Rhyme & Unreason

How a Web site purporting to uncover fraud shook up the world of poetry contests

By THOMAS BARTLETT

Portland, Ore.

The scourge of the poetry world is sipping black tea and nibbling almond cookies in the Tower of Cosmic Reflections on a drizzly Monday afternoon. The name of the teahouse may be grandiose but the scourge himself is anything but: Alan Cordle...