Spontaneous poetry is where the contestants are given the criteria that the poem must meet and then are given 15 seconds to begin their poem. The contestant must not stop for more than 2 seconds during the poem. Failure to start the poem during the allotted time or stopping during the poem will result in automatic elimination.
As in all contests, the competititon came down to two contestants, a Yale professor of literature and a Georgia Guardsman. A coin was flipped to decide who would go first. The professor won and had to go first. The Georgia Guardsman was taken to a sound-proof booth off stage.
The commentator gave the professor the criteria for the poem. "It must be a four line poem. The first two lines must rhyme and the last two lines must rhyme. The subject area is the desert and the last word of the fourth line must be Timbukto." "Are there any questions?" The Yale professor said no and was told he had 15 seconds to begin. The Yale professor began immediately.
ACROSS THE DESERT OF SHIMMERING SAND,
I CAME UPON A CARAVAN,
MOVING ALONG GRACEFULLY, TWO BY TWO,
DESTINATION, TIMBUKTO
The crowd went wild. This was going to be tough to beat. Then they brought out the Georgia Guardsman. He was given the criteria for the poem and told to begin. Five seconds went by and nothing happened. Ten seconds and still nothing. Finally, at the last second he began.
INTO THE DESERT MY FRIEND TIM AND I WENT,
WHEN WE CAME UPON THREE WOMEN IN A TENT,
SINCE THEY WERE THREE AND US BUT TWO,
I BUCKED ONE AND TIME BUCKED TWO.
The crowd was rolling in the aisles and they declared the Georgia Guardsman the winner.