Winners March, 6, 2012! :D

The final week for the current judges, thanks everyone, even those who couldn't make it, I know you would have if it was possible! Efforts are appreciated :]

Congratulations for Sib for taking TWO spots on the front page, definitly well deserved, my fravorite must be Worry is White! Very creative.

Congrats for Maple tree, and for the rest of the honorable mentions, I'll post the comments on everyones work soon, so you can keep the judges comments!

note: No mods voted this week, hence two places were left uncovered, I repeat "because it all happened unexpectedly"

Votes:

Sibyllene (10+10) points
Maple Tree 10 points
*Sibyllene 7 points

Karla 7 points
Lebanese Phoenix 7 points

Silvershoes 4 points
Jordan 4 points
Lioness 4 points

Comments

Bygones
By Sibyllene

When I read this I was astounded by the quality, it is without a doubt one of the best I have read, merely for its messages and absolutely flawless flow, not to mention the subtle emotion and the wording which is delicate yet strong. I felt that the message was that time slips away so quickly, and that we spend too long looking at the really big things but we never notice the little things that often are more important, and that at times we are caught up in the moment we forget to really stop and think for a minute about what is happening, we see the unimportant in life, and when we have time to reflect we regret what we never knew. (10)

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Such a stunning thought provoking piece. Sibyllene is able to evoke and take us beyond the mere words, as if to lift a veil to a new realm, to not merely peek but be enveloped, to share her inner thoughts, her inner self. Once again I find myself captivated and carried along by her finely crafted work. It is such a pleasure to read your poems
(10)

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Cleopatra Statue by Maple Tree 10 points

I read this a few times, each time wondering why the Poetess is using Cleopatra statue, to capture her legendary story. I finally arrived to the conclusion that it is the statue itself that evoked the poet's emotions. She is trying to capture Cleopatra's life and times that she senses from her interpretation of the legend, gazing at the statue, perhaps. The mention of the "thick eyeliner, thick as the Nile" was beautiful. Kohl, the eyeliner not only beautified the eyes of the Egyptian woman of those times, but also disguised the "tears" or other emotions in them.
I have to say that Cleopatra, as seductive, influential, and clever in real life she was, she became even more powerful, beautiful and mystical to us who read history, in her death . The Poetess here is trying to capture a part of Cleopatra not so visible to most of us.... a sense of insecurity that lurked in her perhaps, and to portray her talent to scrutinize people she encountered as friends or enemies with her sharp gaze here:

"Eyes, sharp as an eagles gaze
she glances across the palace
searching for a friendly smile
detached from a world she once knew."

Thereafter, the poem takes a twist, perhaps to a time when she spent in exile in Syria, thrown out by her brother Ptolemy XIII, but then eventually she returns with an army of defectors and mercenaries, to regain the thrown back with the help of Julius Cesar. Though unclear here:

Golden goblets laced with poison
soothing the lost ones souls
petitioning her to lead them calmly
to the promised land of peace.

And then the conclusion, perhaps imaginary, capture the essence of the loneliness she perceives in her statue. As the sun sets and her courtesans say their goodbyes,

"She then becomes a sculpted statue
With tears In her eyes...."

I think this poem captures the persona what the author sees in Cleopatra's statue very well, from an art gazer's point of view. A symbol of beauty, sadness, power and fear and perhaps ? loneliness, which I am unclear, as history does not depict this well. (though the Hollywood version may have.) Nevertheless, the Poetess's vivid imagination using the statue to build a powerful story here certainly captured the reader's hearts. Beautifully penned Poetess. (10)

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Worry is White
by Sibyllene

I admit to being torn between this poem and Sibyllene's other poem nominated this week. This is also a stunning piece worthy of a 10, but alas I have only one 10 to give. After reading through the 60 poems nominated this week I found myself coming back to this piece, to its clean lines, its uncomplicated, fresh, short yet powerful form. It's interesting, while judging I always read and form an opinion, then write my critique, and then I sometimes read others reviews, which is always interesting. In this instant I love the ending and find it intriguing that Sibyllene wrote it first..
(7)

