Weekly Winners - October 3rd, 2016

Hey guys, Mark here. Gracing this week's front-page is Dean Kuch with his dark swap quatrain poem "Ye Olde Gravedigger", Saerelune breaks her P&Q hiatus with her chilling poem "Day XX - 46 kg of desperation" and myself with "09/27/2016" ( influenced by Jane's 'how to calm the seas', which was influenced by Larry's 'Descent to nowhen'). Congrats to all the winners, and those who picked up a HM. Thank you judges for all of your hard work. <3

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Winners:
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09/27/2016 by Senyru (34pts = 10 pts + 10pts + 10 pts + 4 pts)
Ye Olde Gravedigger by Dean Kuch (20 pts = 10pts + 10 pts)
Day XX - 46 kg of desperation by by Saerelune (14 pts = 7 pts +7 pts)

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HMs:
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Dear Father by Brenda (8 pts = 4pts+ 4 pts)
September by Meena Krish (7 pts)
I'll Continue being me by Em (7 pts)
For Trish #3 by Koan (7 pts)
Idle Morning at the Dock by J Nair (4 pts)
Indoctrination by Victor (4 pts)
Rapunzel by Mr Darcy and Ben Pickard (Honouary Mention)

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Comments:
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09/27/2016 by Senyru:
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This write captures the audience from the first line, it is catchy, eloquent, and extremely well presented. The audience can imagine and see everything about this piece clearly, but they can also form their own spin or interpretation of each and every stanza. The style of this is very typical for Senyru, but it never fails to intrigue the audience and is filled with incredible uses of vocabulary. This is the kind of writing many aspire to, and as such, it deserves an honorable mention at the very least. (10 pts)

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This poet keeps digging under my skin with every poem penned. As though when you become very familiar with an artist or a singer's voice, you just know them instantly...the poet has their own print right all over the piece. And this, being inspired by another touching written earlier on the site, just made everything more touching. I am in love with the poem. Beautiful, poetic, flowing with classy descriptions. Well done (10 pts)

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I knew immediately with the first few lines this would be my top pick this week. A very sensual poem written with class. It screams "An officer and a gentleman" meets "Fifty shades of gray". You certainly can't quell a storm when you have awoken the Kraken. Awesome write! I loved silvershoes write and adore this one as well. Can we see a collaboration from you two? If not, I will just drool over these two fantastic poems. (10 pts)

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Mark knows how to metaphorically swoon the reader within his poetry and within this poem selected!
Each stanza is filled with such visuals, its breathtaking! However, the reader can manage to understand the meaning without getting lost in the metaphor and I admire and love that! This poem is beautiful! (4 pts)

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Ye Olde Gravedigger by Dean Kuch
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Not only a great rhyming historic theme but also a swap quatrain poem (the first line of each stanza is reversed in the fourth line with rhyming in couplets) Although no required syllable count or meter Dean has chosen to write in iambic tetrameter. A small window in time of a time when disease was rife and a gravedigger's work was never done and where he very literally worked till his death. Very cleverly written and smoothly pulled off in a seemingly effortless way - a definite 10. (10 pts)
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From the title, to the beginning and ending stanza, I was hook!

Dean has such a unique and creative style! You cant help but get sucked into this wonderful poem!

An old style moment of long ago, with the tale of the old gravedigger! The twist at the end breaks my heart!

Dean captured the grueling task of how it was done back in the day and I truly loved the word usage and descriptive visuals! Brilliant poem! (10 pts)

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Day xx-46kg of desperation by Saerelune
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I am not sure about the meaning as it can be understood in different ends of the spectrum. The writer could be writing about battling with weight issues as the title eludes to or heartbreak over a relationship or even a mixture of the two which is how I perceived it. These lines kind of struck me the most.

"Those who hug me always seem to forget
that they stepped into a pool of blood
before entering my slaughterhouse;"

These lines set the imagery that "friends and relatives" are just as guilty for the problems the writer is experiencing. So to speak they have blood on their hands as well. However the amount of weight doesn't seem extreme at the moment but is declining and due to heartbreak makes the disease harder to fight. Very powerful write and much enjoyed. (7 pts)
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I am mesmerized by something as gloomy and sad. It's so creative and utterly deep. The lead, and closing verses blew me away, but so did everything else about it.. I don't even know what should I be commenting on such a poem, that with all its depth feels so natural and as though it is a REAL bloody part of the poet's own heart... All I can add is that it was so inspiring and moving and I am a new fan.
Well done. (7 pts)

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Dear Father by Brenda
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I know this might be the strongest poem written in regard of coherent and structure. However poems like this, ones that are so enriched with honest emotions and rawness, make me recall the natural feeling of a real poem.

There is so much honesty and vulnerability to this piece that it makes it so special with its faults.

