Contest Winners- August 26, 2013

Hello All. Hope all is well in this last week of August for everyone!

One judge was unable to comment this week, but sent in votes. Those poems are starred for which they have no comment.

Whoop! This week we had three clear winners...Congrats to the front pagers and to Hm's!

The poet
by Karla- 10 + 7= 17

**Summer Storm
by Britt- 10 +7 + 4 = 21

**Ramble ramble
by Colm- 7 + 4 = 11

HM's:

Drifting hearts
by Baby Rainbow (10)

The Unseen (10)
by Lostlove1

The Real Kind of Naked
by Allhallows Eve (10)

Destroyed Beauty
by Baby Rainbow (7)

Enigma (7)
by Real Meaning

Detached From Hope (4)
by Baby Rainbow

Kuebiko...mid-spring
by Hellon (4)

**Untitled
by The Huntress (4)

WINNER COMMENTS:

The poet
by Karla

There are many poems that have been written about the nature of poetry itself... it can get cliche, but this poet is rarely cliche. Perfect first line: a statement that was profound in impact and effortless in delivery. The parenthesis in the first stanza was clunky, but I can understand how the poet felt it needed to be there. I question the adjectives used in this poem - again, I felt they were clunky in what was otherwise a clean yet skilfully impressionistic piece of writing that was both relatable and dynamic. (10)
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The poet
by Karla (7)

The poet is against himself in constant struggle for the fresh air as the world around him loses its sense of wonder and truthfulness -The world and also the words, the lungs, his very connections to the fresh air.
Poet is the one who needs the fresh air to survive.
In his anticorrosive eyes he is to fight against the urgency and the sense of corrosion that includes and devours everything, in everything he searches for immortality. But in the end the very air that he is so desperately wants to gasp on and to breath, the very act of breathing and consuming the air, the oxygen, would defy the immortality in him.
This poem no matter how small reveals the tragic episode of a poet existence: the paradox of searching for immortality in the means of his own destruction. (7)
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Summer Storm
by Britt

This writer has an inconsistent ability to blow me away. Here was one such example. I don't know whether the skill in this piece was by accident or design, but this writer needs to know that she possesses a natural poetry in her very character and speech that shines best when she isn't fluffing it up. Its words were simple and suited to the content - they also had a beautiful alternating pattern of stressed and unstressed syllables - it's so important for writers to use meter to their advantage as it creates subconscious wonders to the appreciation of poetry reading. The few adjectives were small and unpretentious so the poem wasn't bogged down. The verbs were selected well to create movement and stillness. I feel that verbs have much more power than adjectives to be evocative and emotional. The beauty of this poem was in its earthiness. It was pure and true. It was life and love. It was young and old. The last line was smiling. There was a contemporary, seamless style to this poem that is present in professional poetry today. (7)
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Summer Storm
by Britt (4)

I love this poem! It's so calm and soothing, every image and sound is clear and beautiful and I can feel how the surroundings effect the writers mood as if we get a glimpse of the writers soul. This is also the first time I've read a poem about something specific in a season and not the entire season... that's what makes it original, because there are no absolutes in real life.
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Ramble ramble
by Colm

This poet roams around and utters under his breath in the tune of melody. He repeats or comes backs to the seen of lilypat that he once wrote a long poem about :
" how he wished he was a hummingbird."
His meandering around is so careless; he reads the massages on doormats, he wanders around :
"wonder how the yellow tinge of sky must look from other angles."
He is so casual, he smokes and: "get the scores wrong
in football matches."
And all the things he does is within the demesne of being a man who once unfastened himself from his heart by writing a long poem about a lilypath he saw years ago. But he still is in love with a woman. (4)

HM COMMENTS:

The Unseen (10)
by Lostlove1

This poem did not miss a beat and I found myself wanting to be the unknown poet that the poem focused on
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The Real Kind of Naked
by Allhallows Eve (10)
Being away from anything that shatters your connection with the fresh air. Not any drape, any substance, any constituent that come in between you and trust, you and the secret that no one knows...
There is a place that you do not cover yourself because you have nothing to hide , nothing to be ashamed of, where you do not play the games, where there is no fashion , no make up, where there is an oasis of purity and clarity within your nudeness, in the desert of all these curtains, these colorful screens of dresses, that no drapes or cover could ever stain.
"Your vulnerability, into the stars, is etched"
There is a connection between vulnerability and beauty, something that we cover, something like the shame of being revealed and undressed, something that on the contrary, in the shine of transparency, reveals and adds on to, our beauties. (10)
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Drifting hearts
by Baby Rainbow

