Weekly Contest Results 6/13

Congratulations winners and HM's! Two judges missed the cutoff for votes/comments, and one was unable to leave comments this week. I'm not exactly sure what happened. A judge must have voted without letting us know about their votes :\

EDIT: Another judge turned in their votes and comments.

WINNERS:

Broken Rib
by The Princess

"The concept of repetition in this piece has reminded me muchly of this poet, adamant but quite refreshing, in other words, an exquisite way to enforce a point. ;), while at the same time compliments the piece rather than making it boring. Those last two lines just drove it home in a few words." (7 pts)

"A interesting poem that has deep meaning behind it. One can feel the emotions from the person writing this and how they envy another relationship. A deeper write then most." (4 pts)

(7 pts)

To Dream of Plains
by Thomas Pender

"I know for a fact that this piece has several misspelled words in it. However, and also bearing in mind that he is new to this site, this piece is extraordinarily done, from its dramatic theme and scenes to its word choice and execution. Not only we did notice the use of figurative language (metonymy, paradox, etc.) but also the the use of poetic device all through the very end of this piece." (4 pts)

(10 pts)

Tonight I Wait For a Whisper
by Fat Giraffe

"The atmosphere created from this piece was different, I found myself having to read it a few times in order to grasp it. The thing I will say is I was impressed by the imagery in the starting lines, some unique contrasts between delicate and harsher images. The moon was an impressive choice of symbolism I felt it worked well with the concepts that I grasped from the poem. What I found clever was the writers ideas, a leaning tower of Pisa inside a swear box is extremely different, but to my surprise it does work. The flow was strong and for such a lengthy poem I found it to be smooth from start to finish. I was particularly fond of how each stanza was linked by nature such as rats, light and the eventide, this kept the imagery and concept strong. The use of symbolic images that represent the sky was also strong in making this piece a whole. Overall a clever piece that was worth the read." (7 pts)

"I love the simplicity of the imagery used by this poet as well as the evoked emotions behind his verses. It has a continuous soft tone that employs perfect and relax cadence through the very end of this piece. This is such an elegant work with a stunning touch of nature. For some, the theme being used here might be regarded as nothing but ordinary, but this poet,s perfect word choice was designed to impact the readers." (10 pts)

HM'S:

Factual Delay
by Britt

"I enjoyed how this poem was left open to the reader. The writer did not write her thoughts straight out, it was left blank in order to allow readers to relate to the poem. Clever opening with irony it is interesting how crickets are symbolic of silence and yet they create a noise, this gave me a little smile. While I mentioned above that the reader left this open to the audience I felt that in the first two lines of the second stanza she wrote what it was she was waiting to hear, but perhaps it isn't obvious to her audience as she masked it for only herself to understand. An interesting read that keeps me wondering." (4 pts)

Couples Therapy
by Thomas

"This was another really unique piece, one of those writes you don't often find unearthed and vulnerable. At the beginning it read like a story and the description was vivid enough for me to let it unfold in my mind. I was fond of the way the writer used the circle as a symbolic object, the circle represent many different ideas however I felt that in relation to this poem it had a strong connection to the ideas of completion, perfection and unity. The second stanza was perhaps where the emotion began to kick in, I wasn't sure what to expect after the story-telling nature of the first but the writer was clever in connecting the idea of a circle throughout each stanza which formed the idea of marriage and wedding bands. Therefore I felt that the title was too revealing, I would of liked to grasp this concept just by reading the piece itself. I adored the description of the third stanza, the ideas were strong and clever. However Stanza four was where the emotion truly became heartfelt. This was true beauty, it was nice to read a poem that was poetic and was of realistic nature." (10 pts)

Blossom
by Melpomene

(4 pts)

"The imagery in this piece was creative and added to the poems strength. A wonderful word choice with a ever flowing flow kept this poem interesting all the way through." (7 pts)

Solace in a Song
by Courageous Dreamer

"Quick flowing and full of life and emotions from start to finish, make this poem strong in its foundation and strong at its core. Imagery played with ones mind in this poem creating many images. A wonderful poem with a touch of simplicity." (10 pts)

Congratulations to all the winners. Well done, keep up the fantastic work! And to all those who didn't make the cut this time, good luck next time, keep on writing. :)

Is Fat Giraffes poem missing points? He had 7... but two others had 10..?

Congrats winners and HM's. Thanks for the HM :)

Sorry to be rude, but if the judges can't do their duties...would it be a bad idea to switch the judges again?

Britt, I have no idea. I wish you were still in charge of this! It boggles my brain.

CD, the judges are usually pretty good, but we're all human and it's a LOT of work for zero pay. Not that many people even want to judge so it's slim pickin's.

Jane

One judge that voted missed a 10. That would leave three judges that voted total, so maybe they voted Fat Giraffes poem a 10 and didn't say anything? Not sure, but one is missing!

