Contest Winners- March 25, 2013

Hello all and happy spring!!

Congrats to this weeks 3 clear winners :)
And once again to the Hm's! Love the diversity I've been seeing!

Middestruction
By: Xanthe- 10 + 10 = 20

Labyrinth - Terzanelle
by Lonely Rider - 10 + 10 = 20

Shades of abuse
by Baby Rainbow- 7 +4 = 11

HM'S:

The World As We Know It (Omission Poem "S")
by Kips (10)

Rain leads to dismay
By: Darren (7)

Arctic
by Courageous Dreamer (7)

At Least I am normal
by Burning Roses (7)

The Host
By Ah_satan_666 (7)

The Bird and The Nest
By Myonlymoon (4)

On the Brink of Becoming London
by Poet on the Piano (4)

Let me be- alone
By: Everlasting (4)

Midnight Euphoria
by Maple Tree (4)

WINNER COMMENTS:

Middestruction
by: Xanthe

There is nothing in the world better for the reader than being able to not just see what the author has written, but live it and know its presence. The character's perspective and voice has such a vivid presence here, it grabs me immediately and these verses hold a depth I still don't think I may ever understand. Of course the personification of the "western wind" is brilliant to start off with, and "coming back" makes me wonder if the character wanted to escape a situation and return, or if he/she was forced to. Now, I'm led to believe this person was in a sense charmed, told on and on by figures unnamed that she is capable and can so powerfully calm hearts, even the most wild ones.... The whole thought process the character goes through reflects onto the reader, and now I am asking too, why? But it is almost a twist in my mind with this line "Why should hearts soften and their beating calmed down?" Like why does there need to be that intervention? You cannot change man's character and how his heart was formed. The atmosphere gives me shiver, as if some part of my skin itself is vulnerable, open. I loved the ending lines, dreaming of her finally in all of her peace and wanting to sleep that way too.... but not wanting to be as calm as her. Maybe the character doesn't want to live in a world where emotions are calmed, not experience the anger and sometimes venting humans go through.... A very dark, fascinating piece full of curiosity. Enjoyed this greatly! (10)

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Middestruction
by Xanthe

This poem clearly shows that the author has great narrative skills. I am a little bit flabbergasted to spot such typically classic, mythological imagery intertwined with quite modern, every-day imagery ... and it didn't bother me at all, even though it was quite clear. Maybe it's because the language/style remained quite steady throughout the poem. I could easily lose myself into this poem simply because of its interesting language and descriptions, while easily forgiving the fact that it's quite a cryptic write. Maybe because, with these kind of writes, one doesn't necessarily have to feel the meaning, but rather the atmosphere. And I also enjoy it when poets take advantage of structure to set a pace, which was the case at the end of this poem. Interesting write. (10)

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Labyrinth - Terzanelle
by Lonely Rider

What a difficult form, this was written exceptionally well. Without the fact it is written to a form that is very challenging it also contains some great images.
Love the 'voices chained in Golden towers' and 'don't hide in coward camouflage'
I have read this 4 times now and each time I am really impressed by the professionalism of this piece. Every word is a perfect choice, the flow is amazing. I love the topic, and the form fits this topic well. I wish I could say more as a judge but I think this poem says so much for itself. Easy 10. (10)
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Labyrinth - Terzanelle
By Lonely Rider

I completely appreciate the fact that the author posted information about the form of this write, it sounded very confusing to me, so I must applaud the author for being able to create such a wonderful piece using this form. The title captures ones attention and holds it throughout the write, the word choices remind me of olden days in England... this is an incredible write from beginning to end. (10)
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Shades Of Abuse
by Baby Rainbow

Ohh the title was emotional by itself. "Shades of abuse" you have given abuse a certain character, as if it was a thing that had many different looks.
The idea of using this palette of colors I found to be very smart. Instead of describing the different situations that happened to you; you created a palette of colors to show us the different aspects of an abuse. Gradually going from the color red to the color black just showed how deep and hurting this might have felt to you. Stating the color and then describing what reflected was very touching, I never knew abuse had those many colors but you made me realize that it really does. It has many colors and many forms but the abuser always fails to see those colors, its only the victim who has to deal with all of it. Deep and heartfelt piece. (7)
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Shades of abuse
by Baby Rainbow

