Weekly Contest results, 30 June 2014

The overwhelming sentiment this week (by four judges) is that an extraordinary young lady is dead wrong about herself when she states she can no longer write poetry. Noura's paean reaches to the very soul of what it means to be an artist. This is also perhaps the most fortunate failure to meet a site-wide contest deadline I can think of, since she has now graced the front page instead. Kakera's implosive dialogue and Kristina's lamentation continue the somber theme for this week's winners. On a side note, Luce's prolific output is well appreciated as she garnered Three HMs.

Winners:
Murmurs of an Ex-poet by Nourayasmine 10+10+10+10= 40 points
Exhales by Kakera 7+4=11 points
Labyrinth of Grief by Kristina 10 Points

Honorable Mentions:
Monologue by Saerelune 4+4=8 points
Memories by Beautiful soul 7 points
From the Beach to the City by Everlasting 7 points
Visage by Maple Tree 7 Points
Magic Wand (A Poem for Children) by Sylvia 7 points
Dear society by Everlasting 4 points
Hello by Everlasting 4 Points

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Murmurs of an Ex-poet by Nourayasmine 10 points
What can one say about this poem? Really, the poem speaks for itself. Even if the reader were to not understand each of the comparisons given, the reader could still feel like the poem is speaking to him. I mean the comparisons weren't thoughtless. They are crafted in a way that the poem feels complete. Aside from that, the poem doesn't failed to capture the reader. We are taking into it, into every word, plus into the life of the poet and her feelings.
However, if anyone would like to know my thoughts as I was reading, I have to say that the line "I'm not a poet" resonated within my mind, and I continued wondering, what exactly does being a poet means to the author?
I think stanza two answered my question. In a way, I continued disagreeing with her ( with her thinking she is not poet) as the meaning of being a "Poet" at least to me has a different meaning. Other than that, it was an excellent piece. 10 points.
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Murmurs of an Ex-poet
by nourayasmine
Noura, Where do I begin? I was left with my head spinning with this poem.
I have read this numerous times and still I am speechless! Well written poem by you this week. Its brilliant!
Raw emotions mixed with darkness and tragedy are etched in every line, mixed with outstanding word usage..
I just can't get enough of this poem and I apologize for such a small comment, but all I can say is -------------------- WOW! (10)
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Murmurs of an Ex-poet by: Nourayasmine (10)
I agree with whoever said that there is such beauty in your words, beauty in a way that is hard to describe, but maybe because of the honesty, of the doubts, of that anger perhaps or feelings of not being able to be certain images of light or hope at the time. That shows one is human. That we are not always ready with our actions and how we communicate. That what we are is not always pretty. This is a moving piece, especially in the self-revelation that is personal and heartbreaking to read as an outsider. I feel that so much has shattered you, war, the fleeting promises of peace or happiness perhaps. The metaphors in this are simply worded yet complex on their own because there is a great deal of pain and struggle you are facing, yet putting that into words may be impossible, and all you may be able to do now is do what you know in the moment. A powerful piece, your verses cannot be broken down for each line touches my heart and has a poignant voice.
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Murmurs of an ex poet by Nourayasmine 10 points
Those first four lines!! What a hook, scene setting and tone setting at its finest. This is a master class in sad poetry, stanza 2 has such dark and deep imagery it is frightening. This whole piece has a feel of a release but one that has vented beautiful lyrically perfect music. I love the repetition of I and I'll it's almost finger pointing narrative. Overall this is one of those poems that crop up from time to time that is hastily added to a lot of readers favourites. Well done 10 points.
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Exhales by Kakera (7)
I like how immediately, the author is reaching out to a specific audience, those whom the sunlight reaches. Those who may be hopeful enough to see a purpose in their lives or those who are already finding happiness in life. I find rhythm in this piece and also a smooth transition between stanzas... from feeling trapped to even having self-destructive thoughts. The idea of rebuilding the stars in one's own sky, having control, stands out to me as we all may wish to do that at times if we feel our lives have become too vulnerable. Then the third stanza speaks profoundly about love and how love has reached the author, yet that desire to keep it, like its sacred, has exhausted the mind and heart. Some of the most emotional lines are here:
"It took all of my hate to balance it out
when my exhales became hurricanes
of lovely sadness that killed our faith,"
Very well-written and I think the repetition of "And when I did, I wept endlessly" (with the slight change to when it did, mentioning sadness) has a certain conclusiveness, that this is where the author can hope no more.
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Exhales
by Kakera
What a beautifully sad poem by Kakera this week!
I was locked in from start to finish. It's very hard to pour sorrow onto paper and transform it into true elegance, and Kakera did that with this piece.
I really admire the repetitive lines in this poem:
"And when I did,
I wept endlessly"
and
"To all of you whom"
