart halfway through.
• End suddenly, or with a moral that has nothing to do with the rest.

Post Ideas for #BadPoetryDay

Read your poem on camera with a completely serious face. The deadpan delivery is what makes these videos work on TikTok and Reels. Teachers and librarians can run a classroom or branch contest and post the winners. Brands can write an ode to their own product (a limerick about a sandwich or a haiku with the wrong syllable count is on-brand and harmless). Bookstores and writing groups can ask followers to reply with a two-line poem and share the worst ones.

Hashtags to Pair With It

Use #BadPoetryDay with #NationalBadPoetryDay, then add broader tags such as #Poetry, #PoetryCommunity, #WritingCommunity or #Limerick so the post reaches people who follow writing content all year. On TikTok, #BookTok can work if your account already posts about books.

Frequently Asked Questions

When is Bad Poetry Day? August 18 each year.

Does the poem have to rhyme? No. Bad free verse, bad haiku and bad limericks all count.

Is it okay to share someone else's bad poem? Stick to your own. The day is about laughing at yourself, not at another writer.