Weekly Contest Results - February 19th, 2018

Mark here, without further ado here are your weekly winners! Congrats to all the winners, and those who picked up a HM!
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Winners
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“Apricot Nation” by Abed - 20 points: 10 + 10
“Valentine's Day” by Sinner’s Gospel - 11 points: 7 + 4 points
“Monday” by Kitty Cat Lady – 14 points: 10 points + 4 points

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HMs
“Hide and Seek of Love” by Michael – 10 points
“Lips will blow a warming breeze (English Sonnet) by Micheal – 10 points
“Tempest” by Rosy Cheeks and Irony - 7 points
“At Pembroke Café” by POTP - 7 points
"Glacier Melting" by ddavidd – 7 points
“That’s where you Are” by Marmite – 7 Points
“Portrait of you” by Walter - 4 Points
“control” by nobody special – 4 points
“Only You” by Meena Krish – 4 points
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“Apricot Nation” by Abed
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The vivid imagery that is captured in this poem is essential to the poem, showing its true brilliance at the end when the author turns the poem with a simple question. The author then answers it to instantaneously layer this poem with nuances that forces you to reread it again, this time, aware of the ending and piecing everything together; it is a testament of the author’s craft. An excellent poem. (10 points)
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What I've noticed in your poetry is that you have a striking, sometimes hard-to-swallow perspective. Using the symbol of the apricot and the black cat was clever and effective in conveying the way we view and handle fear. From the start, I feel like one can relate as if we see something abhorrent in what we are consuming, we may have a tendency to avoid it instead of taking the time to examine it next time and gather wisdom. Do we purposefully avoid the things that take extra care or caution just so we can move through a situation more quickly? Then the surprise and appearance of a black cat, giving one a sense of superstition. I love how you talked about the connection of fear to God and of its origins. I remember learning about the "fear of the Lord" in class growing up, one of the gifts of the Holy Spirit, where we are to see sorrow and horror in sin and wish to avoid it out of reverence to God. The power and control of fear is undeniable. It's rooted in history, it's infested in our thoughts and follows us.

Such an eerie atmosphere you have created, especially in how fear has not only existed alongside you in childhood but even became the plate and the table. How can we possibly know if fear exists because we are human or if we exist out of fear. The questions you ask or indeed thought-provoking, somewhat morbid but well worth it to think about the way in which fear has molded us into the people we are today. (10)
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“Valentine's Day” by Sinner’s Gospel
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A phenomenally done acrostic poem.
The passion of love and poetry is very much alive within the lines of your poem even if the relationship portrayed here might have seen some dying embers to a previously lit flame, and it grabs me as a reader because of its slow and romantically hopeful pace. I, especially, love the way the poem has been concluded: with a question of hope. (7 points)
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A well-thought-out acrostic that embodies the aspect of valentine’s day; beautiful both in and out. (4 points)

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Monday by Kitty Cat Lady
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A quirky humorous piece that perked me up straight away and which will resound with anyone who has faced those Monday morning blues. The phrase “All out of be-botheredness” just set the tone for the whole poem and had me chuckling with empathy as it reminded me so well of Monday mornings that I have experienced myself. Well rhymed and a perky rhythm meant delivery was completely in context with the content. An excellent up beat poem on a subject usually surrounded by gloom (10 points)
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Monday is kind of like the most dreaded day of the week. I like that this poem touched on this topic. It's personal as well as it's relative to many. I like the candid expression of the writer here and I can imagine her doing chores yawning every now and then. Nice write! (4 points)
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“Hide and Seek of Love” by Micheal
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I am in awe. <3 Michael, you have created a marvelous piece by interweaving the charm of love and the attraction of nature. Your words make me feel that I'm in some of the most beautiful places in this world with my everlasting love, and leading a most fulfilling life. This poem of yours evokes such sentiments of content and satisfaction in me, I feel blessed to have had the chance to read this. Thank you. (10 points)

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“Lips will blow a warming breeze (English Sonnet)”
by Micheal
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A visually beautiful sonnet that captures wonderfully the end of winter season or can also depict a moment of breakthrough in life. A seamlessly coined one, and has the elegance of a classic English sonnet. Well done! (10 points)

