When Sean Hallaren posted a Craigslist ad offering a free IKEA rug, he never expected he would get so many responses.
So the Vancouverite turned the whole thing into a poetry competition.
Around 1:30 a.m. on Dec. 19, Hallaren put up an ad saying the rug was free, according to his Tumblr, "Free Stuff Haiku." By the time he work up for work the next morning, he had already received 36 emails about the rug. In total, he got nearly 70 inquiries.
"I am not one to be trusted with such power, so rather than give the rug away to the speediest responder or pick someone random off of the list, I made them compete for my amusement," he wrote on his blog. "The premise was simple: write a haiku about my rug. Best one gets it."
And so, a competition was born.
Hallaren tweeted that he got 16 haiku responses. Some highlights include:
that is a nice rug
it’s so meant for me
delete the others and send to me
And:
Rug stored for a year
Reminds me of hockey gear
Can’t wait ‘til you’re here
And:
well i rike your lug
thanka call shitty sushi
take-a orda pleeez
Overall, Hallaren noticed a trend in many of the haikus:
And expressed his desire to help:
But the winning poem was about a rug "confident yet walked all over":
draped upon the floor
confident yet walked all over
new home for Christmas
After deciding his rug's fate, Hallaren tweeted a photo of him giving it to the winning poet.
Read all of the free rug haikus here.
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