Today’s poetry exists as a challenge extended to the very existence of prose. It is a literature without rules or regulations, forged by guidelines which can be whittled away to taste. In being a summons to leave behind former education on the subject, it is a test of nerve. Gauntlet Poetry embodies this cause and strives to challenge conceptual standards of both content and style. It should function as a psychological call to arms, discussing unbreeched topics and putting them to the test through writing. It is an educated category; one achieves this genre by dabbling not only in the absurdist, the active, and the avant garde, but in citation. All Gauntlet Poetry is meant not only to shock, but to catalyze, and no gauntlet thrown to the ground will inspire unless backed with a proper fight. Reading such poetry should be an experience very similar to one of these time-forgotten tourneys. There is a deadly repartee between the author and the reader’s expectations, and the sparring match only ends with the final lines of your poem and the sound of a horn. The goal? To fell the reader’s presumption. The tenets of Gauntlet Poetry are as follows:

1. Choose your weapon carefully. Whether knife, sword, or lance, it must be fit for the fight and sharpened for battle. Your subject must be selected with as much care.
2. Write only with genuine sentiment. Anger for anger’s sake leads to nothing more than stage combat; the clashing of blades may be loud and quick, but true gladiators will see the farce for what it is. Never artificialize your passion in your haste for inspiration.
3. Enjamb creatively. Fashion a double-edged sword in your line breaks. Double meanings are your friends, so emphasize accordingly.
4. Employ spontaneity. Timing is essential in battle and in order to catch an opponent off guard, your words must be quick and unexpected, but efficient. Do not ignore theme, however, in order to appear random.
5. Be personal. Use experience as a weapon and use your position to upset the surrounding hierarchy.
6. Tempor with care. Be careful not to dull your words as you hammer out the final piece. Your editing process should be thorough and used to sharpen, not round, your poem.
7. Be informed. Your claim is your sword and evidence your shield. Just as no blade should be made from gold, avoid flimsy material when manufacturing your poem. It should be based in firm and ironclad fact.

Will you take up the blade? Or do you care for a different type of poetry? What is your manifesto?