Kakera used these lines in repeat form and that added a nice touch to this sorrow based piece, however my only critique would be that whom was used in the first stanza and "who" was used in the following stanzas... which caught me off guard a tiny bit.
I won't dive in too much on the message of this poem, I feel it speaks for itself and very tastefully expressed. Pain and sadness; written in a breathtaking poem.. left me speechless at the end of reading. (4)
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Labyrinth of Grief by Kristina (10 Points)
The message in this write is clear, that time doesn't always heal wounds and when you realize that you feel as if you have been struck by lightning, time has done nothing but numb you to the point of not functioning daily. The person allows themselves to be surrounded by the feelings of grief, anger and bitterness and has become so use to those feelings that their fear of happiness is keeping them stuck in the labyrinth of grief. They are simply "happy" where they are because of that fear and afraid that if things do change, they will not know how to live they have been grieving so long.
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Monologue by: Saerelune (4)
This is a dark piece in my mind, and it goes beyond loneliness.... I feel like this character has been completely neglected, that they have come to the point where nothing in the world can satisfy them, seeking to feel something perhaps even if it's temporary. The part in quotations is so direct and make me picture this broken person, who seems unable to function because they have been let down so many times or have experienced depression. This is an expressive yet forlorn piece. The tone is set for the reader and almost haunts them, from the letters leaving this character to this character isolating herself so to speak, and hearing nothing but their own echo. There is an absence of passion and nothing can replace that. I like the effect of the format as well, it seems simple using the "..." and spacing a few words out, but it helps set the atmosphere as well and truly show how alone this person is, in their soliloquy.
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Monologue by Saerelune
The starting lines were interesting, with good imagery. I also liked the play in words as well as the strange scenario that I pictured. This piece can leave the reader wondering what exactly is about. However, what I like the most is that one can feel the narrator's insecurities and the vulnerability that surfaces out of the few written words. Also the whole scenario seems to revolve in a room. Nice 4 points
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Memories by Beautiful soul 7 points.
You read this and the first word that comes to mind is 'Brave', brave to write this piece and even braver to publish it. It must have taken some strength to sit and write this, having to dig deep into those foulest of memories and put them down on paper. As humans we tend to remember only the good things of our past, it takes real effort to relive the bad things. I love the simplistic layout and the sectioning especially. I hope that this has brought you some relief however minor and I believe you deserve at least an HM for sharing. 7 points.
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From the Beach to the City
by Everlasting
Lucero made me want to go live at the beach!
This nature poem is very unique and truly melted my heart this week! I could feel a touch of sadness and longing in this poem and that added to the creativity of this poem for me.
I felt a romantic elegance within this poem, possibly used metaphorically or perhaps a hint of underlying messages.
Either way I was mesmerized by the word usage and display. Very pretty nature poem by Everlasting! (7)
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Visage by Maple Tree (7 Points)
Simplicity at its best. Message to me is the writer wishes to write poetry that makes people smile. To take the every day mundane things and put them on paper in a way that makes the reader feel the power of the words and brings that smile out.
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Magic Wand (A Poem for Children) by Sylvia
It's always enjoyable to read stories that focus on teaching while using a creative method. The phrase "Please and Thank you," are without a doubt, magic words that everyone should learn to say especially children. And what a better way to teach them, other than by narrating them a tale that'll keep them entertained. Enjoyable poem with slant rhymes and imagery. Well done. 7 points
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Dear Society By Everlasting 4 points.
As I started reading this I thought 'slam poem' it is nice to see them on here as they are quite rare and when written well they are very powerful. This though started off as a slam poem and then morphed into a regular free verse poem. I loved the detail throughout and I actually thought it was a nice twist on the slam poem as the paced was naturally slowed by the end. 4 points.
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Hello, by Everlasting (4 Points)
What a refreshing change to read a poem that truly makes me smile and feel good. It doesn't ramble on and on and on and on, doesn't have a "secret meaning". It is just happy. Jelly does wiggle and so does jello in a spoon or on the table. Many a child and adult has been entertained by watching the jelly or jello in a spoon jiggle. The write could be the words to a song that a mother might use when trying to get a young child to eat and plays the airplane game with a spoon and food. I can hear her singing that song now which brings back memories of my son's childhood. This write can be so many things to so many different people but above all it makes all of them happy and glad in the end to eat.

