Weekly Contest Results, 15 May 2017

Appreciation. In order to be a true “success” you must appreciate yourself and how you are able to rise above the fray, such as Britt in ‘no hush zone.’ The appreciation of your dad lasts a lifetime, hearing that inner voice that carries over from earliest times as in ‘For My Dad,’ by Ben. Appreciating the joys of life with a commitment that encompasses expectations of both the good and bad times to come, as expressed in ‘Harvest,’ by AngelaLuisaCory. These are the front page winners this week and all should be appreciated by the world and by PnQ.
Thank you judges for you untiring efforts.

Front Page winners:
no hush zone. by Britt 10+10+7=27 points
For my Dad by Naughtymouse 7+4+4=15 points
Harvest by Angela Luisa Cory 10+4=14 points

Honorable Mentions:
Untitled by Naughtymouse 10 points
Borders by Frank 10 points
Revolt Of A Sutra by Satish Verma 4+4=8 points
Dust in the wind by Ben Pickard 7 points
Plastic Roses by Frank 7 points
Sunrise Surprise by michael 7 points

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no hush zone. by Britt 10 points
In analyzing this poem, I want to start with the closing stanza, a powerful and condemning inquiry to a society who refuses, at times, to embrace women’s successes and self-worth.
“…and what a shame that you think my lips
should be painted with shackles rather than success -
because who wants a woman to be confident?”
Confidence should be able to be felt by all people’s; but in this world so focused upon image and where men hold the upper hand in many aspects, women should be able to feel beautiful and successful without constant societal pressure and attempts to dissuade such feeling.
“I’m a woman that curls her toes
as much as her hair”
These two lines I really appreciated; the sensuality of a woman curling her toes as a symbol of pleasure and the celebration of one’s sex, rather than shame (“no apologies) or minimizing such an action; is not one’s comfortability with themselves sexually as important as one’s personal self-image out in the world? I should say it is.
Very well-written, Britt, and don’t you ever let anyone silence you.

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no hush zone. by Britt 7 points
Wonderful. Very powerful message and you
definitely touched the hearts of many with this poem.
There is power, strength, and confidence
shining throughout the whole piece.

messes in dark corners -
but I show up. Every day.
^
that was just very motivating.
The ending is just perfect,
perhaps we should all raise the question.
Thanks for writing this.

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no hush zone by Britt 10 points
This poem could be taken as a statement of defiance, but I think not. Rather, it is the poet’s own purposeful commitment to herself that despite all the pettiness that surrounds her, she will rise above and dedicate herself to being the absolute best she is capable.

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For My Dad by Naughtymouse 7 points
If we are lucky, inside each of us is this guiding voice from our childhood. Ben’s heartfelt articulation of his love for his father touches me deeply.

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For my Dad by Naughtymouse 4 points
This is a beautiful and very sad poem that puts me in mind of my own Father and I'm sure also many other readers who are lucky enough to read this wonderful tribute poem.
Beautiful work Naughtymouse! May your work always grace these pages.

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For my Dad By Naughtymouse 4 points
A heart felt tribute to your Dad. Poems so close to the heart are the most inspiring and etch a place on our soul more than ink on paper, yet it’s a moment that must be captured as we look within. Thank you for sharing something so deeply personal. With this poem you have been able to convey deep emotion and as you say these moments are rare, some may never experience them, yet as poets we have the means to articulate them, maybe not all as succinctly as you, so again thanks for sharing.

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Harvest By AngelaLuisaCory 10 points
A beautiful rhyming poem full of hope and promise. At first read with the message so clear and clean and the flawless rhyme scheme I wanted more, but having re read it a number of times the four stanzas is the right fit making it a concise and powerful read. Totally captivated thank you

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Harvest by AngelaLuisaCory 4 points
I know there are some other positive poems
this week, but this had something fresh
and very different.
I was thirsty to read some poem with
this tone and I enjoyed every single word.
The title-poem connotation is AMAZING.
I have one suggestion though:
“And heat with sun's warm kisses
And the soft, cool breeze that blows”
^
cool breezes that blow*
would fit better with the 'flow' before it.

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Untitled by Naughtymouse - 10 points
You got me with this one Naughtymouse, perfect descriptive rhyming, great imagery and lines that I wished that I had written, all combined to pull at my Heartstrings and send this poem on a collision course for the 10 point marks.
I don't know how you do it, but you are one of a few number of poets here that have an exceptional talent.
Well done Naughtymouse. I found your poem a real pleasure to read.

