Weekly Contest Winners - November 21, 2016

Hello, everyone! Wishing everyone a great start to their holidays. May peace and love be with you all. Really proud of all our poets here as there are many reasons to celebrate.

Congratulations to Abby, Brenda and Mayday! With "Fighting in whispers", Abby shares a heartbreaking poem with us. It's her first poem on here after two years. The hurt leaves the heart aching and in so few lines, she tells the story, the fear, the words that do more damage than we often know how to fix. Brenda joined PnQ just this year and this is already her 4th win. I think it's safe to say she touched many hearts with "Every Woman", bringing awareness of abuse, accusations, submission due to societal expectations. Both women and men alike can feel the soul of this woman. Yet she does not sway. She is a survivor. Mayday also takes the spotlight in her 2nd win this year (she joined in March). Her play on words goes deeper to make us think about what "qualifications" we feel we need to be accepted/ pass in society. Also, big shout-out to both Ben and Karla who took home two honorable mentions!

Thank you as always, judges! Have a great week, everybody :) Stay safe

__________________________________________

WINNERS:

"Fighting in whispers" by: Abracadabra 10 + 10 = 20 points
"Every Woman" by: Brenda 10 + 4 = 14 points
"Qualifications" by: Mayday 7 + 4 = 11 points

____________________________________________

COMMENTS:

"Fighting in whispers" by: Abracadabra

"This poem might express the experience of every set of parents but only Abby would think to write it down; only Abby could do so in such effortless, self-effacing terms. It is a special talent to observe our human predicaments and to shed gentle warmth and humor on them." (10)

- - - - - - - - - -

"I have to be honest, when I read this poem, I had it marked for 10 points fairly early on, as biased as that may sound. I said to myself that something very special would have to come along to knock it from its lofty perch. Well, end of the week, and it's still sitting pretty up there. It's a stunning poem, quite simply.
What struck me most about this piece, aside from some clever description, was the irony in how much love, care and attention can still be present amidst such anger and venom. This alone raised it from a dreadfully sad piece to a sad piece tinged with a very human sort of hope." (10 points)

____________________________________________________

"Every Woman" by: Brenda

"I like this poem to the very inch of it!! It's one of those hard hitting, truth filled poem about
how women are perceived, used, taken for granted and humiliated. What more this poem
includes every woman as the title suggest from every walk of life, culture, religion; because
in every culture women are been treated and used without mercy or care.

The read itself is smoothly penned without missing a beat nor is there a hiccup or a
intrusion of the flow which makes the reader want to read each and every line till the
end and nodding one's head in agreement. Overall, a painful read yet powerful. Excellent!" (10)

- - - - - - -

"Usually I back away from poems that present themselves as one block of text. However, the theme of 'every woman' needed to demonstrate the generations of hardship, the long hard and on-going battle that women still fight.

As the reader takes on board some of the difficulties, each one bears down an increasing heavy load. I am sure any man would find this hard reading, and perhaps feel this weight? It is a shame that some men have yet to learn. Some men still use their physical presence to gain power.

Although this poem depicts a hard journey for women it also rejoices women, urging unity through a combined voice and heart." (4)

____________________________________________

"Qualifications" by: Mayday

"What a joy this was to read. Too few quality poems get posted in the funny section and the ones that do tend not to be taken seriously enough...as 'funny' as that may sound. This poem's title strikes almost as a senryu's in that, once the main body has been read, you realise that you have been led completely astray! Anyway, there is real wit in this write and it genuinely made me laugh. Well done." (7)

- - - - - - - - -

"This clever piece of poetry has a good sense of humor. It's always nice to read a poem that can steal a laugh from the read. That's not easy. Thanks for sharing." (4)

_____________________________________________

HM'S:

"Quick Poem & Letter" by: Senyru (10)
"The Expansion of Thoughts" by: Everlasting (10)
"My Special Place" by: Maple Tree (4) + (4)
"Bewildering" by: Satish Verma (7)
"The Naked Oaks Will Make Us Pine" by: Ben Pickard (7)
"The Treachery of Lust" by: Ben Pickard (7)
"Le vent nous portera" by: Karla (7)
"Comfortably Numb" by: Karla (4)

___________________________________________________

COMMENTS:

"Quick Poem & Letter" by: Senyru

"There are poems that I read, and as much as I try to make full sense of them, I can't. Overtime, I just forget them. There are others that keep on drawing me right into them, this one is one of them. Both, the poem and the letter, are filled with beautiful metaphors that captivate the senses. To not make this comment too long, the poem and the letter, calmly say (at least in my interpretation) "you are not alone, I am there for you when you need me." There are some examples throughout that are explained in the letter:

"I might not be able to swim with you there, but I'll be the lighthouse shining on it, until you get your bearings. "

"I know the pains of waiting for the monsoon, and I know the hunger of waiting for sunshine in the fog. I would pull apart all my leaves, my flowers, my stem to give you all my sap; to sustain you until April cries, or June kisses you."

What surprises me the most is that the narrator makes it clear that he/she will always be there but that one "person" might get tired of all the sweetness and eventually leave. Regardless of so, the narrator's voice and unconditional love is
shown throughout the poem and letter. It moves me." (10)

____________________________________________

"The Expansion of Thoughts" by: Everlasting

"Poems about poetry are not new to this site. I have read such poems that cleverly use punctuation as metaphors, whilst others like this one expand the theme further still.
Using the universe to show how expansive poetry can be is a good one. This for me effectively brought the required imagery to my mind. Often I have sat at my desk and imagined my mind becoming another mind, feeling its pain, knowing its journey. Is this possible? Maybe not, but this is what a poet attempts to achieve; an emotional canvas that is able to resonate to a wider audience.
I appreciate this poem too for its format, the use of 'space' and I wonder if (and hope) this is deliberate. Throughout this piece the use of characters are used to emphasise lines and words, such as:
------------------- like as if someone's touch
------------------- was cast upon my skin
------------------- even when not.