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“Tempest” by Rosy Cheeks and Irony
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I am blown away by this amazing, captivating piece! A piece of poetry that naturally creeps into you as read it, making you feel the intensity of love line after line. The title is absolutely amazing for me, and it was neatly tied to the content. This seamlessly incorporated metaphors of rains/storms/hurricanes. The subtle yet powerful voice flowing thru a natural rhythm makes this an outstanding free verse. (7 points)
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“At Pembroke Café” by POTP
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It takes a certain kind of soul to be able to take this experience and frame it with the amount of honesty and vulnerability that you did. I wish I had the right combination of words for you that would ease your pain, but I don’ think I’d be able to offer anything. Time has a tendency to lessen and even heal wounds, and I hope in time it does heal your wounds for you. Thank you for having the strength and sharing this piece with us. (7 points)
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"Glacier Melting" by ddavidd
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There is something so satisfying about this piece. I felt the blaze of your words, the feeling of loss, of being empty, yet the relief and content almost in knowing everything around you is burning and disintegrating, yet you still exist in purest form. I've read this several times and each times bring a new meaning to me. I don't seem to correlate anything harmful or evil in this fire, almost that it is passing and occurring as a signal of a changed world. A time of moving on. And so you burn, pieces and remnants of you evaporating, yet it is in that fire that you can be reborn
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This actually made me think of a documentary on PBS I watched on how wildfires are actually necessary, that even though the fires destroyed trees, they also helped the forests by means of the natural cycle of growth and replenishment. New plants could grow, diseased or dead trees were cleared and more room and nutrients could be available.

Such a brilliant piece! (7)
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That’s where you Are by Marmite
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For anyone who has ever lost someone close particularly a parent or grandparent this is a poignant read. Expressing what that long farewell means to a person is often hard to put into words but I think Marmite has done so beautifully. It offers hope an unwavering belief that they will once again meet up as a complete family in heaven. A wish that most of us have deep down inside that good bye is only a fleeting thing. A beautiful tribute to a newly passed Grandpa which mirrored the deep loss I felt when I lost my Grandma. (7 Points)
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Portrait of you by Walter
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A rich creative poem that mixes artistic mediums through out this poem of love. Excellent rhyming and gentle flow depicts the struggle of the artist. His many attempts to show his Valentine that no matter what form he uses be it paint or photo nothing can truly do justice to the love he feels nor the beauty that his eyes see. I think that the valentine reading this tribute would feel very loved in deed (4 Points)
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“control” by nobody special
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A powerful write that sheds light on the reality of anorexia and the absolute shock and nightmare of being hospitalized for it. There is still such a huge stigma surrounding eating disorders, as most people (unless they know someone personally) simply see examples of it in the media or in what they watch. There is the very misguided idea that if you simply are forced to eat, suddenly you will be cured. Many can't comprehend the agony of recovery and how people are still prone to relapses, even if they've been in recovery for years.

There's so many examples and glamorization of anorexia in films, pop culture and social media sites where users can look up "thinspiration" and thinness is seen as a solution to problems, yet people often don't bother to understand it as, first and foremost, a psychological disorder. It's both a mental and physical illness.

You have captured the pain and what I can only imagine absolute fear of being hospitalized and fed through a tube, being powerless and suddenly having little to no control. Having this distorted and harmful relationship with wanting perfect. We tell ourselves we are in control of this or that but there's only so far to go until we hit our lowest. Until we have to work every single second to try and admit that sometimes that control will kill us. So important to write about. Thank you for sharing this. (4)

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“Only You” by Meena Krish
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This poem, to me, captures both the innocence and playfulness of love. The poet reveals the passion in her love, the bond of their union and the strength the lovers have within each other; and it ends in a climactic humorous revelation (just the tinge that was needed to remind us that love is not perfect and perfect at the same time). Very well done (4 points)

Huge congrats to all winners, HMs and nominees this week :-)

Thanks to Mark for hosting and to all the mods and judges for their time. Thanks to Scott for nominating 'Monday' and to the judges for my win ... I'm thrilled ... especially as it's Monday! :-) x
=^.^=

Thank you Mark for posting thank you judges for your time. Congratulations all winners and HMs and to the judge who commented on my piece I thank you from the bottom of my heart.

Here's to another fabulous week or poetry

Hi all :)

Congratulations to the brilliant poets on the front page this week with their winning pieces

Thank you to the two wonderful writers that nominated my poems, that received HMs
to all the judges for their time and my comments.

Much love
Michael :)x

And yet again, another week where bias comes before the best poems.

Congrats to the front page Winners and HM's!
Thank you for hosting Mark and thank you judges for your time.
Thank you for the HM judge and thank you Michael for the
nomination

Hey Jamie, there is a thread that was recently opened that would be an excellent place to voice your concerns about the weekly contest. In a congratulatory thread, the post you’ve made is not constructive. However, my response is: The ranking of poetry is subjective and what someone deems “best” is their personal bias, which is why all members are encouraged to take a turn judging the contest. We are still looking for 2 volunteers for next term.

Congrats, winners!

Another wonderful week!

A free verse, a rhyme and an acrostic on front page along with HM's.
Congratulations to everyone.