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Borders by Frank 10 points

I just love this poem. I love the wording, the structure,
it has a very simple bonding between the writer's
emotions and the terms they used to express what
they're feeling.

I'm really fond of the title and the message behind
the piece, I love the way it all makes me feel
as a whole piece.

This poet wrote some of the best nominated poems
for this week, and they've all nailed it.

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Revolt Of A Sutra by Satish Verma 4 points
At first read this is a striking, but confusing mash-up of bizarre images. Upon further reading, however, the complex interaction takes on new meaning: the moral crisis, distorted truth and wounded lion all relate to the existential crisis of a person whose basic understanding of the world has been found woefully short, as though his moral stance is dissolved by antimatter, and the only thing left that is true is that time passes ever onward. He has the apparent ability to reconstruct a new world view, but the poem does not venture there, highlighting instead the moment of dissolution.

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Revolt Of A Sutra by Satish Verma (4 points)
“A distorted truth falls in your lap
like a figurine asking your pardon.
The dogma lies in mess.”
Quite a striking image - I imagine a figurine in kneeling posture, a beggar-like position, seeking forgiveness. The line on dogma, as well as the title usage of sutra, brings me to believe the poet is analyzing, potentially criticizing, the authority of religion and its rules. Perhaps I am wrong; however, there does appear to be an underlying theme of breaking from tradition (or revolt, as you may).
An overall interesting piece and a strong showing of writing.

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Dust in the wind by Ben Pickard - 7 points
This piece is brilliant, it gives the reader great imagery in its use of complex wording and detailed lines which turns this poem from 'good' into an exceptional write.
If I was to fault it, I'd replace that second 'ether' with the word 'void', so as to avoid close repetition of the word ether, but that is a minor comment and no way detracts from this poems greatness and the pleasure it gives to the reader. Good work Ben!

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Plastic Roses by Frank (7 points)
“I am as abandoned
as a right word
that cannot be heard.”
Such an airy image - and not even so much an image, but a concept - one floating aimlessly abandoned in the aether, like the perfect word unspoken and unheard. I really enjoyed this opening.
As he does so well, Frank leads the reader on a voyage through beautifully chosen similes and imaginative photographic imagery - a kiss linked to a wine bottle, a goldfishes scales to the color of the iris. Truly masterful work painting such poignant portraits via the written word and its more and more wholly appreciated with each poem he pens.
A wonderful write on what I took to be a study of personal loneliness and/or feeling cast aside. Sad, but so dazzlingly described.

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Sunrise Surprise By michael 7 points
You take us on a lovely jaunt down memory lane with your descriptive well written poem. London’s flea markets pop into my head with all the dodgy dealings and underground, one step ahead of the law. Most of your poems are punctuated by vocabulary rarely used which always has me reaching for the dictionary. Sometimes such language can appear gratuitous and detract from the poet’s message though not the case in this poem. Yet you have certainly used imaginative flavoursome language which certainly works well in the context of this cleverly written poem. The rhyme works well but found the meter off in a couple of places when moving from one stanza to the next which interrupted flow
"Frisky moves of a black-bottom shuffle
Pitter-patter of black-boot kerfuffle"
Two of my favourite lines. Well done.

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First off, may I just say congratulations to the winners and thank you to the judge for their comment.

All the best

Congrats everyone!!

Ohhhh sweet judges, y'all make my heart melt. Thank you for your love and kindness, I so appreciate you! Congrats to the other winners/HM's!! Thank you mods for compiling and posting so quickly, too! :)

"This poem could be taken as a statement of defiance, but I think not. Rather, it is the poet’s own purposeful commitment to herself that despite all the pettiness that surrounds her, she will rise above and dedicate herself to being the absolute best she is capable."

BINGO. <3 I loved all the judges comments, and this one hit the nail on the head.

Congratulations to all the front page winners and HM's! You guys totally rocked this week!

I would like to congratulate the winners of their wonderful poetry this week :)

Also thank you to the judges for my HM

Michael

I am so grateful to judges for taking time to read and leave great comments. Also thanks to the host. I also should mention that I am so proud-hearted of those fine souls who take their time to read and to nominate new members, who they don't even know, without any expectation of returning the favour, only out of their pure regard for poetry.