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Route 2012
By Lebanese Phoenix

This poet can pen some really awe inspiring pieces and this is no exception, this piece is full of awesome metaphors and exquisite wording, the imagery is strong and deep and the message is one of self-growth and belief. I love the simple rhymes that are unintended such as cats and rats, and the reference to animals here shows the similarities yet differences between us as humans and other animals. (7)

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The wounded healer by Karla (7 points)

A poem that is very deserving for its craftsmanship, a talented write from a master of emotion projections, in her poetry. Using the inspiration from a quote from a famous poet (R. Tagore), and blending it in with a flavor of Greek mythology was very creative, indeed. The Poetess craftily uses the Chiron's wounds from the poisoned arrow myth, and her imagination to inspire a new beginning for 2 damaged souls in here. A compassionate individual that is portrayed here as the person that has been hurt (just like the Chiron), from the losses (wounds) inflicted perhaps from a previous relationship. She then goes on to portray a empyrean love that she perceives exists in the subliminal conscience of the characters, each carrying wounds from their individual pasts, to suggest that this like-minded union, can heal the fatal wounds for both. The flow and the symbolism conveyed in this hard hitting poem were par excellence. The ending was superb, injected with hope, from the story of the mythological Centaur, Chiron:

We learnt how to grow with them though.
Hold my hand and let's share what still
makes our souls bend.
In the end Chiron shall reconcile us
with the same arrow that poisoned
our childhood.

The title "Wounded Healer" captures it all. The take home moral here was : Our own compassion from the experiences of hurt and pain that we endure and learn from, can help people who we love, and those that are in need of "healing". Interestingly, Saturn is associated with the past, and Uranus with the future (in astrology). Chiron, a large asteroid, juxtapositioned between the two planets, symbolically depicts the power to heal the past and transform the future. One can therefore sense why she chose the title, and why the inspiration for the poem was derived from this famous quote:

"When I stand before thee at the day's end, thou shalt see my scars and know that I had my wounds and also my healing." Rabindranath Tagore. (7)

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Lonely Mountain By Silvershoes 4 points

It seems to me the Poetess is now getting in competition with our Ms. Sunshine, who writes some of the deepest and saddest poems. So, I could not resist picking this as one of my winners this week. The emotions laid down in each stanza are deeply touching:

It snows down lonely mountain.
Somehow the wind has brought me here.
I try to move, but I cannot.

^ The portrayal of the character's despondent mood to a "lonely mountain", a place where people "brood" will capture the imagination of those who have been there before. The fact that it was most unexpected, is captured in the second line very well.

There spins a heavy ball inside me,
below the chest,
above the navel,
constrained by neither heart nor lung.

^ A novel way to restate that the emotions are "riding a roller coaster" or "churning inside out".

It grows with every inhaled breath.
It grows with steps I almost take.
It's made of all things bad and lost;
things broken, cold, forgotten.

^ And the size of the "heavy ball (=distressed mood) keeps getting worse. Perhaps, the poetess could have used some refinements in her expressions here, and avoided the repetitions that seem to take away some of the beauty of her thoughts projected here. I would suggest some rewordings such as:

It grows within me, with each
inhaled breath and every step that I take
Reminiscences of things gone bad,
lost, broken, frozen and forgotten

It keeps my feet from treading up,
to brave the frosted giant.

^ A state of emotional freeze, nicely projected here

It keeps my path from turning back,
for nothing back is left.
It keeps me still as Death, itself,
a leafless tree, long standing.

^ I would say the expressions are very well conceived but perhaps a little misworded, as "paths" don't usually turn back. Perhaps she meant, "feet" instead of "path" in here, and "left standing" instead of "long standing"

The force that spins inside the ball
that spins inside my weighted soul
will grow and grow
until rocks have melted,
and all that's left is ice.

^ again, minus the repetitions here of "that" (x 3) this was a painful stanza, which will gain sympathy with the readers who have been let down by their loved one. In particular, I liked the was the Poetess used the expression "until rocks have melted and all that's left is ice...", a powerful projection of how emotionally hard hit the character portrayed here is.

