Weekly Contest Winners - August 17, 2020!

Hello! Apologies for the delay... just one judge this week, so thank you judge, and congrats to all. We have Ben's short and stark piece where he expresses what emptiness can feel like, Tanya's heartfelt poem on loss and the space/purpose of mourning, and new member Lost star, and their eloquent verses on lost love and learning how to be without that love. Three profound pieces highlighted! Take care, everyone :)

-MA

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COMMENTS:

"The Week of Distance"
by: Tanya Southey (10)

"There's something about this poem that makes you feel like you're walking on clouds whilst simultaneously feeling a heavy cloud pressing against your chest. It is about the heaviness of life (grief, mourning) yet is speckled with the lightness of life through its melody and precious references (mon amour, love, light).

Besides this, I thoroughly enjoyed some unique phrases that were to meticulously chosen that there was a quaintness to it, such as "the tiny one that spans the perimeter of my influence".

My favourite was the ending line... all that's beautiful, translucently "hanging between the space of here and there". This was simply breath-taking and such a poetic way of tying back to the title."

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"Swathes of Nothingness"
by Ben Pickard (7)

"Whilst this poem is a short one, there was something deeply melodic about it. The words simply rolled off my tongue and put me in a trance and I kept repeating these four lines in my head.

There's a great flow going on in this poem, both in terms of rhythm and imagery. Going from a river to the sea, then incorporating the sun/moon is quite common and often works well. What made Ben's poem special was the rhyme and the expression of the "sun going dim with shame" tied with the river's "filthy secrets". The ending line was profoundly simple (in a good way) and pulled the reader into the reality of nothingness... almost leaving a hole in my heart after reading it."

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"As Once I Ran To You"
by Lost Star (4)

"From the moment I read the first stanza, I knew there was going to be a lot of potential in this poem. Expressing the hollowness of a person through the fading speed of an echo was very creative and effective. I also love how the layout adjusts to this imagery.

After this, the poem gets a bit more fluffy/abstract, making the reader wonder where it's going. There's a lot of darkness in here for sure that's easily felt through the descriptions of "malevolent forests and ragged mountains". I like how this is put in contrast with marshmallows and grass, as if to refer to camping... a moment where the forests and mountains aren't that dark.

The poem grounds itself a bit more when "the tide of realisation turned" (love that phrase), making it more evident that the poem was not only about escaping a darkness from the past, but finding new light/warmth. I thoroughly enjoyed this poem despite getting a bit lost with its directions at times."

Congratulatins to all poets who were nominated and to Lost Star and Tanya. Thank you very much to the judge for their comment and time.

Congratulations to the Winners,
Thank you judge for your time and effort and thank you for hosting MA!

Congratulations to the winners. Thank you our lone judge, appreciate your time. Thank you Mary Anne for hosting.