Again, I have to say the judges comments this week have totally humbled me, I appreciate all the time and effort that you guys put it so I wanted to say thank you to you guys and Congrats to all the winners and HM's alike, really awesome poetry has been filling our screens recently and it's freakin awesome to see.

PnQ Rocks \m/

Congratulations to the front page Winners as well as the HM's!!

Thank you judges for all your time and thank you Larry for hosting.

two poems on the front page again ... Naughtymouse has left the building ...

Second week in a row that happened. That's a bummer.

Ben's closed his account. I think a different and more active poetry site caught his fancy...

A massive loss to p n q

Hi Britt
I removed my poem last week because I am fundamentally uncomfortable with the whole 'contest' concept.
I have spoken to several poets here about it. There should be a contest opt out tag for poets not interested in contests.
I've noticed that 86% of poems posted get no likes or comments, reads are not shown unfortunately.
Maybe if people concentrated more on the poetry, and less on winning contests and forums, the site would attract more of the browsing poets to join, and retain the existing poets.
Just my opinion.
I don't know why Naughtymouse left, but he wasn't in a very good place in his head and was suffering. His last few poems screamed out that message. Shame few noticed, or tried to help.
PPx

I have to say that I agree with Paul in the main. Personally, I think the weekly is a fun bonus but it's sad to see so many comments on the results thread by certain poets who make little or no contribution to the actual poetry in terms of commenting/reading. The forums seem to attract more attention than the actual poetry which loses the point, in my opinion.
Ben sent me a message yesterday about a new site he'd found that was simply more active and more poetry orientated. When established, talented and popular members are leaving for these kinds of reasons, we need to take notice. We have trodden this path so many times, but people simply aren't active enough on here from a poetry point of view. The forums are fine, but they shouldn't be the crux of the site. If you want that, log onto facebook.
I understand that no one can be forced into reading and commenting and I wouldn't want to sound like I'm attempting to do that, but there's no point in feigning shock and surprise when members like Ben leave us. He is a true poet in every sense of the word, and he wanted to be on a site that was immersed in poetry. I'm not sure this one always is...

Totally understand people leaving in search of more active poetry sites, but still pretty funny in that case that Naughtymouse's final line here yesterday was "PnQ rocks". A poet's heart swings high to low.

Larry, I want to compliment you on your hosting skills. All the mods do well, but you always seem to magic some kind of theme to tie all the winners together as an introduction. I hope you don't tear too much hair out over it. Love it.

I agree with Abby a poets heart does swing high and low, I'm sure he had his reasons for leaving, maybe he will return. I hope he does he was a nice guy. Mind you he could have left his account open and be members of both sites.

Ben which poets leave comments on the results threads but u feel aren't contributing.

I want to echo what Britt has said before about leaving comments. I read a couple of poems today, one was about lost love by a 25 year old American poet, It started well and I got the gist of the poem but it was full of grammatical errors. Some lines made no sense at all. Initially I thought yeah I will leave a comment. By the end I thought there's no way I can leave one without pointing out some of the errors and be honest, and I didn't want to leave something like good work keep posting or something negative .. my bad probably

I have to completely agree with Ben's comments. Well reasoned and eloquently expressed.

PPx

I'm truly shocked that Ben has left for whatever reason he had. He has left before and came back. I hope his departure will not be as lengthy this time. By the same token, so many members have taken sabbaticals that I think most will continue to migrate home to us.

It's my opinion that PnQ serves a valuable poetry oriented purpose but it will always need improvement. We, the mods, Janis and the members, have the duty to not only participate in a meaningful way, but to effect changes that keep the site relevant and dynamic. Now, more than ever, the owner is open to input.

I don't think everyone here will be focused on poetry, although most are and will be. Some come for the social interaction and that's okay. Think about the fact that they could get some interaction elsewhere but they come here instead. I think it's because they want to converse with the specific mindset of poets. We see the world in myriads of nuances and express it. That's how we are.

Paul, I respect you for your stand on contests. Although my opinion is different, the right of a poet to opt out of the contest should be implemented without having to delete the poem and the comments that go with it.

As to critiquing grammatically obstructed poems, perhaps a pm can accomplish the feat without subjecting the poet to open criticism or coming off as a showboat.

Finally, I am basking in the pleasure of praise by both Britt and Abby on the same thread. I should be humble but it feels too good to be appreciated.

For what it's worth, I love pnq, i've spilled my guts here enough to call it home but lately it feels barren to me, I know it looks shiny and new but the lack of new poets being able to join clubs and various other things about new and shiny PNQ I dislike.