Congrats all! :)

Congratulations to the Winners and HM's. Thanks for the comment and vote on the Magic Wand poem and it was written as a teaching moment, plus it was fun to write.

Thank you judges for the wonderful comments. Really made my day!

And congratulations to the rest of you! Also: I totally saw it coming that Noura would get such a high scoring. That poem is... It's indescribable

Thanks to Larry and poets for the wonderful job. No thanks to the judges what so ever!!

This week I was sure that my poem was not going to be amongst winners. Ask me why? Wasn't I confident about it? Yes I was. I am sure it is going to stand the judgment of time versus the rest. But I have no say on that in here, judges do and I respected that until this week. My problem is that that this week I kept on monitoring my poem, since Friday afternoon that Hellon was nice enough to nominat it, until now, and noticed even one person did not open the poem. The number did not change exept by me.
So this time I was dam sure that my poem is not going to win. How could they choose something they did not even bother to read?
So my confident to you guys that was restored recently, all the sudden, shifted in opposite direction. Now I do not know how many other poems you've left unread or it just was me- for any reason what so ever - But if you even do not check one poem, your competition is invalid and annulled in the eyes of THE truth and poetry itself!! Because the winner only could be clearly chosen against every single participant, and if even one is exempted, how could any of gracious winners enjoy their winning if even their poetry is the greatest?

Being hidden from others eyes do not exempt you from the eyes of the truth and your own God dam conscience.

Now the weakest of you going to think I am pissed because I did not win. But I have never done anything to promote my winning unless by writing poetry. So I am not obsessed like some others. But I am very concern and obsessed about injustice whether versus me or others!!!!!

Congrats to all and thank you judges and Larry. Thank you for the hm judge. :). It was hard to write yes but worth it.

I would hope that each Judge is reading every nominated poem. Whether they read it immediately before the weekend or earlier. Sweet & Sensual was nominated late, but it's been posted for 2 weeks.

Ddavidd, it may be a testament to your popularity that the poem was read by the judges before it was nominated.
Also, I wouldn't put much reliance on the counter. It doesn't always seem accurate to me.

You are right. It is the only option that I could think of. Yet it is very sloppy judging that if you read a poem before and then disregard it after it is nominated merely based on your memory. And then if so, what is the difference between a judge and a common spectator, if the same vision is applied?

The other thing is, Hellon asked me to correct the poem right after it was nominated, and I did,
yet it was not even opened. True Judges at least take a glance at the poem they previously read before competition, before rendering their hatsful judgments of what they remember of it.

4 x 10 !! :D
totally deserved.

Congrats all, beautiful poems this week! :)

For the record at least two judges (who contacted me) insist they read it before & after the changes, Ddavidd.

So then there must be a glitch in the system because I was very diligent before I spoke out my judgment. Otherwise I knew I could turn out to become the very convict of my verdict against those that I render it.
"Tracking( judging in this case) the tracker, you have to be double tracker." Don John

I do not know them. They could be my very good friends. In final analysis everything turns back to our conscience, in whom we have to answer after all, if we are poets, and if not, why do we bother?

There are times I have logged onto my poem & when I come back the clicker doesn't change. I think if you're on the same ip as when you posted, it doesn't count it.

Poor little 'glitch' seems to take the brunt of all the excuses on this site...someone needs to give it some love! Write a poem for the little fellow haha!!!

I've visited Ddavidd's poem 5 times in the last 30 mins, without signing on to the site and, each visit has been recorded instantly.

Haha dear Larry if I did not check that possibility , I would be the convict of my own verdict, rendering judgment in such hast.
Since they brought the number( I do not know when, it was not there years ago) it always shows how many times a poem has been opened either with the same IP or not, even when one is not signed in.

Thank you for the Hm, I greatly appreciate it :-)

Congratulations to Noura, Kakera and Kristina !! Along with all the other hm's... very pretty poetry this week!

RealMe,

I'm not sure the exact time when you started monitoring the views, perhaps that may play a role?

The judges may have read the poem before you started monitoring the views?

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Thank you for the Hm's and congrats everyone. Way to go Noura! You got 4 X 10's.

Wow, guys, I'm honestly so flattered. I'm overwhelmed, I don't know what to say. Thank you so much! I'm reading the comments with a BIG smile on my face. Your words mean a lot to me.

Writing always helps, and PnQ has always been like a shelter for me.
Thank you, Larry and judges. Your efforts are much appreciated.

Congrats to Kristina and Kakera! I'm honored to be on the front page with you guys.

The honour is mine, Noura!