Perhaps Janis changed something in the coding which messed up the weekly contest? Just a thought...otherwise, I have no clue as to why that happened either.

Yes, I know one is missing, I saw that while I was posting, but unless one of the 2 judges it could've been lets me know... nobody will know.

Jane

No, it's not a site error. It's a human error.

Are the same judges repeatedly missing week after week? If so, it wouldn't be too much to ask them to step down from judging if they don't have the time. I'm sure there are other people who wouldn't mind filling in, even if it's until September?

I understand how hard it is to be a judge, considering I was one at one point in time. There is a lot of work that goes into it, I appreciate their time and all but we don't even know if the winners that are up on the front page today should really be up there since all the votes aren't in? I see that as a problem :/

I concur with what Britt. is saying, obviously something needs to be done about this.

Congrats.

A judge obviously voted without letting us know their votes. The poems with the highest ranks won, which is how it should be, so don't worry yourselves about that.

Volunteer to be a judge in the new thread I posted and hey, if a respectable member wants to take over contact with the judges and post up the weekly results each Monday - I think none of the mods would be against it. I would be ecstatic.

Jane

Jane, I wouldn't mind handling that again either. It didn't take much extra time, and there is nothing with the rules or mod forum involved.

Would it be easier to format the results in a form like this?

Judge A:
- 10pts:
- 7pts:
- 4pts:

Judge B:
-10pts
...
etc etc.
That way it would be easier to track who voted and for what. Then give the comments below.

Colm thats how I used to post them in the mod forum as I got them, then compiled it this way. It was easier for me to keep tabs on who voted for what and if we were missing one that way. Not sure how it's done now :)

It is not getting done as efficiently, that's for sure.

Britt, I will ask the other mods about giving you back the site contest. Thank you so much, you're a life saver.

Jane

Not a problem as long as it won't cause a fuss with everyone else (though again I don't need the mod room etc so it should be okay I hope!)

You were so great at it, I don't see a problem. Hopefully no one else does but then again, who are we fooling? LOL, there's always someone with a problem :)

^^ Fine by me.

On a side note, would it be possible or beneficial to have a 'poem of the month' award? Judges pick their three favourite poems from the nominated poems over the last month and post it in a thread. It mightnt sound like much but I guess coding rights are needed to change the weekly contest into a monthly one? It wouldnt take much extra effort from the judges as they will have read the poems already..

I have a problem, cause I originally asked of taking over a while ago via PM to the mods, but if you want to take it over Britt. I have nothing against it I suppose lol

Colm, the site automatically sends the poems with the highest points (or rating) to the front page, so unless Janis changed it, there is no way we could make it happen. A mod doesn't make the winners go to the front page, it's an automatic update :)

Unless we do something separate, in which case we'd have to keep track of every nominated poem for the month, and have the judges read through it all for their top 3 or something like that.. as something separate.

Yes it would be something seperate. The judges or whatever post a thread up much like the weekly winners one and maybe it gets posted as a sticky to the 'poetry contest' forum. Each judge would just have to pick the favourite of their favourites from each week, if you understand me. They should only have four poems to pick from because they pick their favourite for the weekly contest anyway. In the vast majority of cases it would be one of the weekly winners that will win. The judges would have to be agreeable I guess, I dont know if its worth it or if people would be interested but its just a thought that crossed my mind so I said Id put it out there

If I do take over the organization and posting of the weekly contest, I wouldn't mind adding this to organize as well if the mods and other members thought this would be a fun thing to do. Of course judges should PM their thoughts/concerns to a mod, they're the ones who have to do it lol.

Edited with more votes.

Jane

Now it all makes sense! :)

Congrats all!

Congrats all & thanks for the HM :)

Got a few more comments too! Yay :)

Why are there only two poems showing up on the front page now? Not three.

Looks like he may have left the site?

Congrats for the 3 winners <3 well deserved everyone...and congrats for the HM's.
Great poetry guys :D

Yes it appears Fat Giraffe left the site. A shame, I really liked the guy. Such a gentleman.

Awww:/ I liked Rabea too..

I hope he did not leave because of this situation with the votes missing.

I don't think that is it. He asked me to explain to him the voting thing as he didn't understand, so I told him that it wasn't that his poem wasn't deserving to be up there through votes, it was that a judge hadn't gotten their votes to the mods to post. No glitch or anything, and he said okay :).

I have an idea as to why he left, but I hope I'm wrong.

Maybe because of all the fighting and drama.

Congratulations to all I meant to post it sooner

Congrats to the winners!

Yes, Sherry, from the PM's we had going back and forth... I suspect that's why he left. Hope I'm wrong.

Random, but it looks kinda cool there are 2 poems on the front page. I've only seen that once before!

I've seen that happen a few times...but it's rare.