Some very beautiful decisions made by our respectful judges, fully supported by our honorable moderators.

The ranking of poetry is subjective and what someone deems “best” is their personal bias,

^^^

Don't the judges have a set of guidelines to prevent 'personal bias' from happening? Do the mods actually moderate the judges' choices to make sure it doesn't happen?

I think this week was an excellent and evenly distributed result with some extremely good poems being recognised. Unfortunately there are increasingly so many good poems and not enough judge votes to carry to more through. It must be a difficult task for judges to read every single poem and make an informed decision about which are their top three not just because of the time it takes to go through the process but also because the poems that they ultimately choose says a lot about the person choosing in both their understanding of prose and their integrity to choose wisely.

Jamie just because you deem something best doesn't mean someone else does if you don't agree then why not judge for yourself then you might realise how much time the judges take up if their own time to keep this contest running!!!

Congrats to the winners & HMs
Certainly a great welcome back, Abed!

Thanks to Mark for hosting & to the judges who have only one more week in their term

Hellon,
As you may recall, having judged once yourself, the guidelines are deliberately broad and allow for full freedom of critical choice.
On the judging opportunity thread I will publish the PM to new judges for all to see.
If anyone wishes to suggest changes we’re all ears.

EDIT: The letter has been posted. Feedback is encouraged.

BTW here are my thoughts on the judging:

https://youtu.be/GnhzS40qTEM

Thank you, Hellon, for the nomination; judges, for your meticulous comments which added more dimensions to the ideas; Mark, for hosting; and Larry, for your warmth.

Congratulations to all the front page winners and HM's! A lot of diverse writes from a lot of diverse people. Nicely done everyone! Judges, as always thank you for your time and Mark for hosting.

Larry,
These are the lyrics to that song (well said by the way)

Guy Clark Lyrics

"Hank Williams Said It Best"

One man's hawk is another man's dove, one man's hug is another man's shove
One man's rock is another man's sand, one man's fist is another man's hand
One man's tool is another man's toy, one man grief is another man's joy
One man's squawk is another man's sing, one man's crutch is another man's wing

One man's pride is another man's humble, one man's step is another man's stumble
One man's pleasure is another man's pain, one man's loss is another man's gain
One man's can is another man's grail, one man's curse is another man's sail
One man's right is another man's wrong, one man's curse is another man's song

For every father's daughter
For every mother's son
The only think the same
Is that is ain't for everyone
Hank Williams said it best
He said it a long time ago
"Unless you have made no mistakes in your life
Be careful of stones that you throw"

One man's deuce is another man's ace, one man's back is another man's face
One man's reason is another man's rhyme, one man's dollar is another man's dime
One man's tree is another man's post, one man's angel is another man's ghost
One man's rain is another man's drought, one man's hope is another man's doubt

One man's false is another man's fair, one man's toup is another man's hair
One man's hand is another man's stub, one man's feast is another man's grub
One man's dread is another man's dream, one man's sigh is another man's scream
One man's water is another man's wine, one man's daughter leave another man's cryin'

For every father's daughter
For every mother's son
The only think the same
Is that is ain't for everyone
Hank Williams said it best
He said it a long time ago
"Unless you have made no mistakes in your life
Be careful of stones that you throw"

One man's famine is another man's feast, one man's pet is another man's beast
One man's bat is another man's ball, one man's art is another man's scrawl
One man's friend is another man's foe, one man's Joesph is another man's Joe
One man's hammer is another man's nail, one man's freedom is another man's jail

One man's road is another man's rut, one man's if is another man's but
One man's treasure is another man's trash, one man's landin' is another man's crash
One man's word is another man's lie, one man's dirt is another man's sky
One man's skin is another man's color, one man's killer is another man's brother

For every father's daughter
For every mother's son
The only think the same
Is that is ain't for everyone
Hank Williams said it best
He said it a long time ago
"Unless you have made no mistakes in your life
Be careful of stones that you throw"

Thanks to our wonderful judges for their valuable time and suggestions. Thanks to the hardworking moderators for their efforts to run this site. Huge thanks to Mel, Brenda, Hellon and maple tree for all their love and support and always encouraging me to write.
Congrats everyone, front page and hm.
Peace!

I just wanted it confirmed by the mods that there is a set of guidelines for the judges to read in case there are some members who were unaware of the fact.

You over looked my other question which I will now post in the other thread.

Congrats to the winners & HM's!! Thank you to the judge for the comment on my piece, as well as Hellon for nominating it (if memory serves me correct). Pembroke Cafe is a real cafe downtown that is across from our art museum. It shares the space with our city's ballet and it's a pretty neat place for lunch many people don't know about.

Take care, everyone ^_^