I love the fact that Saffie has shown huge bravery to write a piece that touches on this subject.
Whether this is from personal experience or not, this poem is a message to us all. This type of thing does go on and we need to be vigilant. I like how each stanza is broken up with a fairly innocent reference to a color then 'bang' the stanza is a slap in the face.
Very powerful and very touching in places. A clever and brave write and worthy of 4 points. (4)
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HM COMMENTS:

The World As We Know It (Omission Poem "S")
by Kips

First of all, it was difficult and interesting idea to omit the entire "S" throughout the poem. I can imagine how hard it must have been for you to do that.
Secondly, the poem was opened in such a way that keeps the reader wanting to know more about the story behind the poem itself, I was really focused on the words and storytelling of this piece. The topic is unusual for me but the message was really great and inspirational. I recommend others to read and understand the meanings in this poem. I liked that although he was walking alone down this path he was still a giver, he never stopped and turned around rather he continued walking forward asking for change an making change in every step he takes. It takes someone to be very brave and confidence to be all to do this, not to give up easily.
Great piece and an even greater message. (10)
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Rain leads to dismay
by: Darren

I have to first say this poet has never not been able to pull me into his writing with his creative and inventive ways to really instill thoughts in my head and heart. I liked the form, the emphasis on the adjectives in the beginning and then the form of "...a spring", "....a waterfall", "... a dam"- like every emotion kept building up and gathering current and anger. There is such a deep feeling of frustration, but also maybe contemplating his purpose, "to a skull that only contained nonsense." There is no clarity within this character, no clear break of dawn he can relate to. I am in awe of the intensity too, as this poem increases with it's volume, the imagery just stuns me in its bluntness: "he pulled off his head and smashed it on the floor twenty times" and using so many times to just imply this went on for a bit. I liked your abstractness, that it intensified the hell this character is living in, even if it's not something we can grasp in our minds, the inability to have it fit into reality is what makes it stand out and feel this character's emotional pain. It makes me wonder very badly! Those last two lines get me also, bringing up God again and using "round", like the character has not only gone through this unstable cycle in his life but failed, and paid the price. I also liked the author's consistency with the 'water', from being pleasant in the beginning to raging and seeming to smother the character in his own thoughts. Interesting and vivid write! (7)
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Arctic
by Courageous Dreamer

I thought this to be a very solid write. Each stanza seems to be carved with precision, and written in such poetic language. I applaud the author for making sure that each individual image makes sense, or is at least easily imagined, while they're quite abstract. It takes a little puzzle-solving-effort to tie each stanza and their individual meanings together, though. While I liked the fact that this poem seemed rather compact (as in no filler lines, quite straight to the point), perhaps the reader could've taken advantage of some additional information tying the stanzas together. Nonetheless, surely a poem that does its title justice. I could truly feel the heavy, cold air around your words. (7)
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At Least I am normal
by Burning Roses

I will get the negative out of the way first, there are still a few mistakes in this, stanza 3 'he' she be 'the' for example, therefore I have given this 7 points instead of 10 as I feel as a judge I should be choosing what I see as the best poems written this week.
Okay negative over
Now to the positives;
I believe what defines poetry is the fact that it can be seen as a snapshot of life at the time it was written. Not only from a factual point of view but more importantly an emotional point of view. When you read Shakespeare you get a feel for the humour of that time etc.
What this poem does well is it shows us how it is to be a young girl in this day and age. The pressures placed upon young shoulders to conform to a stereotypical form, Not only does it detail this it also shows us how outside influences can have severe knock on affects with young minds.
But the pace this whole thing is written in is amazing, it flows like an everyday story, each influence is subtle in it's introduction. Only the end result is blunt and deeply honest. This is a lesson to all girls of a certain age and those that can influence. Well written. (7)

