WESTPORT–Attention poets! The Westport Transit District challenges you to tackle the double dactyl.

Anyone who lives or works in Westport is invited to enter the transit district’s fourth annual poetry contest, which seeks verse celebrating the Wheels2U on-demand van service. Seven winners will receive gift cards to Westport restaurants worth up to $100, and their poems may be used in promotions, including posters at the town’s two train stations.

In past years, the contest asked for limericks, haiku and acrostic poems.

This year’s style – the double dactyl – is a playful eight-line poem that follows a specific bouncing rhythm. It’s made up of two four-line stanzas. In each stanza the first three lines roughly follow a DUM-da-da rhythm. The fourth line brings it home with a DUM-da-da-DUM. Also, the fourth and eighth lines rhyme.

It often starts with a nonsense phrase. For example:

Higglety-Piggelty
Dine at a restaurant
Don’t want to drive after
Having a drink.

Extraordinarily
Safe and reliable,
Home in a jiffy
No need to think.

Entries will be judged on creativity, with bonus points given to any poem that incorporates “Wheels2U” or includes one line that is a single six-syllable word.

“This contest is a fun way for the community to engage with public transit,” said Karina Betfarhad, co-Director of the Westport Transit District. “We see Wheels2U used by commuters, seniors, families and students every weekday, and poetry captures those moments while reminding people how easy it is to leave the car at home.”

The deadline to submit is April 7. Winners will be chosen by Betfarhad and Peter Gold, the district’s other director, with help from librarians and English teachers in the Westport Public Schools. The results are expected to be announced around the end of April.

One first-place winner will receive a $100 restaurant gift certificate. Two second-place winners will each receive a $50 gift certificate. Four third-place winners will each receive a $25 gift certificate.

All entries become the property of the Westport Transit District. Find the full contest rules here.

The Wheels2U service offers plenty to praise, according to Gold.

“Wheels2U Westport provides many benefits,” he said. “It’s easy, inexpensive, and convenient to use whether you’re going to the train station, the Library, the Senior Center or downtown at Jesup Green. It comes when you call it, picks you up right at your home or office, and takes you right to your destination. No more searching for a parking space or stressing out about traffic; just sit back and enjoy the ride.”