Weekly Contest Results, 4 September 2017

The recognition of hope and yearning for it springs eternal in the hearts of the judges. The undying devotion of Andrea, dedicated to her daughter’s salvation from addiction; the devolution of love that brings Lucifer away from his normal darkness; Lvi’s depiction of springing gloriously into the fullness of life from the depths of depression. All were rewarded with the front page for their lessons in hope. Congratulations to each and to the honorable mentions as well.
[Side note: all five “7" votes determined the winners, along with a single “10"]

Front page winners:
Drug Lord's and Pimps by Maple Tree 17 Points
Theory of everything by Lucifer 14 Points
Wings from the black bag by Lvi 14 points

Honorable Mentions:
Moments Of Unrequited Love by Mark 10 points
You. Just You. by Ben Pickard 10 points
Your Fight, My Pain (Mirror oddquain) By Meena Krish 10 points
Blank Canvas by RustySoul 10 points
Embers (double Senryu) by Stephen Burlingame 4 points
Dripping by Frank 4 points
Black and blue (collaboration with Maple Tree) by Em 4 points
Harvey by Larry Chamberlin 4 points
We Love You Texas by Scott Cole 4 points

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Drug Lord's and Pimps by Maple Tree (7 points)
I was totally blown away by this piece by Maple Tree, such raw emotion, and power so eloquently expressed.
One should never underestimate the love of a parent and the lengths they will go to go order to protect those they care for.
Simply wonderful writing.

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Drug Lord's and Pimps by Maple Tree (10 points)
Andrea always writes with such rawness that resonates with many of us here but with such beauty that many of us wish we could write with such power because it's very touching in it's profoundness. It speaks of the lengths a mother would and should go for her child and the woes they feel when their child has taken a wrong path in the winding road of life which in itself must have been hard to write but Andreas strength prevails and in my opinion that makes for a much better and smoother write and read even if it's a literal and raw write - I applaud you on your bravery for writing such a powerful piece and allowing us to read it too. Now where's the tissues?

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Theory of everything by Lucifer (7 Points)
Firstly I'll have to admit to skimming this piece when I first read it purely because of the length and tiredness then I re-read and I lost count how many times I have read this piece now as each time something else caught my eye and only on the final read did I realize that this was actually rhymed, I feel this is because it read so smoothly which is why it got my 7 points also because of its mathematical terms and how easily they were placed within the piece too.

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Theory of everything by Lucifer (7 Points)
I found the title captivating and the content did not disappoint. I was caught in the beauty of this poem from the first stanza, written in a sweet, delicate tone. The rhyming was good too. I absolutely love how the writer here has equated the theory of everything to the person he loves. Craftily expressed his point that love is the beginning and essence of existence…incorporating within the poem some theories concerning the beginning and existence of the world.
Great work! (7 points)

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Wings from the black bag by Lvi (7 points)
The war of a mind is a mighty powerful thing, isn't it? Dear heavens this moved me. You pulled such strong imagery and made me feel like I was in the middle of this piece. Very powerful piece.

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Wings from the Black Bag by Lvi (7 points)
The poem chronicles emerging from the shadows of depression. The simplicity captures me: “All of it adds to the darkness / that never receives the sun, / a void that never gets filled.” But the poem is essentially the hope of release from the darkness and joy in the freedom that results: “But when the war ends / It's a lighter you ... ready to swim through the stars”

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Moments Of Unrequited Love by Mark (10 points)
This piece was written in beautiful language all through-out. The sentiments here, the sadness, the longing was beautifully expressed that reading it was a pleasure and a pain at the same time. Its poetic beauty was a stand-out and fully deserves my top vote. Great job! (10 points)

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You. Just You. by Ben Pickard (10 points)
I wept as I read this poem - I feel like you put words to feelings I don't know how or cannot express. Memories, longing, lost love whether it be their fault or ours, it's such a painful dredging, isn't it? This longing that they would know how you feel, but would it truly change anything? This has all the feelings and all the emotions. Beautifully written.

