Weekly Contest Winners - December 24, 2018!

Hi, MA here! First, I'd like to say for those who celebrate, I hope you are enjoying the holidays and as I also know how difficult this year can be for some, please know you have family here on PnQ :) For those who don't celebrate, I hope this week is a good one and that everyone has a happy and healthy New Year! I want to thank the judges for their comments and support for my piece, and Scott Cole for nominating it. It's a joy to be on the front page with Michael and Ben (who also had a prose piece receive a heartfelt vote and comment). Congrats also to Dagmar, Hellon and Rosy Cheeks who also had poems voted a 10 in which the site broke a tie. Congrats to all HM's. Thanks to all poets!

_________________________

WINNERS:

"Nesting" by Poet on the Piano 10 + 7 = 17 points

“Such divide” by: Michael 7 + 4 = 11 points

"Wisteria and Whispers" by: Ben Pickard = 10 points

______________________

COMMENTS:

"Nesting" by Poet on the Piano

"The world is a dark place, and Poet on the Piano shares a piece of their own darkness in this write about finding the light after a suicide attempt that led to their containment and subsequent release from an institution. Perfect segues between realism and metaphor create a beautifully sculpted poem about looking for a way to fix a person who has been broken for a lifetime. After multiple reads, this truly touched me, and as dark as it got there is still a glimmer of hope shining in through the darkness." (10)

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

"It’s not a normal week on P&Q without a great poem from MA. This poem was emotively penned, and contained some really striking language that kept it interesting on a technical level. On a personal level, I was incredibly moved, and the narrative displayed vulnerability in such an effective way. This poem asks many questions of its persona, and encourages the reader to engage them too." (7)

_______________________

“Such divide” by: Michael

"This is such a necessary and eye-opening commentary on how we treat Mother Earth, how often we take for granted what is literally given to us in copious amounts. The personification is powerful in this piece and makes me think of how humans are at war with each other, yet it is the earth and soil that suffer, and therefore, we eventually will see the decay, the withering beauty that we should have embraced and protected. Michael has disclosed the Earth's vulnerabilities and how, even if we are self-aware and work toward better efforts to nurture our environment, we can lose sight of what's important based on our humanly needs... forgetting that earthly needs are often silenced or "stomped" on. A poem with an activist's passion and a poet's heartfelt plea." (7)

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

"It’s not Michael’s best poem in terms of language, but it’s still a very powerful piece which forces the reader to think of this beautiful planet we reside on, and the irrevocable damage we are causing. The personification of Mother Earth here is effective, and accomplished." (4)

_____________________________

"Wisteria and Whispers" by: Ben Pickard

"This is one of my favorite pieces from Ben. I don't know quite how to describe it, but the atmosphere is dreary yet I truly feel the depth of how morose his voice is. This concept of purgatory, of remembering tenderness, of sounds and visions that may have once been comforting but now are haunting.
I think I've seen the word "wisteria" online before, but I didn't know it was a flower. This piece is rich in its memory and yearning, and I can almost hear the whispers from the heart, the questioning of why heaven has to take such purity, such youthful souls. The imagery is soft, melancholy and speaks longingly about life, a soul, lost and not meeting or touching someone the same again." (10)

______________________________

HM's:

“Angel song” by: Rosy Cheeks And Irony = 10 points

"A year to remember" by: Dagmar Wilson = 10 points

"Isolated (acrostic)" by: Hellon = 10 points

"on emptiness" by: Thomas 4 + 4 = 8 points

"Suicide (Prose)" by: Ben Pickard = 7 Points

"Where'd you go" by: The Monster you trust = 7 points

"Wishes" by: Brenda = 7 points

"Seasonal sneezer" by: Milly Hayward = 4 points

"When a snowflake melts" by: Maple Tree = 4 points

_______________________________

COMMENTS:

“Angel song” by: Rosy Cheeks And Irony

This poem highlights all that is wonderful about this writer. There was so much maturity and nuance here, that it begs to be read many times. This poem wrestles with themes of honesty, betrayal, love, and introspectiveness. Whilst it doesn’t tell the reader how to feel, it is a masterful showing of emotion, and feeling from a conflicted persona. Its brashness in language and subtlety in delivery is pure talent. (10)

_________________________

"A year to remember" by: Dagmar Wilson

"Great write, I think that the slang; I be, is appropriate, being relevant to your lines related to the poor of the streets." (10)

