Weekly Winners - Oct 3, 2011

All right folks, lets be honest here. I am loving all the site participation, but abby's relay contest has got my brain fried hotter than deep-fried cajun chicken in southern Louisiana. Also, my computer battery is dying, and I have to be in the kitchen until approximately 30,000 pounds of squash are done baking. So, without further ado, without bells and whistles (cuz they sure as heck don't need them!) here are our weekly winners:

Nicko, with his darkly thrilling "Winifred Montague."

'It was tough judging this week in terms of picking a stand out winner, but this piece got the nod, mainly because I found it interesting throughout in terms of develpoing a character, setting a scene and making the reader think. I felt is was a very good insight into the life of this lady. There is a sense that she is always moving, always rushing. The place-names help root it in the real-world. The reader could bump into Winifred as she trots with her bag of confectionary from the station to the soup kitchen. The lack of puntuation was at times a little annoying, it did add a certain movement or urgency to the poem. The ending really did it for me, it gave such an insight into her life in such a short but effective line; 'her jack.' It was perhaps a little long in the middle, but this isnt a major issue. Some words and phrases could possibly be jimmyed with but overall, I really got into this poem, and it was quite unique.' (10)

"This poem reminds me of the style of E. A. Robinson's "Richard Cory." The irony is
well laid out with the lady dedicating herself to the well being of the unfortunate while being
blackmailed into nefarious deeds to maintain the safety of her own mysterious loved one.
You can admire the skill of the poet as he leads you into feeling sympathy, esteem even, for the
protagonist, so that even as she falls from her pedestal the first impulse is to rescue her, to excuse
her actions. Hopefully the spelling would be cleaned up (dosn't and spelling out Kms)." (10)

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Mera Luna, with her beautifully worded "A tale bigger than a little girl's hands,"

"A poem I felt I may not have fully understood, but one in which I felt its powerful and depth. It also had some unusual but effective images and descriptions, e.g. tiny feet wrapped in lotus leaves, or skyscrapers forming ladders to the sun. I found the poem quite sad, how it describes the harshness of life and the passing of innocence, something which all of us readers feel at some stage, albiet in different situations or to different degrees. I think when I come back to this poem I will continue to find new meanings lurking in unlikely lines. Good job" (7)

"I'm so excited to see Mera Luna back on PnQ and writing again. The maturity and tone this woman brings into her poetry wows me every time. There is so much wisdom in her words, no matter the subject. She picks poetry apart (nicely) in such a brilliant way, and takes her own critiques into her poetry when writing, and that to me makes brilliant poetry. This poem hit me hard emotionally, and the lines written piece by piece just came together in such a strong way.

And you might wonder
why I know
that your mother's little daughter
would always live with beads
of hardship on her forehead ...

This was my favorite part, though the rest was a great read, too. It is realistic and humbling to see this poem, to read and feel the words. It's gorgeous." (4)

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and Melissa, with her intriguingly titled "34% Illumination."

"What I like the most about this piece are its beautifully written images. (like some nocturnal animal/that has not yet been grazed by sunlight) - I love this! It's tender, dreamy, deep, and colorful. The end also doesn't put an end to the cozy atmosphere drawn from the very first. Perfect in every sense. I love it. And what's with the title? Original.. I guess." (7)

"A simple yet powerful poem, that reveals some of the deepest emotions of the poet. What impressed me is how this is achieved; not in an obvious way, but by using quite straight-forward similes and metaphors. The poem has a sad inevitability about it, that the love will fade, thorns will grow, summer will come and in turn pass. It can in a way be seen as a poem with a message to all readers; enjoy the good times when they last, because all good things come to an end. And even though we may realise this, we always want one more dance, one more laugh, one more family meal. The reader can relate to the poem in this way, and the poem is written in a way that makes the reader think as well as feel. All in all, an impressive piece, simple on the one hand but full of meaning, feeling and relevance on the other." (4)

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Honourable Mentions include

"4 Minutes & 30 Seconds," by Melpomene

"Again another brilliant writer. I voted for this last week and feel it deserves to be on the front page. It's much different from Melpomene's original style but it still had so many personal ideas, tunes, tones and metaphors. While a lot of people can't understand her poetry, including myself, I definitely understood this. The message here rang loud and clear to me and it affected me. Another poem I could definitely relate to. The lines were fresh and lovely and the sarcasm was biting and humorous. Love the broad feelings here!" (7)

"What can be more beautiful than this and written in less than 5 minutes? A big applause for this writer. She managed to take over my senses with every word she penned. If I had to choose what's the best stanza/verse in here, I wouldn't have dared to choose, for I love every verse of it. Very creative, original, and the poetess went beyond the imaginable. A-M-A-Z-I-N-G! And it's really worth a front page." (4)

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The World as I knew It, by Hellon aka Miss Take

"A standing ovation, for this poem. To me, this stood out of all the other nominated poems. It's original and creative in content as the idea the poetess is trying to portray is current, and the way she dealt with it is so sarcastic and enticing. The rhymes also made it colorful. I can't find anything negative or any hole in the wall to fill it with a small advice or a suggestion. It is perfectly penned. I really like how it was written as if it's composed of several comic sketches to gag on. It's obvious that it became a taboo to talk about colors, races, etc... And it's shown here in a beautifully exaggerated ironic way. Original!" (10)

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"Pandora," by Colm

"My favorite thing about this poem is the way I responded and related to it. I took one very drastic meaning, and when I learned what Colm intended, it was in fact the complete opposite direction than my original thought. I thought that was so interesting how easily we can interpret poetry based on our own experiences, and Colm's piece proved that in ways most poetry doesn't. It had amazing lines that I won't go into detail or I'll spend an hour discussing, and the imagery was so intriguing. I literally pictured the images he created. The last two lines that summed up the entire poem just hit home for me. I thought this was a brilliant piece, through and through." (10)

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"A Dream Being," by Karla

"Courage in the face of death is one of the most difficult themes to pull off without falling prey to
being maudlin or trite. This poem accomplishes the task with such straightforward ease that the
reader is pulled into the woman's life willingly and full hearted.
The scene itself is left simple, the experience allowed to soak in the sun:
"she didn't want to think. / She was there to embrace that moment, / to be a dream being again"
There is one typo that ought to be corrected (challenging). This poem deserves the front page." (7)

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"Burned and Old and New," by CooperFox

"From it's opening lines the poems captures the reader with violent images of death, renewal and
power: "I've touched the flame of chaos / in the hollow chest / of a dying man"
Whether meant as a dream sequence or metaphorically, the poem goes beyond the apparent
intentions of the author, striking a chord universal to the dynamic rage to become, to create, to
know. The transition from darkness to light is shown not so much a war as an evolution. " (4)

Congrats winners and hm's. Thank you judges for your hard work and Sibs for posting the results.

Congratulations to all.

Congratulations stunners!

"Congrats winners and hm's. Thank you judges for your hard work and Sibs for posting the results."

Yeah, what she said.
I swear Abby will be responsible for my first heart attack

Congrats all!!

Congrats to all & to the judges also.

Thank you for the HM's. Much appreciated :)

Congrats all :)

Thankyou fellow poets and judges

Cheerz Nick

Amazing diversity, as always