Last week I felt a strong desire to vote for this poem as I read it, but had to make a tough decision as there were many wonderful poems to vote for... This week I� � felt it deserved it... It is perfect! From the tittle to the words and rhyming scheme and the flow, the message it sends and the deep emotions it holds. It also matches the picture it was inspired from. Looking at that picture I would not have seen the image the poet had seen, but I can feel the same emotions of sadness and feeling lost. From her poem I could imagine all the lost children in this world amd how it is their right to feel safe and secure, though they remain drifting and lost. I could feel the pain of being ''caged'', valnrable and week... handling a burden bigger and heavier than I could handle. It is truly a heartbreaking poem.

** note: I read the poems without looking at the names at first then vote for them, which is why I didn't notice the repitition in the author of two of the poems I voted for. I don't know whether or not this is ok because voting for the same author wasn't mentioned in the rules. If there is a problem I could change one of my votes and send it in tomorrow so please notify me if that is the case. (10)
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Destroyed Beauty
by Baby Rainbow

This poem is great, well written and has good flow. I like how the beginning relates to the tittle and shows how destroyed beauty looks like and the how the poem shows how this transition occured backwards, by showing the result, the desire to prevent it, how things became the way they are and why. The poet also has a different perception of freedom and beauty, which made the poem relatable to a wider range of people... as there is always a point in life that we want to be free of our feelings in, and so we feel bad on the inside, ugly. (7)
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Enigma
by Real Meaning

The depth of this poem made me think of the traps set by well meaning people that do not understand in many cases the choses for many are narrow to none. (7)
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Detached From Hope
by Baby Rainbow

Strong message with a strong delivery. Also the strong ending really bonded the whole poem together (4)
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Kuebiko...mid-spring
by Hellon

I have enjoyed following Kuebiko's story. Very sweet and moving. I'm glad to find a happy ending. I found this poem was one of the best of the series. Great narration with poignantly detailed touches. A lovely scene was described with perception, instinct and a real fondness and respect for the art of storytelling. It contained a classic style that would appeal to children and adults alike. I do wonder though... what made Kuebiko's eyes blue? (4)

Thank you judges and all involve d!

To the judge who commented the first comment shown on my poem, thank you so very much. That was such a meaningful comment and I appreciate it!

Thanks so much for the meaningful comments. Thanks Judges. Congrats Britt and Colm. Congrats HM's.

Congrats Winners and thanks for the honorable mention*

Congrats to this week's winners and the other HMs.

Thanks to the judge for your great comment...I'm glad you enjoyed the Kuebiko series. To answer your question about the colour of his eyes...I don't think I mentioned their colour throughout but I did mention other colours and objects throughout the story. The red and white bandana, the blue vest etc. These were discretely placed ( I hope haha) in order to question my grandson to see just how much of the story he was absorbing. Thanks again for your comment and vote...much appreciated.

Congrats Winners & HMs:)

Great effort by the Judges & Chels^^

Smoothly run contest this week!
Thanks judges & Chelsey

Congrats to the winners & HMs.

Thanks judges and Chelsey and well done to the other winners and HM'ers :)

A late congratulations, to the winners & HM's!!
Nice work judges and Chelsey as usual!

One judge was unable to comment this week, but sent in votes

^^^^

Why?

His/her votes decided the outcome of 2 of the winners so I wonder if you are going to post them eventually---or if there is just no comments for that judge at all?!

:)

Smoothly run to me would be all comments from all judges~

^^ Couldnt agree more. The Mods heard from that judge. I didn't so hopefully they have an answer for that :)

The judge was having internet trouble this week, I forwarded on the message I received from them to you Chelsey. Of course, ideally five sets of comments should accompany the votes but on occasion its not always possible.

If they can't comment why would they vote at all?

Not a good enough answer in my book...if they took time to vote they should have to comment,
or their votes should not count.

If their internet is working now they owe the winners and the rest of us curious monkeys those comments

These are not the days of old when judges only voted and did not have to comment unless of course there is another reason for no comments...

better late than never I always say.