__________________________

"Isolated (acrostic)" by: Hellon

"I do like an acrostic, they are my return to form when I am hitting a dry patch. They can be fairly simple to write, you can toss in a rhyme if you want and can write about anything. What Hellon has done has introduced a subtle ryhme, taken on the elegy form and added a hint of darkness. It's an enthralling write and very complex. gets my 10 points." (10)

___________________________

"on emptiness" by: Thomas

"Thought-provoking. First, the image of a vessel with no substance or liquid. How we are often surviving just to fulfill duties, but the purpose and meaning is lost, emptied out. Then, the very form of "nothingness", how it holds no growth or inhabitants. I love your connections here, the great depth to which open space exists and how it is filled, how it affects the surrounding. This poem made me think of how unbalanced we are as humans, how we seek that middle ground. To give yet be filled with that same kind of acknowledgment and understanding. Often, there is this constant tug. We give parts of ourselves we think may be returned in other ways, yet we lose ourselves sometimes in the process." (4)

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

"Thomas did a wonderful job with building the imagery and setting for his poem defining emptiness. Drenched in metaphor, "on emptiness" sums up the duality of beauty. There always seems to be that hidden caveat in something we love that, upon understanding, makes us lose that enthrallment and instead just feel empty inside." (4)

__________________________

"Suicide (Prose)" by: Ben Pickard

"Although a shorter piece by Ben, it still packs quite the punch. We are all haunted by ghosts and, as insurmountable as they may seem, we try our best to forget them. "Forgetting" is not necessarily "getting over", and realizing these once forgotten ghosts can be detrimental to our health. This is a truth that many choose to ignore, as they disregard the existence of their own ghosts and the ghosts of others... but the more we paint the picture in our own lives, the better we can help make the painting of other's lives come out differently -- and more importantly, better." (7)

_____________________________

"Where'd you go" by: The Monster you trust

"This is such a complex poem, it is a real head scratcher and looks like it was written by a real deep thinker. The word choice was inspiring, the level of intelligence required to write this can only be matched by the level needed to understand this. I wont pretend I do, but I did enjoy reading this and found it thought provoking and very imaginative." (7)

____________________________

"Wishes" by: Brenda

"Well put, a great dose of reality!" (7)

___________________________

"Seasonal sneezer" by: Milly Hayward

"It is not often that you find a poem nominated from the fun and humour section of the site. The reason is probably because we all avoid that part like the plague. Comedy is a difficult skill to master, what you may find funny may fall flat elsewhere. Milly has taken a simple subject and written a very funny piece. In fact, I would consider it a classic, I can easily see this being read out at elementary schools. worthy of an HM at least 4 points." (4)

____________________________

"When a snowflake melts" by: Maple Tree

"Cute, brings back many memories of my childhood." (4)

Congrats to the Winners & HM's

Thank you judges for your time and thanks
for hosting MA...

Congratulations everyone and thank you to the judges who voted for my poems. Also, can I just say a special thank you to the judge who voted on 'Suicide' - a fascinating and insightful comment.

A very happy Christmas to all who celebrate.

Well done to all.

Not gonna write much apart from! what fantastic timing the contest hit this week.

An unexpected little gift for many.

I would like to wish all members a Merry Christmas and I hope the coming year holds wonderful things for you all.

Craig

Congratulations to all the winners and HMs and huge thanks to the moderators and judges who give their time to make these competitions happen each week. On a personal level thank you so much Dagmar for nominating my poem and to the judge who left such lovely comments about my Seasonal Sneezer poem. It made my day. Milly x

Congratulation to all the front page winners and HM's! Thank you for my HM dear judges! What a wonderful Christmas gift! Thank you Michael, Dagmar, and Milly, for nominating my writes this past week.. Mary Anne, thank you for hosting and judges as always, your hard work. I hope everyone has a beautiful Christmas and this coming year is filled with peace and blessings.

MA rocks!
Hey, Congratulations to you too.
Thanks for hosting this week.

Congratulations to everyone.

Moderators, judges, poets, thanks to all of you for making it possible.

For creating another wonderful week and reminding us how beautiful life could be.

Merry Xmas!

Love you all!

Enjoy!

Hi All :)

Congratulations to all winners and HMs awarded. Thank you to the judges for their votes on my poem, and to all the judges for their valuable time every week.

I hope everyone had a nice Christmas, and a hopeful new year

Much love, M :)x

Happy for the winners and HMs
Grateful to the judges for showering so much love on all of us.
Thanks to our hardworking Moderators and to all the beautiful members for their time to read, comment and obviously nomination.
Much love for pnq family...

S