^
Shifting this text to the right urged this reader to sense an invisible touch.

Overall this piece is my favourite because, it looks fantastic on the page, uses an extending metaphor, and contains an end that trails off leaving the reader satisfied, but with a lingering taste that remains..." (10)

___________________________________________________________

"My Special Place" by: Maple Tree

"This almost cryptic little write is dripping with the kind of imagery that this lady seems to pluck effortlessly from thin air. Sometimes, I admit to reading her work with a casual sort of acceptance of the quality that I am likely to find within. But hers is not a casual talent and her work is always an absolute pleasure to read. This is a perfect little nature poem that feels like you have taken a delectable bite of something wonderfully sweet...and yes, that means you are bound to want a little more!" (4)

- - - - - - - - - - - -

"A simple write yet so truthful in its feelings. Within these few lines there is a
sense of peace, beauty of nature and a tinge of sadness that makes one forget
when the writer is in this place. I guess we all have that special place where we go
to just forget the world and all our troubles.

The opening lines just draws me into the read with lovely realistic images which is
soft and natural...liked this little read of life." (4)

_____________________________________________

"Bewildering" by: Satish Verma

"Bewildering, indeed. The imagery is fascinating. After reading a couple of times, I can visualize a man reminiscing with a friend about what they went through... but most importantly, the sensation that this piece incites is turmoil.

"The sea was rising"

"Amazing, the tigers were dead without wounds"

"The hail-stones were as big as skulls"

"The wronged angels were waiting"

The poem is intriguing, and the voice and tone captures." (7)

______________________________________

"The Naked Oaks Will Make Us Pine" by: Ben Pickard

"This is a beautiful poem. A love poem confined within the structure of a sonnet. How does the writer squeeze words of wisdom that convey a love lesson into a cage? Surely love should not be difficult; its language should flow in easy terms, not 'hieroglyphs' (great addition to a sonnet). In simple terms, if love hurts, you're doing it wrong.

The writer urges caution to all lovers out there. Advising them through personal experience to enjoy love and not allow 'passions' to lead to 'damage and regret'. I like his play on words too, 'pine' as in yearning or as a metaphor a tree, though arguably a lesser tree that an 'oak'. I guess we all yearn to love like an Oak, impressive and long lasting. Whereas pines grow quickly, are less impressive and gone too soon. Better to not rush love, or like Phil Collins sings, "you can't hurry love" (7)

____________________________________________

"The Treachery of Lust" by: Ben Pickard

"Reminiscent of Hero and Leander, although the genders are reversed, as here Hero is the man who casts himself to the sea joining the maiden in doom. I sensed a possible irony also as sometimes seals have been mistaken for humans: is it possible his noble efforts were misguided?" (7)

__________________________________________________

"Le vent nous portera" by: Karla

"As interesting as it is, this poem holds something more deeper then
what words and images are letting us see. As always Karla has a way to
draw the reader into her world where feelings mix and tangle with thoughts
and then keep the reader in awe.

yes, you have filled me
and i have been full of pregnant doubts
for more than two hundred moons.

^^What a talented way using the words pregnant doubts
here for it shows the ambiguity-the size of it which is starting to
burn the bridge of a relationship.

Two hundred moons...this is another clever way of saying the number
of months that has gone by due to this.

One verse after another is a depth filled frustration and an aching sadness
that is lived by the writer day in and day out. From start to end this poem
has touched my heart...beautifully sad." (7)

______________________________________________

"Comfortably Numb" by: Karla

"This poem is so much more than an expression of regrets and guilt. The poignancy strikes me to the core bringing up memories of my own that seem to dove-tail into her writing. Perhaps the mark of excellence is to be just vague enough for the reader's own experiences to arise but just real enough to pound the emotions home." (4)

Great job, judges. Excellent choices including the HMs.
Thanks for hosting MA & congrats to the ladies on the front page

Thank you judges for your time and thoughtful comments. Congratulations to my fellow ladies on their front page wins and all the HM's. Thank you Maryanne on moderating.

Congratulation everyone, great work, thanks for posting and thanks judges for the dedication and also for last week's comments, I am humbled.

Bit embarrassed about my post in the last weekly thread, but thanks for the win! What lovely judges, I wonder who you are. Also, the other two poems on the front page are very good. Man, we rock.

I wrote that poem in one go, on my phone in the dark, lying next to my sleeping husband after a fight. After pressing submit, I snuggled up to him and went straight to sleep.

Thanks judges for doing a great job as always and for posting thanks.
Well done to all winners and HMs

Some wonderful poetry highlighted - the front page really is quite impressive this week; three very different and extremely good writes that do the site proud.
Thank you to the judges for their comments on my poems and well done to all the fellow hms,

Ben

Thanks for the hm and congrats winners

Congrats to the Winners and HM's!

Thank you judges for your time and thank you MA for hosting :)

A wonderful week of poetry. Remind me, we get all this for nothing? Well worth it, I say! :O)

That's the healing power of poetry, Abs.
Congrats to everyone.

Thank you for the hm & congrats to all those won, and all those who won a HM. :) Thank you for hosting MA, and thank you judges for all your hard work.

(Still need one more judge so holla @ one of the mods if you wanna judge <3)

Thanks judges. i'm honoured.