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Your Fight, My Pain (Mirror oddquain) By Meena Krish (10 points)
It's been really difficult to pick my top 3 poems this week and even harder to pick my number one, there are just too many wonderful words.
However this piece really stood out for me. I love the way it is formatted and it certainly grasps the readers attention.
The poem itself is beautifully written and you can feel the emotion within it. It is such a shame something so beautiful is tinged with sadness.
Stirling work (10)

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Blank Canvas by RustySoul (10 points)
A totally different take on writer’s block. In this case the adulation of the crowd takes on too great importance. Recognition by others, at best an invigorating force, becomes the weight dragging down the artist who misappropriates attention for inspiration. Still the heartbreak is poignant.

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Embers (double Senryu) by Stephen Burlingame (4 points)
I’m not generally a fan of lost love poems (not even my own). However, the beauty of the first senryu captured me. “The burn barrel of life” reflects the sense of the piece perfectly. An ember as “flames that once were” is eloquent.

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Dripping by Frank (4 points)
The craze of the middle - what happens in the middle (the present) is such a powerful thing, and yet we center so much focus on the past or the future. What strength there is in the middle, where we learn the things from the past for our future. Incredibly thought provoking write.

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Black and blue (collaboration with Maple Tree) by Em (4 points)
Abuse is a hard topic to discuss and here we have two strong people write descriptively how it’s done and how it affects the victim. There are many powerful lines here but what stood out for me was ‘he was a time bomb waiting impatiently to erupt, but only in one place, behind closed doors’. I think these lines say a lot, to me; it appears that the abuser here is only strong when he is in the act of the abuse. Sadly, the result of this act is hard to reverse: a broken soul.
A gripping write that deeply moved me. (4 points)

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Harvey by Larry Chamberlin (4 points)
Larry for me always seem to write about his life experiences and this is obviously no exception. We have an extremely profound write about storm Harvey which is affecting many people right now and will continue to do so when it's gone because of the damage it's already caused and I was blown away by the last stanza because it goes to show that humans are 50% humane helping because of the damage done and 50% monsters - going to see the damage done which in my opinion is interesting as I don't think he meant to but it gives a real perspective on the human race in itself.

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We Love You Texas by Scott Cole (4 points)
I selected this poem to Scott as one of my three for a couple of reasons.
Firstly because it incredibly well written. Secondly and more importantly for me is that it is full of hope, solidarity and philanthropy.
We have all witnessed the devastation in Texas and it would be easy to write of such. Yet Scott sends a different message.
Well written and voiced (4)

Another great week of poetry.
Well done to all winners and HMs - thank you judges for the comment on Andreas and my Collab it's appreciated.

Thanks judges for your time and to Larry for posting

Congratulations, our front page winners! To our HMs as well! Really great week, with wonderful, diverse pieces. Thank you to our judges, mods and Larry for hosting. :-)

Congrats to all winners and HM's

Tips ones hat to the judges and mods too. Also big thank you to Meena for nominating the

Regards

Craig

Congratulations to all the winners and HM's including me.
Thank you sir Larry for bringing such good news.

Thanks to Brenda and Scott for nominating my poems.
Thanks to moderators for always doing the right things.

And sooooooooo... Muchhhhh thankssss to judges for picking my poem and putting it on the front page.

Congratulations to the front page winners! Thankyou judges for your time and thoughts.

Congratulations to all the front page winners and HM's! Another week of stellar writes, I don't know how you choose. Thank you Larry for hosting and as as always the judges for their dedication and time. We all appreciate you!

Well done to everyone and thank you to the judge for my comment.

Congratulations to Lvi and Lucifer!

Congratulations to everyone and thank you judges and moderators for your care and dedication along with compassion for this site.

Touched my heart to receive an HM with Em....hugs you Em!

Thank you for my win on my poem... I wrote it for my Bird, one day she will read it....please keep her as well as thousands of people who fall prey to these monsters in your thoughts and prayers...a parent never gives up!

cCongratulations and thanks

Congratulations to the HMs and the winners.
Thank you Larry for the nomination and to the judges for the wonderful comments.

Andrea and Lucifer - I am elated to share the space with such talented people as you. :)

I meant to thank Em for nominating Harvey and to the judge who left a very nice comment.

Congratulations to the front page Winners and all HM's!
Thank you judges for your time and effort and thank you for
the HM and comment judge/judges...and thank you to the
one who nominated my poem!

Thanks for hosting Larry and for the wonderful introduction!