Weekly Contest Winners - March 18, 2019!

Hello!

First, we have Ben grace the page with his sonnet with regards to how we may fall into the comfort and warmth of a season, only to have Mother Nature remind us it can't always be like this. The title itself reminds us we must face the consequences (of seasons passing, of us aging). Next is Ya---Na's piece that is dark yet holds what can be a terrifying truth, that sometimes life is cruel and we simply just have to survive and learn to take what comes next. Also highlighted (and her first win!) is Obscure's poem about the reality of depression, how often we hide or isolate, all penned with a heartbreaking kind of honesty. Congrats to all winners and HM's! With Obscure penning another emotional piece that won an HM and Tanya's words grabbing the attention of two judges. Thank you to our awesome judges for their insight and dedication. I hope everyone has a great start to the week! And thank you to the one judge for your comment and vote on my piece.

Take care :)

* Also, it appears that a vote was miscast and placed on Bob Gallo's poem "The Dying Bed" when it should have been "Winter Bees". A vote was then placed on "Winter Bees" to reflect this received an HM. Sorry for the mistake!

-MA

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WINNERS:

"The Piper Must Be Paid (English Sonnet)" by: Ben Pickard 10 + 7 = 17 points

"Fairy-Tale" by: Ya...Na 10 + 7 = 17 points

"Nothing's wrong" by: Obscure 10 + 4 = 14 points

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COMMENTS:

"The Piper Must Be Paid (English Sonnet)" by: Ben Pickard

"I can remember summers that used to last an age and holidays stretched on and on and on. It seems that as we age the days grow shorter as we speed to our graves. We long for those summers again, but alas, all too quickly the snapping frost bite us. Ben, the sonnet is wonderfully deep, a poem that gives much more than season, but questions our own mortality." (10)

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"This poem deals with passage of time, the grief of summer, with all the beauties she has to offer. It feels that her splendour is so organic to the soul of the writer, so much that he does not feels how fast it passes away, or how so demurely. It feels like its commotions or “ripples barely ever riches the shore.” The sense of it, the scent of : “the redolence” that is so brief that leaves “our hearts forever craving more”. And seems all the beauties are fugacious; a peeping buttercup could attest to that.
Now that the blossoms and beauty are ephemeral, how fast the tear freezes on our cheeks! It is not then only the summer fleeting so fast, it is the time, itself. But when the good and beautiful things, when flowers,... go so quickly, it, brings a sense of melancholy in us.

The problem is, that unlike summer, cold, winter, and every other hard thing, due to our disliking, do not go demurely, and their ripples really hit the shore by frozen sharp winter objects. And the absurdity of feeling nature should only be pleasing to us and winter would not return is depicted skillfully. I chose this poem base on technique, but if it was only based on technique, I would have given it a ten. The subject due to its greatness, is too popular." (7)

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"Fairy-Tale" by: Ya...Na

"The title made me picture a happy ending, however, the poem is nowhere near it. This poem is heavy really heavy. The imagery delivers the message straight to the heart. The first two stanzas are referring to “her”, maybe someone the poet has observed for too long. The last stanza a reminder for her, that the only way to live is for her to learn what the world is really like; a prince on a white horse won’t pop up into her life to change it." (10)

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"As a child fairy tales were something that was read to you usually invoking a princess and her rescuer or the like. Generally ending with a happily ever after. Shane writes of how life is not a fairy tale but one of harshness, failing planets, mankind's cruelty towards each other. How you have to get tough or be destroyed. His heroine in this is searching for that utopia but is growing weary and she's losing the battle of good, evil is taking over. Will she hold out hope or head to the dark side?" (7)

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"Nothing's wrong" by: Obscure

"I really like the way Obscure starts and ends her poem. It can be so hard to be in a room full of people, so overwhelming, you just need to breathe. She keeps her pain inside, too afraid she will scare others away with her thoughts. Releasing her pain in secret as to not burden anyone. We can relate to her pain and loneliness, I know I can. Growing up I never felt as if I fit in and that I didn't matter. So if I disappeared one day, who would miss me? It took a lot of years to realize I do matter and hopefully Obscure will grow to know that too. So I feel this piece is for all of us who have felt like this, maybe still do. You do matter! You are loved! You will conquer your demons!" (10)

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"So much pain and sorrow in your poem. The irony of how the title shows that nothing's wrong made it even harder to digest.

" I slip quietly from conversations
to taste the lonely air outside"

This could be my favorite line for a while now.. May I share and quote you? :)
Thank you for sharing this with us." (4)

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HM's:

"Momma" by: Obscure 7 + 4 = 11 points

"Reading" by: Tanya Southey 7 + 4 = 11 points

"The Otherside" by: Satish Verma = 10 points

"Unable To Tessellate." by: Poet on the Piano = 10 points

"Winter Bees" by: BOB GALLO = 7 points

"Imposed Insomnia" by: S.T.A.R. = 4 points

"Stranger Than Fiction" by: Aegis = 4 points

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COMMENTS:

"Momma" by: Obscure

"Heart breaking poem. It's simple but again deep. The word choice and description squeezed my heart. The way the writer spoke of their mother just burdened me. I could feel the emotions and the closing stanza was so powerful. Well done." (7)