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The Host
By Ah_satan_666

The form and layout of this piece is very eye catching. The topic is a devastating one, being a cancer survivor and having family and friends who have passed or are fighting from this disease this write really hits home for me as I am sure it does for many others as well. I really like how the cancer is talking to the patient and how even though cancer is the enemy we still fight and fight hard and it's a wonderful feeling when we win, but it's such a tragedy and heartbreaking when one doesn't... it's a scary disease and it's expressed so well within these words. Well done. (7)
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The Bird and The Nest
By Myonlymoon

What a wonderful love poem, I like how the author has depicted herself as the Bird and her lover/home as the Nest, one always comes home to roost. This speaks of unconditional love for no matter now often she leaves to chase another dream he always welcomes her home and loves her all the same and she falls deeper in love because of this. Love the lines, There's no place like home, clicking my heels together, the Wizard of Oz, my favorite movie of all time, it worked really well with this write. The ending lines really pulled it all together, love this. (4)
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On the Brink of Becoming London
by Poet on the Piano

There's some clever imagery scattered throughout this piece without trying too hard to be all glittery with adjectives. The second stanza alone already represents what I've been speaking of in my previous line. It's heartwrenching but beautiful at the same time. To me it was interesting to see the poem starting out with something quite distant: a "you" whom the reader has no clue about; a "world" in which the persona's surely living but still it's something distant since it seems all big and not graspable. Then it re-focuses, speaking of "America", the place in which the persona grew up in. It becomes more personal and nearby. The language seems to loosen up a bit (compared to the previous, quite mature/articulate language), and it's nice to see such subtle versatility of feeling within the same poem. I also really enjoyed the second-to-last stanza, the bridge immediately reminded me of London and the title's mystery starts to unravel here, making clear to the reader that it was a negative connotation. The bridge seems to be so lively (as a result of the skillfully crafted personification), and its image served very well as a bridge (no pun intended) to the ending. As for the ending, I thought it to be very creative but a bit clumsily worded ("of ... of ..." and the last line could be a little bit more articulate). Despite that, still a great write, though. (4)
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Let me be- alone by: Everlasting

I've noticed that this author's poetry is always perceptive, and she ingeniously chooses her words. I loved the ease in which this poem read, and it reminded me of calm cascading down, just like the waterfall mentioned in the piece. There is a certain yearning in the repeat of "Let me ... Let me be myself" in a way I feel this poem has an empathetic voice. The use of the senses and purifying one's self was strong here, like the poet desires there to be settlement, one place of closure for a collection of all her tears. The last lines were cleverly worded, almost like a more soft but still understanding plea to remain herself and continue to remain that way. The "deaf ear" made me wonder, like how long this poet has been placed in the situation where she is unheard and therefore becomes a teardrop. What a flowing write! (4)
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Midnight Euphoria
by Maple Tree

The title sounds like a name of a perfume and considering this is a nature's poem I found that to be a very smart choice.
The choice of word and the metaphors were spot on. You used a number of elements of nature to give the piece a realistic look and feel. There tone you used all throughout the poem was very soft and tender and poetic at the same time. I love the images you draw, the place looks and sounds magical. (4)

Congratulations Xanthe, Lonely Rider and Baby Rainbow!!

Truly beautiful pieces!! and I really love the selections this week!!

Thank you very much for my Hm- lovely comment thank you judge :-)

and Chelsey- Beautiful job as always, thank you judges for all of your heard work and detailed comments.. just wonderful!!

Congrats to all!

Congrats to all the winners, and HM's, some awesome poetry on display this week and as always,
Thanks Chelsey for your hard work and to the judges for the comments and dedication :) x

Thanks for the fantastic HM, well done winners, much deserved,
thanks judges and Chelsey.

Wow, congratulations to the winners and all HM's!!! And thank you judge for the HM & detailed comment, I appreciate it so much.

In depth comments! Very good, judges.
Thanks to you all and to Chelsey for running the show.

Congratulations to the winners & HMs.

You're welcome all! Glad things are running smoothly as of late! :)

Well done all involved!

Thank you Chelsey and the judges too.

Congratulations to all the winners and HM's and thank you so much :D

Congrats, everyone!

Congratulations winners!

Congrats, all! :D