Somehow the wind has brought me here,
with nowhere else to go.
It snows down lonely mountain,
but why, I do not know.

A very poignant ending to a melancholic verse that melts the reader's thoughts, in sympathy. Well done Poetess.
Nana watch out! You got some serious competition here! (4)

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The Hydra
by Jordan

I loved the postscript on how you constructed this poem it gives a little more punch to this piece, not that it affected my decision to vote on it, that was decided before I read it. This is totally intriguing and very creative, yes it was somewhat disjointed, I was thinking where is he taking me, yet it is cleverly inter linked at the same time, that maybe an oxymoron but in the end it all just seemed to fit. Well done
(4)

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Six Number The
By Lioness

The title itself is an awesome take on her previous The number six, showing reversal still holds the same meaning, the same thoughts and that we need to deal with the problem instead of hiding it or pushing it away. That sometimes we must use our heart and do what we believe is best, not always what we know is... that our minds play tricks on us. This poem I know is personal to the writer but in reflection is as personal to us as readers. (4)

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~@~
Ms Sunshine
~@~

edit: ..and lool @ the judge who didn't reveal himself yet, and left that comment on Jane's poem...I will watch out, though, trust me her work is way better than mine :P (Jane...don't you feel special tthat we're on the same page ? haha :P )

Definately well deserved wins and HM's this week.

Congrats to everyone and a big thanks Nana for all your hard work :)
xxxx

Thank you Nana for persevering despite computer breakdowns. Sorry we did not realize there were uncovered spots; I think this was a rare occasion when every Mod was gone for the weekend.

We're putting steps into place to avoid it in the future.

Congratulations to all winners :)

Congrats to all winners and HMs this week and thanks for the HM!

Nana, you deserve a huge round of applause. You're awesome.

Congratulations to the winners and other HM's!!!

Thank you for your lovely comment on my poem, it means a lot to me.

x

Taaraa, Larry, Jordan, so sweeet of you guys, thanks :)

^
he said I'm awesome :p LaLaa

Congratulations Sibyllene - Both poems were just awesome!! I want to say thank you for the win on my Cleopatra Statue poem, very much appreciated :-)

Thank you judges for all your time and effort ~

thank you Nana for all the time and effort you put In the contest each week :-)

and congratulations to the Hm's.... well done everyone ~

Congratulations to the three winners!

Congratulations to all nominees, HM's and winners.
And to Nana and all the other judges for their wonderful work.
It seems there was a 3 way tie for the 3rd place that was not voted on in time (? communication glitch again) before the computer decided to vote on its own. Perhaps, the mods can evolve a back-up emergency plan to break ties when such communication glitches re-occur.

Yes, Lonely, unfortunately we failed to break the tie in time. This last week there seemed to be quite a few mix ups, but we are working on a full-proof regime for this new term. A list of back up judges should this sort of thing happening again.

Apologies to all those affected!

How about David, my site name? "Lonely" makes me really laugh out. I will take any suggestions for a new name (by pm). Until then, I have to learn to laugh on my own screen name! Haha.

^And allow me to have a laugh at a Freudian slip here: "This last week there seemed to be quite a few mix ups, but we are working on a full-proof regime for this new term."
I am sure you folks are not looking for a full proof (dictatorial) "regime", but a regimen (methodology). Hellon will really have a fit on this one, if you were looking for a "regime"! Ha ha!

Congrats to Sibs and Maple for the wins, very deserving. Great job to the HM's! & thanks to Nana for the dedication, it's always appreciated.

Sorry to all those affected by the problems we had this week, hopefully we'll have smooth sailing from now on.

A lonely Soul, I usually just call you ASL but if you'd prefer David then David it is.

Well, I just skipped right over this thread. I told you guys I forgot about the contest this week! I didn't realize I had two until I read this. That's a bit silly. But appreciated!

Good job to Maple Tree and the HM's, and thanks to BaNANA. Sorry for dropping the ball this week!

Thank you, Ddavid, we are working on it.