Nevi's Contest Round 2 (Results)

Judge 1: Draco 4/10

I'd never heard of Draco, so I went to google it, stumbled across the wiki page, and it seems this writer took paragraphs upon paragraphs of the wiki page in direct order and shortened them into a poem. It didn't seem very creative to me. At first read it felt to me the poem was a tad clogged. It seemed like there was an overload of information, and now seeing the wiki page it makes sense. There is so much that could be said but wasn't, and that was kind of disappointing. The writer has potential here, but more creativity would've really done them well.

Andromeda 9/10

This writer had many creative pieces in their poem, I loved the thought of join-the-dots, it's a game I used to play all the time as a child with the stars. The use of 'spidergrams of stars' was clever, I've never heard of spidergrams and I don't even think it's a real word, but it seems like it could be and it just made sense here. I love when poets do that. Maybe it's another side of the world word that I don't know about :). Anyway, this piece was creative and beautiful, with a tinge of sadness in the end. It was very realistic and matter-of-fact, while staying forever poetic with their imagery.

Pleiades 10/10

This was one of my favorites, it had me cracking up with the sexual innuendos. I thought this was very, VERY clever with their perfect tie in with sisters etc. I felt it was done perfectly, it was interesting and fun, and stayed within the poetic 'rules' to still make it just spot on. Loved this one.

Pisces 7/10

I think this poem had great potential - it had a lot of imagery and a lot of good ideas, but it didn't really feel like it was going anywhere. I felt like the poet just wrapped up the poem without any real feeling or emotion put into it, without a true meaning behind it. The poem poetically was good, but it didn't have thick substance for me.

Phoenix 8/10

I love the phoenix and was happy to see gold and scarlet made it's way into the poem. It would seem incomplete without it. The poem overall was strong and I liked the images made and all the tie ins it had. The punctuation had me a bit turned off, however. It seemed semi-oddly placed and I can see little edits here and there that would make this piece strong.

Judge 2: Andromeda
SCORE: 9

Pleiades
SCORE: 9

Phoenix
SCORE: 8

Draco
SCORE: 7

Pisces
SCORE: 7

Judge 3: (note that we subbed a judge for this round)

Draco 4/10
This work is written more like a catalogue of inside notes than a paean to a constellation. It forces the reader to research the different references in order to appreciate the poem. The result could have been more effective if the information were explained in the poem instead of leaving it deliberately arcane. Having said that, once you do the research, learn the positions of the stars within the galaxy, the alternative nomenclatures as the camels, and as one of the three enclosures, the poem proves layered indeed. However, it remains cold blooded and lacking the spark to breath fire into the reader's imagination.

Andromeda 6/10
This poem focuses on the experience of the viewer attempting, somewhat unsuccessfully, to connect with the subject constellation. It shows how one can describe the distractions and still create art. Rather than delving into the astronomic details, the work is immediate and human. The twist at the end proves the focus is not on the stars, but on a subject much closer - the protagonist herself.

Pleiades 10/10
Marvelous imagery! Creates a human star-scape with all the accouterments of pith and salacious humor.
"They sip ethanol cocktails"
Here are the aging songbirds lounging, or slinking' in the bawdy night sky.
"casting eyes at [Orion's] shining ... belt"
Perfect graphic of the belt's three stars, while adding a linguistic pause which creates the impression of intimating something naughty. "Bubbling with gossip" It was their babbling that had them transformed to birds to begin with - subtle reference which can be appreciated if you knew but still enjoyed if you don't.
Here is poetry in its finest aspect.

Pisces 5/10
Interesting tidbit. It has the promise of a great work, but needs much development. Seems more of an introduction than a complete work.

Phoenix 7/10
This poem is a good description of a relationship, characterized by the phoenix cycle. It nudges the constellation into the metaphor by reference to a time it is presumed to appear for the couple, about 9 p.m. in November, from the southern hemisphere. Double entendres regarding the rising of love and its consumption bring a chuckle, but reflections from the legendary longevity of the bird yields quiet pathos to the final stanza, which quite frankly, sets the poem a notch higher.

Totals:
Draco: 15
Andromeda: 25
Pleiades: 27
Pisces: 19
Phoenix: 23

Eliminated: Draco and Pisces

Sorry it took me so long with this guys, I've been away for a few days, unexpectedly.

Thanks Nevi! Interesting how a couple of the poems had similar comments from judges 1 & 3!

Haha I'll bow out willingly here. My poem was pure garbage written up 10 mins before deadline. Bahahahahah.

Congrats to the winners! ESPECIALLY whoever wrote Pleiades. What a magnificent piece.

Jordan! Which one were you?

Best of luck to the final rounders :)

Good luck for this next round, folks!