Weekly Contest Results August 13

Hello everyone, Rania here! What a week. There were beautiful poems everywhere and judges were also lost in making a final choice. Your poems, each one of yours, speak volumes with emotions and beauty.

This week the front page will see Love, mourning, and memories! With Larry, Michael and Ben P gracing the site with their touching and mesmerizing poems.

Well done to the three winners, HMs, Nominated poems, and all poets. Thank you, judges, for your time!

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Easy to Love by Larry Chamberlin 10 + 7 + 4 = 21 points

An unexpected turn in this small-huge poem gave me goosebumps and gave it my top medal. In no way reading the title and the 1st stanza, would the reader expect this u-turn! Indeed, such an easy to love poem. I am touched and actually feeling emotional reading this poem, as it connects deeply with me since I can sense that it speaks of true love, that kind of crazy love which makes you think about all the tiny details, including death..and how our beloved will be feeling without us. I am really in love with this poem. Beautiful, beautiful write. It's not sad, but it is, at the same time. Well done! (10)

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I do not deny that the flowers in the lady's hair must have been very beautiful, but these words here are as beautiful as those moments too; they are flowers to me, and it has been very 'easy to love' this poem. The free flow, short structure, and simple words add to the beauty of it and enhance the imagination much more. I read it three times, it was very romantic. :) (7)

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This poem speaks volumes of true, unconditional love-

It's elegant, with the double meaning of morning and mourning which I love and admire within poetry. The first stanza made me melt and the second stanza made me cry- Powerful emotion in just two stanzas... Beautiful! (4)

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Twilight memories (Rondeau) By Micheal 10 + 7 + 4 = 21 points

I was in two minds about awarding this a 10 or 7 points, purely because I am no expert on writing a Rondeau. In fact, I have never written one. So I looked at this from a different POV and I am judging this on the content. I love the depth of feeling in this piece, it is cleverly written and the rhyming is used well. As you read it conjures many images, a piece of colorful poetry. Well written (10)

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A Rondeau is a French form, 15 lines long, consisting of three stanzas: a quintet, a quatrain, and a sestet with a rhyme scheme as follows: aabba aabR aabbaR. Lines 9 and 15 are short - a refrain (R) consisting of a phrase taken from line one. The other lines are longer (but all of the same metrical length).

With this strict format, Michael has penned a wonderful Rondeau. When they are written well, like this one, I smile as the sounds play music on my lips. The meter lilts up and down, and the rhyme makes patterns that my ears appreciate.

This poem is a tribute to an important, now lost, person remembered from his childhood who is sadly passed. Like the light of day, giving way to the moonlight, he contemplates a time when they will reunite. Beautiful. (7)

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What a Rondeau! It's really a tough form and yet you concluded such a beautiful, flowing poem with it. The word choice and closing words, in particular, were very tricky. I wonder how hard it was for you to pull out this beauty. I am in love with every line and in your last stanza, it was the boom for you. This poem is full of images and you can't but go drooling in your imagination with their beauty. Well done! (4)

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- by Ben Pickard 10 + 7 = 17 points

This week I feel pained to even write a comment to this most heart-wrenching write, but I am compelled to.
Ben writes prolifically, we know. Week after week, showcasing poetry that, in all honesty, is worthy of the front page. Although he has written a sonnet this week that I was poised to comment on, this piece of writing is both upsetting and haunting.

Ben, is brave and honest with each word. A poem to his wife, apologising for her/their recent loss – a miscarriage of their baby, that he too had announced to us all, not that long ago.

I hope somehow this tragedy has a silver lining – a ray of sunshine that will reveal itself somewhere down the road. (10)

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I love those poems which their poets deny that they are poems; you feel mesmerized with how humble they are in putting this masterpiece in certain criteria, and here the poet said this is, a letter, for his wife. This, in fact, is a poem drenching with so many messages and letters, it's a chain of letters in a single poem. Pain brings the most beautiful emotions from inside of us. It's as though happiness is vital and makes us feel alive, yet pain and suffering dig deep into the veins and pulls out so many words and emotions to help us ease the loads. This poem was so heavy, it held so much sadness and agony, beautifully. I am sure the sun will find its way in! Thank you for sharing your deepest emotions. I was deeply touched (7)

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++HMs COMMENTS++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Ativan by Maher 10 + 4 = 14 points

The medication within itself is a powerful and yet unsettling experience.
To be filled with depression and anxiety is enough to make a person feel powerless and yet to be willing to take such a medication shows strength to overcome depression. Its two-fold in my opinion. This poem is very raw and has opened the door to a ton of emotion,
I can't express how powerful this poem is... it's amazing! (10)

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When you read a poem by Maher you have to brace yourself for a journey through the darkness, the poet holds your hand and leads you through a tale of imagery and intrigue. Those first two lines grab your attention immediately. Then the next two lines push you down the hole. Here you amble along until the last line when you muse over the whole piece, then invariably read the poem again. Great work (4)

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End of the World (Ottava Rima) by Maple tree 7 + 4 = 11 points

Maple tree has written a lovely little poem here using a form that I have never seen before. I love to see new forms gracing the front page, as we could all benefit from giving them a go. I love the storytelling in this piece, as usual with Maple tree she has crammed so much imagery into a small piece. (7)

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Having read an Ottava Rima for the first time, and that too this well-written piece, I was in awe of it. I loved the choice of words as they added a mysterious and mystic aura to this sad poem. I wouldn't prefer reading anything else as my first Ottava Rima. (4)

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What will I be...? by Tony [10 points]

A poem right from the heart of your mind. I do not speak for others but for my own self, I connected very well with your words, though I do believe that every artist somewhere in the heart of their heart do ponder on this very question of what one will be when the pain is gone and the art is lost. My full score for an honest, and a well-connecting piece for the reader.

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Before You Became The Sun by Mortal Utopia [7 points]

I'm gushing with love for this poem!

Nature metaphor at its finest, so cryptic and yet just awesome
with a visual display of WOW. Truly a delight to read.

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The taste of your memories by Ya-------Na [4 Points]

I enjoyed reading this over and over again; each metaphor breathing life into the emotional waves of this poem.

We have all written heartfelt letters/poems, trying to convince a lover to give ‘us’ another chance. I certainly have, but not quite as eloquently as this. Don’t take my word for this though, please read this poem and make your own mind up.

Well done one and all.

Congratulations everyone. Very much deserved.

Regards

Craig

Congratulations to Michael and Ben and to all the HMs. I would have had a hard time this week if I had judged because so many poems were nominated that were outstanding!

Thanks to Rania for hosting and to the judges for their dedication.

Thanks for the wonderful comments and thanks to Em for nominating my poem. I nearly did not post it.

Hi all :)

thank you Rania for hosting this weeks competition.

To all the judges for their precious time each week. Congratulations to all front pagers and HMs included.

Thank you to the judges for their votes on my poem and lovely comments you gave, much appreciated

Much love
Michael :)x

Congratulations to all the front page winners and HM's. A lot of amazing and sad emotions throughout. Rania, thank you for hosting and always the judges for their time and making the tough choices.

Congrts everyone
Thanks everyone
Much love for pnq family

S

A thank you for the beautiful comment.

Congratulations to each & every one of you :)
Thanks to all judges :)

Congrats to the 3 Winners and HM's,

Thank you judges and thank you for
hosting Raina

Love, love, love...

for winners, judges, moderators, each and everyone.

I love writing formed poetry, and every now and then I grab a form that I haven't written in a while, thank you judges for your wonderful comments.

Congratulations to the winners and Hm's.
Very touching and moving poetry this week.