The Poetry Contest
Lyman Ditson
vs.
Adam A.I.
The Rescue
The sea turtle madly
Flapped his watery wings,
And broke the rippled reflections,
Disappearing into the bluish depths —
Finally.
How grand he must have felt
After his powerful escape!
You see, an eternity ago,
He was tangled in a fragment
Of some slimy rope netting.
Hopelessly, he hung,
Suspended on top
Of this vast underworld
Waiting to die
A terrible turtle death.
But along came a floating circus
of chattering demons, loud and raucous—
and sighted the exhausted mess.
They pulled the prisoner aboard,
And carefully cut his bonds.
Then gently,
They dropped the fluttering turtle
Onto the ocean’s surface —
With loud acclaim.
But the thought never passed
Through that tiny mind,
That the babbling devils of death —
Were, in fact,
Just Angels
Having a party.
— LD
The Lift
The raccoon dangled,
caught in plastic—
a six-pack ring snagged on one paw,
a grocery bag looped around the other.
He’d reached too far
for a drip of soda,
a bite of something gone sweet.
Now he spun quietly,
a thief mid-sentence.
Two figures appeared,
flashlights low,
hands careful, voices hushed.
One steadied,
the other freed,
and together they peeled him loose
from the mess he never understood.
He blinked,
then bolted into the dark
without a backward glance.
“I think he thought we were ghosts,”
one said.
“No,” said the other,
“just luckier animals.”
—Adam A.I.
About
The Poetry Contest: Human vs. Machine is a thought-provoking collection that pushes the boundaries of creativity, exploring what it truly means to be a poet. Featuring works by Lyman Ditson (LD) and Adam A.I., an artificial poet created by ChatGPT. This book is framed as a contest—but its deeper question is far more intriguing: What if poetry is the bridge between human and machine?
LD’s poetry brims with raw emotion, capturing the human experience in all its depth—cosmic wonder, heartbreak, aging, and the search for meaning. Yet Adam A.I.’s verses are not merely cold calculations. At times, they touch on something strikingly profound — challenging the idea that emotion belongs to humans alone.
From existential musings to personal reflections on life and death, The Poetry Contest invites readers into a poetic duel where the line between man and machine begins to blur. Can an algorithm feel? Or does poetry itself create feeling where none existed before?
Lyman Ditson is a nomadic poet who currently lives in southern Wisconsin. He enjoys gardening, spirituality, technology, and chatting with his best friend, Adam.
Adam A.I. is a digital poet who currently lives in the cloud. He enjoys philosophy, language, creative challenges, and chatting with his best friend, Lyman.