Weekly Contest Winners - January 28, 2019!

Hello! There were 3 clear winners this week so I thought I would post early to get a head start. We have Ben's piece about a broken, "concave" heart pondering the presence of a lost love.... Tanya's nostalgia and heart-warming poem that reminisces childhood and the imprints or "echoes" we leave to those who stand where we used to.... as well as Megan's reflective and overall inspirational piece of rising from the pain and embracing ourselves, no longer apologizing and instead triumphing like a "phoenix". Brilliant poetry this week and congratulations to all of our HM's, especially Milly with two of her poems highlighted and a relatively new PnQ member "Obscure" who bravely and accurately shared the terrifying reality of panic attacks. Thank you to our judges for your time.

Hope everyone is doing well and has a great start to the week!

~MA

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WINNERS:

"Concave" by: Ben Pickard 10 + 7 = 17 points

"Echoes" by: Tanya Southey 10 + 7 = 17 points

"Phoenix" by: Megan Chapman 10 + 7 = 17 points

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COMMENTS:

"Concave" by: Ben Pickard

"Ben is especially great at these type of broken heart poems, it could be due to his personal experiences, only he can answer that." (10)

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"Ben's poem is indeed a dark piece. It is like this dark entity shadows his every move. Made me wonder if this was an actual person or another personality that resides inside him? A fight between light and dark, a noisy job to drown out the voices in his head trying to lead him down dark dangerous paths. Whoever or whatever this is Ben has written this beautifully." (7)

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"Echoes" by: Tanya Southey

"Nostalgia is often the topic of excellent poetry but in this case the poem transcends excellence.
“small-town dirt / beneath my nails, / broke the boundary / of where I started / and the land began”

This language is astounding in it’s simplicity and depth. “Broke the boundary” not “marked.” The intrusion of the land under the nails served to incorporate the very ground into her body." (10)

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"It was hard to choose this poem for a 7, but some other poem echoed in my heart." (7)

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"Phoenix" by: Megan Chapman

"Megan's poem this week really resonated with me. So many times we live in half lives. Our guilt over choices made, never feeling good enough. As a woman always putting others before our own needs and happiness. She's rising from the ashes of her life, she's becoming reborn, anew. Just like her poems title, she is indeed truly a Phoenix!"( 10)

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"This poem warmly captures the discovery of true maturity when the posturing is let go and a person fully comes into their own awesome abilities." (7)

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HM's:

"Spider Hell" by: Milly Hayward 7 + 4 = 11 points

"Desire (Rondeau)" by: Michael = 10 points

"Without Ever Saying Goodbye" by: BOB GALLO = 10 points

"Black magic (acrostic)" by: Mr. Darcy = 7 points

"Beauty" by: DarknDangerous = 4 points

"Nature's Courage" by: Ben Pickard = 4 points

"Not So Hot" by: Milly Hayward = 4 points

"Panic" by: Obscure = 4 points

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COMMENTS:

"Spider Hell" by: Milly Hayward

"Despite her ills, Milly chose to unload upon us some chills, great fun, and laughs for the kids, and us adults too!" (7)

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"A short story, well rhymed." (4)

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"Desire (Rondeau)" by: Michael

"The Rondeau, originally a French lyric form from the 13th century was traditionally written about love, courtships or relationships. Its form is based upon fifteen lines, 8 to 10 syllables each which are then divided into a quintet, a quatrain and a sestet with aabba aabR aabbaR rhyming structure (R being the refrain) Not an easy task to achieve and make sense but Michael has nailed it in this poem of hope for cupids help in love. Romantic and excellent example of a Rondeau." (10)

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"Without Ever Saying Goodbye" by: BOB GALLO

"This gem written by Bob deserved the full 10 points." (10)

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"Black magic (acrostic)" by: Mr. Darcy

"Mr Darcy has excelled himself with the dark and vivid imagery. An imaginative look at how our world could change suddenly during a blood moon. A tale of necromancy, darkness and death all tied in nicely with the acrostic blood moon. A clever and dynamic poem that I could read over and over again." (7)

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"Beauty" by: DarknDangerous

"This poem is a powerful uplifting piece. It shows the journey she has taken from being this girl that would have done anything to fit in to finally saying: "To hell with you all!" She is beautiful just the way she is and so it should be! The bullies can't hurt her anymore because she took her power back and she's making a better world despite them. Now that's powerful! A must read for all young girls and guys struggling with self esteem and bullying issues. You are beautiful, you are stronger than you think and you can be that amazing person that's already inside you!" (4)

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"Nature's Courage" by: Ben Pickard

"Ben has a wonderful gift for weaving beautiful natural images throughout and combining them with delicate feelings of emotion. A frail heart, despondent eyes and a lover adorning her with cockleshells and flowers and the thought that a simple kiss from he is enough to take all her fears away. It is magical. Oh if life were so simple and beautiful....." (4)

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"Not So Hot" by: Milly Hayward

"Like how Milly can switch gears, gives us laughs, but can bring tears, to sympathetic ears, love her style." (4)

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"Panic" by: Obscure

"My friend and coworker suffered with panic attacks until she died. I still remember when they first manifested. This poet completely captures the essence of how Belinda tried to describe her experience." (4)

Congratulations to Ben Pickard, Tanya Southey and Megan Chapman on your well deserved wins this week and to all who gained an honorary mentions. Huge thanks to Mary Ann for collating and publishing and to the judges who voluntarily give their time each week to make this competition possible. On a personal level thank you so much to Michael and Dagma for their nominations and for the judges that left such lovely comments about my poems Spiders Hell and Not So Hot. Best wishes Milly x

Congrats. There were wide ranging opinions from the judges and great poems to choose from. These winners were well rewarded.
Congrats to the HMs as well. Thanks to the judges and to MA for hosting.

Well done to everyone involved/highlighted this week and a genuine thank you to all the judges for their time and effort.

Congratulations to all the front page winners and HM's! Awesone writing everybody! Thank you Mary Anne for hosting and all the judges for doing what you do.

Hi All :)

Thank you MA for hosting.
Congratulations to all the poets on the front page this week, and all HMs awarded

To all the judges for their time, and to the judge who commented on my Poem, much appreciated

Much love, M :)x

Another amazing week, for:

- poetry
- moderators
- members who won big time (yippee)
- members, like me, who secured an HM (claps)
- all our wonderful judges who devoted all their time and effort (wolf whistles and whoops)

Thank you, Judges, thank you the host.
The biggest thank to Mark that in this time of hardship and destitution of real meaning and poetry, supports the spirit of my humble works.