The mods and folks who do things spend alot of time and effort into what they do, for which i'm sure we can all agree on that we are grateful for, but I agree with Ben and Paul, the clicks and lack of enthusiasm in the site is rife however when I deleted my Naughtymouse account I don't mind saying I wish I had left it and just deleted my poems and favorites to start again.

No Idea why i'm piping up lol

EDIT: and thankyou for the nice things said :)

Now it's harder to know which Ben is talking lol I read Ben and I Think Ben Pickard, but welcome back... naughtymouse

It doesn't hurt to point out the grammatical errors, it can help anyone who struggles with grammar. I mean, the author can ignore them if they wish to, but there are other people reading the comments aside from the author, so some of these people can benefit from your comment.

Thanks Luce, well I guess it'll keep y'all on your toes for a bit :)

No confusion necessary: I have taken it upon myself to be the much more grandly titled "B. W. Pickard", lol

I think it's because they want to converse with the specific mindset of poets.

^^
Larry, a fair point and taken on board.

We poets are fickle creatures in the way of feelings.

Forums get quiet, that's a problem.
Forums get active, no one is focusing on poetry.
Comment on a poem, get in trouble for helping.
Don't comment on a poem, get in trouble for not reading.
Comment on a poem and praise, get criticized for only commenting on your personal favorites.
Nominate poems, you're only praising your favorites.
Don't nominate poems, you're not participating.
Win, don't want to be in the contest.
Don't win, complain that the contest is unfair.
Give a constructive complaint with suggestions, be called a whiner and ridiculous.
Stay quiet, you're in trouble.
Hate PnQ, spend years wishing for changes, hate the changes and focus on things other than poetry.

Guys.

Do you see a pattern here? I've been on this site for (omg, this is weird) 12 years now, and this is a trend that happens literally all the time. No one can win, and in the end we all have this big, massive love/hate relationship with PnQ and all of it's members - that you cannot deny.

Paul, I didn't know it was your poem that left, truth be told I didn't pay much attention because I've been crazy busy, I just noticed one was gone. Same with this week. It's just a bummer because people who see the results page usually want to go read the poems after seeing comments from the judges, and if one or more is missing, they miss out, too, if they weren't on top of it like..immediately. It was never meant as a dig to anyone, just a true bummer in my eyes :)

Also, I'm concerned Larry's head is about to explode, so stop the fawning and praising ;) hahahaha.

Okay while we're on the topic (kind of), may I please ask if anyone here has ever "disliked" a poem? I tend to be quite critical (probably a bad quality) and I can't bring myself to "like" a poem when it's terribly penned, however it feels rather mean to dislike it. I kind of miss the grading scale from 1-5 for this reason.

Anyone else or just me?
Because I'll read through dozens of poems from newer poets here who haven't quite grasped the idea of writing in stanzas or even using punctuation, and I can't help but mention it. But then it will result in a dislike or no like on their poem and I don't want to discourage new poets by giving them a dislike. So I usually just don't comment or rate it at all.

SO, do you ever give a dislike or do you just leave the poem with a blank rating?

Sorry if not relevant to this thread.

Your view of poetry is very narrow minded. Not all poetry has to be arranged in stanzas, verses etc.
Not all people have english as their first language, so grammar and punctuation is not always perfect.
Not all people have had the benefit of a decent education. Some educated people make typo's!
To dismiss poems simply because they are not styled or punctuated the way you think it should be is precisely the poetic bigotry that discourages newer poets from writing or posting.

PPx

Just an FYI, the dislike button doesn't affect the overall rating of the poem but is used in determining which poems will come up in your suggested reading i.e 'poems you may like'. So feel free to use it.

Ether I tend to dimiss the like dislike button as much as I did the grading system 1 - 5

With the old system some poets used to give 1's to other poets they disliked no matter if the poem was good or not.

We all view poetry differently. Some like stanza's some don't, some use punctuation some don't, like you English may not be their first language. If a poem has a few grammatical errors yet I like the poem I will leave a positive comment. If the errors are more pronounced I tend not to comment at all. I have thought about sending some a PM re the errors but don't think I can teach English via a PM (noting my English isn't perfect on occasion as well)

How I respond to some poetry like this is worth further consideration

Poetry is an emotional vent for many, they maybe going through emotional trauma, be it about relationships, personal loss, or something else. That's how I discovered the site years ago. I came I vented but I stayed, many vent then leave. P&Q is an anonymous cathartic outlet to many that never post comments or only ever post one or two poems then leave.