I was touched by every line and felt a strong connection with the writer, as a reader.

It's sad and burdening.

So I ask you Heavenly Father,
if you are hearing prayers
this day,
make this one my last...
Amen.

^ this is nailed, slammed my heart. Thank you for sharing. (4 pts)
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Very interesting poem (prayer). I read in your comments that you stated that you had written this from an addicts POV {point of view}. I am not, nor have ever been an addict but I can imagine that this must be the prayer one would pray if they were. I liked the personalized little things you put in the poem such as the offhand comments referring to Game of Thrones.

" Winter is coming,
unlike that stupid show I used to watch
so many moons ago,"
and the term "white walkers"

I thought these references made the prayer a "more believable" one that would come from someone who has strayed from their religion and is praying for help. (4 pts)

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September by Meena Krish
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(Acrostic - the first letter of each line when read vertically must spell the topic of the poem) I loved that Meena also chose to make things more challenging and add Mono rhyming as this makes for a more dynamic piece. The theme of nature flows throughout and takes us through the retirement of summer and the gradual onset of Autumn and the oncoming winters embrace.
An imaginative, beautiful portrayal of seasons in a technically well written piece. Particularly pertinent as September draws to its close. (7 pts)

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I'll Continue being me.... by Em
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Though this is a short write it is very much filled with passion and heart. The use of ellipsis between the first and second stanza is interesting and incredibly powerful for being so subtle. The author's voice is clear, concise, and extremely calm considering the topic - which works out well. Something about this style and format screams "hi-light me in the weekly contest!" and that is exactly what it deserves. Nicely penned and creatively styled. (7 pts)
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For Trish #3 by Koan:
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Koan knows how to write his heart on a cloud, during a thunderstorm! That's how powerful and magical this poem is! To yearn for a person whom they have never met perhaps or to miss a loved one is the mood I felt within this elegant and graceful poem! Just lovely! (7 pts)

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Idle Morning at the Dock by J Nair:
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Just love the visuals and sounds in this delightful poem. The use of sound words add impact to the imagery and brings everything to life especially when read out loud. It made me feel like I was there standing at the docks watching the steamer and horses go by. A refreshing and simple style that imparts very well the feeling of spending an idle morning at the dock. Great life observations of the bustle and sounds of a busy port.

It is a lovely reminder that so often we get caught up in our lives and forget to stop listen and view the smaller more pleasurable details of life. A very well deserved 4 if not more (4 pts)

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Indoctrination by Victor:
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This piece is extremely interesting and well thought out. The style is eye catching and keeps the audience engaged through a few different means. There is an interesting lack of capitalization and punctuation, but honestly it seems to work here in this piece. It does a great job of leaving the reader in thought. A lot of unusual skills are profoundly utilized within this write this week.(4 pts)

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Rapunzel by Mr Darcy and Ben Pickard
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It is so difficult to par down and just judge three poems as being the best. So I have to go with technical quality, originality and with how a poem affects me personally.

Rapunzel is a collaboration by two excellent poets and is a wonderful adaptation of an existing fairy tale laid out over
five sonnets. A mammoth task but smoothly pulled off. I loved the idea of turning a fairy tale into a sonnet based tale and would have marked higher had it been an original story. It definitely warrants an honourable mention and if I had more points to give I certainly would have. (Honourary mention)

Congrats and thx peeps!

Congratulations to all the front page winners. Thank you judges for my HM and all your kind words. I really appreciate it greatly. Congrats to my fellow HM"so, awesome writes all around.

Firstly thank you judges for giving your time each week, it is very much appreciated and thank you Mark for posting.

Secondly thank you for my HM and congratulations to all other HMs.

Finally, well done to all front page winners, these writes seem to be getting harder and harder to judge each week so I take my hats off to you.

More wonderful poetry and comments this week. Well done to everyone involved.

Ben

Amazing poems this week guys i'm glad i'm not a judge this would have been too hard to choose!!!!!

Congratulations all!

Although 'How to calm the sea' was inspired by Larry's poem, 'Descent to Nowhen,' just to be clear, so we have him to blame for our creativity :)

Right, I remember one of the poems being influenced by the other, thanks for the correction!

Also forgot to mention, one of the judges was torn between two poems for the 4 vote, so they wrote comments for both (hence the honorary mention at the bottom);

Well done, one and all.

Congratulations

Congrats, everybody! Thanks so much judges... and of course, Mark for posting!

Congrats to all of the winners and HMs. ... cheers to all of you..
xoxo.

Gel

Great choices, judges.
Thanks for your dedication.
Congrats to the winners & HMs & thanks ( & congrats) to Mark.

For the record, Descent to Nowhen was inspired by Rosaura so track it all back to her ;8-)