Contest Winners- August 12, 2013

Sorry for the super delayed post....Some judges forgot that I was back to hosting this week and didnt send me their scores, so I had to wait to get them from the mods...then add a day of my WIFI not working...ugh... Thanks for your patience.

Congrats to the front page winners this week. Our judges tastes were all over! 1 clear winner, and the site broke ties between the remaining 10's!

Winners:

The Mist
by Maple Tree 10 + 4 = 14

August
by Noura (10)

Made (10)
by Tara Kay

HM COMMENTS:

Suffering.
by Poet on the Piano (10)

I was Not a Naked Tree [Prose]
by Everlasting (10)

Na�����¯ve Poem
by Vince Gullaci (7)

Attachment
by The Huntress (7)

Scrambling
by Britt (7)

Dark world
by Rose (7)

Open your eyes and look north
by Redangelwings (7)

Dying To Be Loved (4)
by Lostlove1

Pineapple Upside-down Cake
by Larry Chamberlin the Godfather (4)

Now
by Chelsey (4)

Branding Iron
by Melpomene (4)

WINNER COMMENTS:

The Mist
by Maple Tree (4)
This poem how small, it is full of freshness and bonding of the writer with nature.
Here the flowers bath their souls with the river as the poet breath their soul alongside them. The way she could bask in the breath of seeding hugs in an enchanting scenery that is a cuddle between the imagination, beauty within and beauty out side
Everything is full of life, dews mate as she hugs. Morning dews are moistening the desert iris and when she journeys beyond the night, she sees again she is hugged, this time by morning (4)

The Mist
by Maple Tree (10)

This poem is great! It has a powerfully sensual feel to it and is enjoyable to read. I like how nature is beautifully incorporated to paint a wonderful lively image and scene, awaking our senses by movement and texture and I love the word choice! It flows wonderfully and has a natural, soothing beat to it, which has to do with the word choice. Everything about it is perfect!
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August
by Noura

I read many nominated poems that were written as part of the challenge, and I felt this was one that felt the most effortless and true to the poet's voice. This is a poem about brittleness, and it is written with astounding delicacy and originality. It has a masterful balance of concrete and abstract imagery, of ruthless reality and quaintness without pretension. This is a poet who knows instinctively that verbs and flat nouns can have far more descriptive power than adjectives in poetry, especially when used in pieces such as this. Evocative work. (10)
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Made (10)
by Tara Kay

This poem reads like a mini novel full of my favorite metaphors & imagery.

HM COMMENTS:

I was Not a Naked Tree [Prose]
by Everlasting (10)

This is the kind of poem of such rare quality that it is almost impossible to assess its emotions.

"So I ended up growing leaves as verbs and housing nouns as birds. Every time my leaves fell, I would fly some nouns in its place. To me it seemed as the proper thing to do, it sounded right, no one complained, plus I was not a naked tree, I had birds covering my branches, I was giving out words but most importantly, it seemed everyone understood me."

These are definitely my favorite lines. The mention of birds covering their branches is unforgettable. Birds being the nouns, whatever exists, we assume, can be named, and that name is a noun, also the very first words we usually learn to speak as a child and as a learner of a foreign language.

"So I just went with the flow of nature until I found a helping hand who advice me to either hire someone to transport me where I belong - the south - or to continue growing my roots, but this time deeper into a dictionary."

^ who "advise" me to instead of advice

Loved the established connected from opening to closing line and most importantly the poignant feeling and the air of melancholy as I read each line. 10)
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Suffering.
by Poet on the Piano (10)
Everything "ends" with death but this poem "starts" with death. With this idea of death one could die so many times in order to find the borders of what we call it life.
It takes at least a few pages to put all the pieces of this piece together to explain the mood and to analyze why the child of within is trying to hang on to its innocence in the crowd of people. (perhaps the crowd of no conscience, of innocence lost. )
Or this part:
"I imagined you escaping the silence,
never lacing the skyline with "goodbye, again"
or harboring a collection of disappearing
acts I could play over when my lungs
let out a cry in the dark..."
is so personal but so transparent that you feel anything you say is going to taint and disturb its clarity.
She goes beyond time to exam the validity of each death, to find the borders by foreseeing twenty years, to see her own open veins in the end of each wire that keeps getting rewired "to mean shocks "
The rewiring of the time expectancy in this verse is very intriguing and flexible: Usually people go "forward" to future but she promises that she would not go "back" to feature because she already has broken the barrier of time in previous stanza.
Here the feeling is so personal yet so feminine. The using of modern and unusual poetical devices makes this poem so fascinating. The personal aspect of this work is pleasant because any personal experience in our lives has the elements of "all-purpose" in it for we all, before anything else, are human, but only a good poet could make this connection and help us to realize that beneath the ink of dark, our words are bleached and silenced all together. (10)

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Na�����¯ve Poem
by Vince Gullaci