Really good job Nora!!

It is possible EL, if I were sloppy. Still a little possibility for one or two, in the beginning ( close to zero because I was aware of the visited number even before the nomination, fore some personal reason.) So imagine even two ( the two that contacted Larry) of judges opened it just for one time in the beginning,( which is not enough for a thorough judging) what about the rest of them?

So my final word: do you dam the action of those judges who do not check any poem for any reason what so ever? Would you say they are unconscionable people if they do so? That they do not have any business in poetry, never mind judging?? AT least lets all agree on this!!

How does the judging and scoring process even work, by the way? Just a digression.

I would suggest that you agree to judge & do it the way it should be done.

Kakera: Five anonymous judges are given voting power. Out of the nominated poems they select the 3 they think are the best and assign 10, 7 & 4 points to them. Then they write a comment on each of these three poems, along with the score they gave each, and send it to the mod account. The mods take turns compiling these comments and scores and publish them in the Member Forum, just as this thread was done.
Meanwhile, the site is preprogramed to take the three highest scored poems and publishes them on the "front page" and in an e-mail that may or may not be sent out to about 100,000 subscribers.
You can see the front page at
<http://www.poems-and-quotes.com/contests.html>

Let's see,

"So imagine even two ( the two that contacted Larry) of judges opened it just for one time in the beginning,( which is not enough for a thorough judging) "

It seems you are not considering the possibility of judges copying the poems to a word document on Friday's night when the voting closes, how's so?

Though I agree with Mr. Larry's suggestion. I think is a good one.

Extraordinarily written poems this week congrats to the winners and honorable mentions.

I think I have said everything I wanted to about this matter if you pay attention. You either are in the side of light or you are hiding behind any shade of excuse you are able to. That is so obvious the reason of why you say this. I love those two too.

If there is this kind of treatment so I stop posting my poems in this site.

Well done to the winners and hm's this week :)

Ddavidd, I and many others enjoy reading your poems so while you have no obligation to post them here, I'd hope you would continue to do so.

I largely echo Larry's sentiments. I'd hope judges read all poems when they are nominated (a handy way I found when I was judging was making sure the poem link/titles were all in purple, meaning I had viewed them all before casting my final votes.) This bunch of judges have proven responsible and personally I find it unlikely and difficult to believe that not one of the 5 read your poem, let alone any other site (or non-site) member when it was nominated. I've never encountered a glitch but poems in the misc section in general get v low views, unless its a glitch something to do with that?

I'm also curious, did you record votes on your poems before or was this the first time? And what prompted you to do it?

Thanks Colm . Actually talking to one of the members accidentally I figured out what probably had happened. I do not think it is a glitch. Most of the judges read my poem in the week before and then after it showed up in the contest list it appeared as red meaning the poem is already read. So they recalled and perhaps they did not bother to read it again assuming it was already judged. It is a little sloppy but could have happened honestly. It could have happened to me too so it is not a big deal.
What here I was looking after, was mean spirited people, or those who mix their personal issues with their judgments. And I think I have absolute right, to do so. The issue has to be addressed and those who shy away from addressing these issues fearing they might lose a good thing, they already doing the losing, by their own neglecting of the betterment.
And those who get mad at me they should go after "sunshine" not me, because they are umbrageous to the light.
People, (mediocre) believe that no matter what, they have to defend their families, their hoods, their clubs. ... There is no way if I object to a member of a group or club and the other do not launch at me, regardless of if the objection is merit or not. The same goes with the Mods you cannot criticize one without being criticising the rest. The worst goes for the judges, above all the above reason, everyone always try to show them their loyalty because secretly they hope to get that loyalty back. Sadly they do it even sometime for the slimmest of possibilities.

It is so hard to be brave and address the issues in such environments. People defend their wrong doings with everything, with lies, often even to themselves, theatrical displays of being hurt, anger... I agree though because of people like Larry and most of the new mods, more and less, these things do happen here much lighter then before but they do.
And from the bottom of my heart: standing for what is right, is always the saddest and loneliest task.

I like that you stand for what you believe in and express yourself, but I think when anyone approaches an issue antagonistically, others will rush to the rescue. That's the way of the world. And yes, we are biased. Best we can do is be aware of it and try not to be.

From my extremely limited experience as a judge, I read poems as they were nominated... So if a poem was nominated and then rolled into a second week, I probably already read it the first week. If I've ruled it out, then it's out. I guess the fair thing would be to read all of the poems in a row and weigh them against one another, but that's not how I approached the task. I assume that's not how others approach it either, and therefore I think your latest assumption is correct!