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"First of all, the wording is very simple, and the form is so neat which is why the poem spoke to me. It is hard to watch a parent go through a rough time; while we can’t help them we feel helpless and powerless. The pain becomes mutual, yet we believe it is in a much higher level for them." (4)

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"Reading" by: Tanya Southey

"Certain books of quality resonate long after they are put on a shelf. Words of fiction are never just that, they deliver, they talk, yes, they can change a person for life." (7)

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"Tanya's poem this week brought me back to how it felt to immerse myself in a good book and just lose yourself in those pages. To forget some of the bad or sad things in your life and just be free. What a wonderful memory! In this digital age a lot of people will never understand how the sound and smell of a freshly cracked book is like. Tanya's poem gives me the love of reading and all it possesses, so thank you for that." (4)

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"The Otherside" by: Satish Verma

Satish Verma’s poems are really abstract. For example, who is calibrating Orgy in sky? and for what reason should people do that? (isn’t this an erotic poem?) You would never know for sure, I guess. perhaps the astronomer is to do the calibrating, for he/she: “doesn’t want to visit the temple, where: “the celestial bodies were making love; on the walls.” How intriguing is the image of making love on the walls! (reminds me of love making in aquarium in the end of 100 years of Solitude). Though from the we see no matter how inconcrete the poem is, the word temple brings it to some kind of concretion. We see the sense behind the images such as: “The orgy on the ceiling of the temple” or “celestial bodies were making love”. Satish is Indian, and he must be talking about the Hindu, or Tantric temples that all their walls are encrypted by sexual imagery and positions.

All the sudden sunflowers start to shed their petal, maybe like the astronomers, they do not wish to worship the orgy, anymore and: “Moon-bitten now amorous in dark.” (10)

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"Unable To Tessellate." by: Poet on the Piano

"This poem blew me away in awe. I kept saying Oh My God from phrase to phrase. Very sad and truthful. I remember going through this phase and writing about it in almost same manner and tone. I could relate. But more importantly I admired the creativity in penning down your thoughts. Well done." (10)

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"Winter Bees" by: BOB GALLO

"The poem is clever; a snowy freezing tough winter turned into a refreshing one by the choices of words and the amazing rhymes. The poem drew smile on my face, which made me reread it many times." (7)

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"Imposed Insomnia" by: S.T.A.R.

"There is much I like about this poem. Like the hourglass metaphor bleeding time. I even like the medication reference, but, for me, the last verse was vague. It showed promise, but I needed it to, satisfy and pull the piece together. Sometimes a writer writes what they know and hopes the reader will too. What is a ‘brass frame coiled…’ and ‘mirrored exhaustion…’ I award 4 points for this, because it showed potential to be more than just an enigma." (4)

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"Stranger Than Fiction" by: Aegis

"Play with odd concepts is characteristic of Aegis works. This starts from the beginning with the title: “Stranger Than Fiction”
We never rank fiction as in general, the good, bad, or strange! Actually, strangeness of any fiction is specific to that fiction, no other. It is like we say stranger than a box? Box is a universal word, strangeness is very personal.

• The telepathic aspect of someone sparkling someone’s mind with words is so cozy, Though to ignite inferno in the mind behind the eyes with a tongue is intimate.
After that, in a very slick move, Aegis style, you start to feel the love that is not spoken in this piece, though it is so obvious, for, a touch, could kindle a strong chemical reaction on someone ‘s skin and nerve system, where words could ignite inferno in someone’s mind.

I really like the simplicity and delightful expressions and the interplay of the emotional and physical(chemistry) in this piece." (4)

I am so happy for the three wimners this week, especially Obscure for her first win and HM. So congratsss winners :)

Thank you for the HM, and the comment means a alot!!! And for the judge yes you are right, and what I meant with the brass frame is the frame of the hourglass, which as you said really wasn’t clear!

Congratulations to all the front page winners and HM's! Stellar writing- thank you Dagmar and Mark for my nominations- I greatly appreciate you both! Thank you Mary Anne for hosting and our judges as always for making the tough choices!

Congratulations guys! Excellent poetry :) well done Obscure on your first win!

There is a glitch, or.something. I have two HM this week shown in my account, but here is mentioned one, and all the votes are accounted for.

Yes, sorry about that Bob. A vote was accidentally cast on your other nominated poem but the judge meant for it to be for "Winter Bees" as their comment reflects that.

Thank you MA for clarification, and also hosting.
Thank you judges. And thanks also to Mark and Craig who nominated my works.

Thank you judges for giving so much love. For making me feel rich. Thanks to Moderators too for all their efforts. Congrats each and every one.
Much love

S....

Wonderful work this week from so many members. I read through each of the nominations carefully the other day and genuinely thought that every single one deserved at least an hm. Still, the judges have to make do with three votes and it cannot have been easy.
Thank you for your comments and votes on my poem and well done to everyone highlighted.

Love you all!

Thank you judges, moderators.

Congratulations!

Congrats to the winners and honorably mentioned. As a side note, we have included a request to Janis (the never-present one) to allow for a vote to be reversed in situations like this week's.

Thanks MA for hosting and thanks judges for your work.