I have followed this poet's style for several years and am glad to see him writing again. This poem is a typical example of his style... some people like to mix their spirits while this guy takes the shot glass. This poem isn't even as punchy as some of his others, but it still shows a natural understanding of projecting a particular tone in writing and an enormous respect for the selection and placement of words in poetry. Though it uses a pretty pat metaphor, its concentration and crystallisation of a singular image and thought is delivered beautifully, and is much more technical than it seems. (7)
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Attachment
by The Huntress (7)
Somehow the beginning of this poem reminds me of the satanic verses' fall right in the beginning of the novel
Railroad to airport , her chest that is a runaway that no plain would ever land on . these are all artistic depiction of a conflict between opposite forces: Man and woman, what we desire and what we want, a man who's had the sun shining on his bare back all his life and a pregnant wallet...
And here it goes, a bewitching descriptions:
"someone
who seeks understanding in the rough edges of a scar
just because the streets have been biting on their fingernails
more than they themselves would; someone
who understands the architecture of a capital
despite the calligraphy that curls"

She does not want "to fall in love with a road fixer again," like she is trying to tame her desire. The desire, something so overwhelming that made them cuddle all around Europe, became the legacy... jet legged her camera, and perhaps blocked her chest for any landing plains to come.
Then the brilliant image of: mimicking each others shadow on a graffitied wall to reflect and echo the vandalism (destruction ) we caused, we painted on each other heart.
This description would be perfect if some of the extra accessory was eliminated. (7)

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Scrambling
by Britt (7)

This poem speaks so much truth and that there is a connection to all mankind within each man. I love the consistent pattern of scenarios that precisely defined that connection; we all want a better life.

Though this is a poem of hope, it seems significant that the poet chooses to include such hardships and sufferings for each character in order to shape that powerful ending; hope is a great healer as we scramble to the next best thing. (7)
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Dark world
by Rose (7)

At a certain point in my life I felt just as the poem describes, and I attempted to describe my feelings through writing, but I couldn't, which resulted in my poem "Tides from the underground". This is why I like this poem, it describes how death can be a relief, how sadness and pain can sometimes be relief. Although it it is a dark poem, it has a different take on the feelings that we don't like to feel, showing that pain gives us experience, regret helps us make good decisions and tears make us appreciate happy times. Also, the poem is simple to read and conveys a great message and flows perfectly.
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Open your eyes and look north
by Redangelwings

This neat small package hit the right spot with a flawless flow. (7)
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Dying To Be Loved
By Lostlove1

From the title to the end this poem remain completely true to its theme. (4)
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Pineapple Upside-down Cake
by Larry Chamberlin the Godfather (4)

I liked this poem because it creatively describes food in another way. Instead of the poem being about the cake it is about relationships and how they don't always point to the direction we intend for them. I like how different elements of the cake (color, taste, texture) are incorporated into the poem by describing feelings (greed, love, passion, desire... etc). This technique (relating the intangible with the tangible) makes intangible concepts more easy to relate to. I find this poem a unique experience which I loved!
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Now
by Chelsey (4)

"There use to be a time where I thought we were all born writers."
^used

"can not be swallowed, these words can not be understood."
^ cannot

"broken family, and dreams that are too far fetched to reach."
^farfetched or far-fetched

These are not meant to criticize this poem; however I only want to point these out just in case it appears at the front page.

This poem ends as random as it began which I find interesting in a way. The hesitation from the first line matches with its ending lines. The use of question marks denotes uncertainty; hence, I find the theme of this poem, well-expressed. (4)
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Branding Iron
by Melpomene

I am a reader who gets easily put off by fanciful descriptions and a laboured hand. I want to trust the writer and I want to believe their words. There are parts in this poem that border on the theatrical, but there is no denying the innate sensuality and remarkable creativity of this writer. There is a lot going on that cloud up this poem for me, but it is clear that this writer knows how to weave wonders and many readers will enjoy decrypting the stories behind the poem. I always feel for an impact, a clarity of thought or a piece of originality. Here, I was left with a richness that almost suffocated but I liked it and was intrigued enough to read it several times. I feel this writer is developing a style that is very gradually starting to strip itself and leaving some bits a little rawer, a little less conflicted. I want to encourage that and look forward to more. (4)

Congrats all!

I'm mega confused Chels lol. It shows I have a 7 vote but no comment, and Mel has a comment but no vote showing.

I know one judge did not do comments on at least one poem.

Also, another judge has asked to be allowed to make comments on poems the judge felt was commendable.

BTW, thanks Chelsey & Judges
congrats to the winners & other HMs & thank you to the judge for the comment on Pineapple.

What the hell???? something happened with my organazational skills...I added it. lmao omg.

I am glad I didn't become a judge. it is getting quite sloppy.
I hope those judges who only spend one line to comment their chosen ones, have spent more time choosing them.

congratulation to "some of" the winners and HM s!!!!!

Thank you for the HM!

and also for the correction, it's very helpful.

LOL that makes more sense now :P

Congrats winners
TY judge for the HM. :)

Congrats to the winners & HM's!!!
Thank you Chels and I greatly appreciate my HM and comment... thank you judge, very insightful and one of the best comments I've ever gotten, wonderful perspective and time spent on it it seems

Thank you judges for the comments, it's nice to be on the front page with Noura and Tara Kay! Congratulations to the hm's as well.. :-)

Congrats Winners & HMs:)

Great Job Chels & judges...!

Congrats!

Congratulations Tara Kay and Andrea, and H'Ms!

Thank you, judges, mods and Chels.

Congratulations Andrea, Tara Kay & Noura & of course to all of the HM's.

Thank you judge for the HM, one of the most constructive comments I've received in a long time.