Anyway, congratulations to the winners, HM's, judges, and Larry. Congrats for being awesome and keeping this site going!

Two things. First I did not approached it antagonistically, I approached it objectively. That supper sensitive mood in this site that mistakes any objection or criticism as assault is the reason of it dying like this. If water does not current it turns to marsh.
Second thing: You did not read it correctly it was the first week nominated, second week posted. If it was the second week nominated All my object would have been absolutely ridiculous and I were the first one to acknowledge it before even shifting, and materialising into words.

In the end I appreciate your appreciation( liking).

I dunno. I think it's a bit antagonistic to assume as much as you did in your first poem and damn the integrity of the judges and the contest with your single experience. It was clear you were emotional about it. If you were truly being objective, you would have reported it as an observation and questioned it without all the accusations. But I understand your emotion and your concern was valid.

But then, I didn't see anyone take it as an 'assault' either. If anything, ddavidd, you seem to be the only one taking offence in this thread.

Just keeping the current going, as you like...(I do, too)

And, Noura, your poem is magnificent.

Haha Abby Abby.
you contradict yourself. I guess logic in not your forte.
again two thing . I never said anyone assaulted me and I wasn't treated even close to be badly. Larry and Colm were absolute gentleman. and Silevershoe was sweet and EL. was mild.

I went that direction becausen to notify the modes would usually go nowhere; they hardly respond. Colm falls sleep in the middle of complain and forget all about it. That is why I gave him the nick name: "sleeping beauty"
They would do nothing, they hardly hold on to the contest for God sake.
But this way I made an impression. I did not assume bluntly. I built my assumption based on irrefutable observation and conclusion it fallows then waited for counter objection and if they weren't merit I refuted them again.
I am glad regardless your statement you understand MY emotion and MY observation was a valid concern.

'But then' means I recognise the contradiction myself.

"That supper sensitive mood in this site that mistakes any objection or criticism as assault is the reason of it dying like this."
This is what made me think you're talking about people taking what you've said as an assault.

Glad everything is hunkydory and your impression was made successfully.

Yes you did: I am glade and always applicative to your honesty.

I was talking general. I was treated so nicely. But still nobody really understood and responded to this:

"MY final words: do you dam the action of those judges who do not check any poem for any reason what so ever? Would you say they are unconscionable people if they do so? That they do not have any business in poetry, never mind judging?? AT least lets all agree on this!!"

that aloofness is really bothersome to me.

Yes, all nominated poems should given consideration by any given judge within their week. If the judge is unable to do that, they should notify the mods and get someone else to judge.

But as there is no way to really prove it is happening, there's not much we can do about it except trust in the integrity of the system.

Yes absolutely

As we should be trusting the integrity of the system (as I am stoutly a believer of "Anglo-Saxons" system of justice that: everyone is innocent unless proven otherwise. ) we also have to be aware and pay attention to and scrutinise our own integrity and others in order to evolve and run like river rather than turning to marsh.

And yes there are ways to do so. This was one of them. We always are to attack darkness when it's not expected, otherwise, IT, is the master of disguise.( not suggesting anyone here tough, just some moods and inclinations )

And this is the answer to the Colm's question that: " what prompted you to do it?" (counting the numbers)

Abby,

" I think it's a bit antagonistic to assume as much as you did in your first poem and damn the integrity of the judges and the contest with your single experience. It was clear you were emotional about it. If you were truly being objective, you would have reported it as an observation and questioned it without all the accusations. But I understand your emotion and your concern was valid."

^^^ I couldn't have agreed more. I like the clarity in your words.

It is so interesting how you interpret clarity to your advantage before even reading or comprehending the conversation in whole.
This is called selective attention. Historian often do that. They just report those events that sport their agendas instead of reflecting the picture in compete.
Clarity is valid when the light reflect truly through, if it is partial, it means the light has bumped into obstacle which then concludes to something opposite of clarity.
All I am saying is you did not see the clarity of what Abby said , you just reflected one part out of the context to imitate your point.

In conclusion: If you don't agree with ddavidd, you have not seen the light.

Or if you see the light you would know ddavidd did not want to deceive you.

Plato Talks about an episode that we all are living under the ground with relative distance to the light, and taking the shadow of objects that we see as the true account of objects in which are far to be accurate.
But the funny part is that those of us who get to see the outside,(light) have such impossibility in front of them, if they are nice enough to go back in the dungeon, trying to convince others, that the objects are not as they seem in the darkness, without being accused as fool, egomaniacs and all variety of other things,