Thanks for the info Mark, I was wondering how the new way worked. Appreciate the feedback. I'm sure it's been discussed before but I was a bit late to that party. And thanks Nicko for your opinion.

If others had taken time to look at my page they'd see that I'm currently living in a non-English speaking country (I have some idea about the challenges people face writing in their second, third, or fourth languages), and have been writing poetry for years. But please, continue to make uneducated assumptions. For the information RE the poetic bigot comment: I was more referring to a piece that was 10 lines long with no breaks, every fifth word didn't make sense, and the author had stated they were living in the USA and is over the age of 30. You would assume they'd have a better grasp on writing, OR perhaps it is my ignorance/bigotry speaking. Ulysses had no punctuation for 100+ pages after all. However, in my opinion, the poem was worthy of a dislike; hence me wanting your opinions on the question.

I use the dislike button like it's nobodies business. I have a type, and that's a-okay. :) It doesn't show anywhere but your personal feed, it changes your suggested poems. You can easily go search out new faces and things, but I love having something that gives me a suggestion for something I will truly love. Lately it's been pretty spot on.

I wonder why we put so much pressure on ourselves and other members on a poetry site to fit into a box, any box, of activity? Poets are out-of-the-box people.

Everyone chooses to write in a style that they choose....its poetic freedom.to discourage someone on how they write is rude and disrespectful. I Havre had people message me over the years for advice on formats, punctuation, ECT. We need to support our fellow writers instead of criticizing them. Some people wait for years before posting publicly....just think about that before you dislike something.

It's good that this whole "dislike" issue is out here, because I think many people think of the button as a carry over from the rating (1-5) system.

The "dislike" button literally sends a message to the site "I don't like this type of poem, suggest something different, please."
AND NOTHING ELSE

It does not affect the status or popularity of the poem, it does not add or detract from the "likes" the poem receives. The "dislike" and "like" buttons are not treated at all the same. One changes your own profile preferences, the other increases the visibility of the "liked" poem.
Win - Win

Britt, that is called tuning ( putting into proper pitch) like adjusting the modulation, focusing lenses, you have to find the exact setting. Either over, or below they both are not right.

The rating 1 to 5 was very wrong. First nobody except real judges should be aloud to rate someone 's work. Lots of people have personal reasons for rating others. One of them lack of understanding for example. Also numbers spoil everything. I highly recommend you to watch Black Mirror, the episode "Nosedive". ( you can find it in Netflix or even YouTube with lower quality) It shows how rating system 1 to 5, turns human relationship to something meaningless and superficial, draining it from its transcendental purposes.

I am so glad of your return Ben.

Ben good to see you back

From first glance Deep underground poetry looks similar to P&Q with forums competitions etc. how do you find it ? Ive had a bit of a look around and will investigate more ...

Cheerz

For what it's worth this whole I guess it depends on the context of it all, I remember when I first joined PnQ and i'd write like crazy, my punctuation for the most part was spot on but my typing was blind to "i's" every time I used it on its own i'd use lowercase and Meme worked her butt off to remind me of it every chance she got lol ... I owe a lot to that hahaha

Everyone's style is different, I can write a 50 page poem with no punctuation with the poem being read as it's supposed to, if we "spit and post" often the punctuation and even the grammar is all over the place but that's the nature of the poem and I think it add's to conveying the emotion felt at the time of writing , it isn't always that people don't know how to use it, you've only gotta look back and read another piece to realize that.

And thanks guys, it is very similar to PnQ, it is much more active and has some nice touches to it like being able to add multimedia to a poem which I really like, something I know has been brought up in these forums on a number of occasions.

It would be hard pressed not to be more active than here at the moment but good to have you back

There is no incentive to be active anymore. The three glaring issues imo are, the clubs: not being able to join is a big problem. Not being able to see if your comments are praised or not (at least for me) makes me not not want to comment anymore. And i like commenting more than writing but whats the point. Also for me taking away the forum post award (i forgot what its called now) gives no reason to comment on the forums anymore. Shrug. I'm probably in the minority now anyways.

Agree the club thing needs to be sorted out . Don't think we need any awards re the forums ?? There is a forum post counter

I find it so strange that we've turned into a culture that says "what can this do for me" as an incentive to participate in a passion or hobby.