Weekly Contest Winners - October 9, 2017

Hello, everyone! I wish you all peace and joy this week. Congratulations to the three winners, Michael, Ether, and Mr. Darcy (who won the three-way tie-break). Congrats to all the HM's as well. Thank you to the judges and to all the poets for sharing their work. Have a great week! :)

WINNERS:

“If i were a builder..” by: Michael 10 + 7 + 4 = 21 points
“persistently airy” by: ether 10 + 4 + 4 = 18 points
“Dancing by knife point” by: Mr. Darcy points = 10 points

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COMMENTS:

“If i were a builder..” by: Michael

“I really liked the message that has been brought out here and the layout of it, as well as the breaking up of words which stresses a point without trying to push a point across to the reader.

This poem has a positive and shiny out looks and just wish more people in this world feel and act towards this goal rather then thinking to destroy! Truly an enjoyable read.” (10 points)

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“Here we have a well laid out and thought through piece by Michael and one that makes you think thoroughly about how you see life yourself and what you'd do to make things better if you could and Michael puts all this together in one full swoop of how he'd overcome all the woes of the world and make it a much better place with him becoming a builder not of construction sites but of people, of communities and last but not least the whole world and I personally think we need more people like this in the world because there is so much hatred in the world today. I take my hat off to you Michael for being honest enough to write this piece with such sass.” (7)

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"Love the idea and thought behind this! We need a foundation of hope, and that may look different for everyone, but our wounds and suffering NEED to be addressed instead of just left hollow and un-cared for. I appreciate the third stanza especially because there's such an obvious divide between beliefs and religion, and many times, we are all complicit in blaming.

Another part of your piece that rang true is the reality that we cannot just "gloss over" black and white issues. I believe there's always a deeper root, and it's important we listen and reach out instead of assuming or saying to move on, as if it were that simple.

I'm not a big fan of your use of punctuation, BUT it's unique and your voice stands out here... it reaches across to many people, so I admire that." (4)

“persistently airy” by: ether

"This was a complete breath of fresh air. The reality that this can be interpreted in multiple ways, in such short verse, really intrigued me. The "sleep walking body" and "time traveling mind" makes me imagine when we wish for simpler times... then the third stanza makes me think of times we feel helpless and just like a pawn in society. The "broken" aspect, could be in reference to a relationship or a trust in society? There's this detached feeling, like wanting to go back to that moment when we could be given a balance of emotions, a knowing, a solid reality.

My only question is should "before the store surge" read "before the storm surge"?

Otherwise, such an interesting piece, it leaves me wanting more than going back and reading between the lines." (10)

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“The subject matter here can be interpreted in many ways and made to think about in many ways too. It talks about been with someone and been by their side through thick and thin yet within that situation there can be lots of problems as well. I like the way this poem has been presented and the flow of the read…well penned!” (4)

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“I love the title and how it opened the piece. It set the tone beautifully and creates something in the mind of the reader. There is certain openness when you read it, having been written in small caps. I interpreted it to be something a person said to his/her self, after contemplating on the current events happening in his/her life. I find the speaker’s voice very strong, and this made an impact on me. It’s a compelling piece!” (4)

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“Dancing by knife point” by: Mr. Darcy

“Mr. Darcy has seemingly come back with a huge bang here he talks of the woes an insomniac goes through with such sass I'm sure many of us could have written it but I for one could not have written it better if I'd have tried. This resonates with my being a suffered myself and most likely many others here and I reckon it's because we're all creative and thoughts just go round and round our heads until we put pen to paper or in some cases fingers to keys.” (10)

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HM’S:

“I’ve Found Thee (Hymn Song)” by: Mark = 10 points
"Sending My Prayers" by deeplydisturbed = 10 points
"Holding it Together" by: Maple Tree = 7 points
"Mania" by: risqué = 7 points
“Old House” by: mossgirl19 = 7 points
“To Court a Rose (English Sonnet)” by: Ben Pickard = 7 points
"Autumn" (acrostic) by: kasie = 4 points
“On my way Home; The Truth nobody wants to Here.” By: Maple Tree = 4 points

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COMMENTS:

“I’ve Found Thee (Hymn Song)” by: Mark

“Mark has crafted a very beautiful hymn! Beautiful message, beautiful flow. I commend him for the uniqueness of his poetry. This one is truly a beautiful work of art that only says it is crafted from the deepest recesses of his heart!” (10)

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"Sending My Prayers" by deeplydisturbed

“I don't feel the necessity to write a great deal about this poem as I am sure all who have read it will agree it pretty much speaks for itself.

A wonderfully worded and worked piece that echoes the thoughts and sentiments of us all in relation to this shocking event.

Great work.” (10)

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"Holding it Together" by: Maple Tree

“I find the way Maple Tree writes this poem somewhat different to many and I think this is why it catches my eye.

The way the poem is presented is more akin to one that would rhyme but it doesn't. Yet the format works perfectly and you become absorbed, eyes flow over it easily without the need to read a stanza for a second time. Although I have read the entire piece 4 times up to press.

The content and subject matter of the poem are incredibly well conveyed and the story told perfectly.
A sad story it perhaps is, but it also holds a lot of strength, love and hope. Certainly a lot of fight.

I hope your situation resolves and that you are reunited with your song bird.

A very worthy nomination.” (7)

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"Mania" by: risqué

"I'm not sure if you are referencing "mania" here in terms of a manic episode (such as from Bipolar disorder), but having personal experience with it, I know the frustration, risk and highs of mania that can leave one feeling completely use, exhausted and spent.

There IS that explosion of color, and it's so overwhelming yet tantalizing at the same time. I love how you committed to the use of colors here, especially the racing thoughts of that "white light", possibly stepping in front of it.

I didn't really know what "mania" meant until recently, and for me, it was impulse and me feeling on the top of the world yet totally immune to danger. From what I gathered, the second to last stanza was referencing self-harm? Often people can mistake self-harm for suicidal tendencies, when most of the time self-harm is used to cope and TRY to stay alive.

At the last stanza, there's that recognition of how much is in our mind we feel we cannot control. Mania at the time may seem like such a glorious thing, it makes us happy, alert, but it can be scary too, not sleeping, feeling buzzed... and I think the most important part is recognizing it and finding a place of balance.

Powerful piece, thank you for sharing." (7)

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“Old House” by: mossgirl19

“Things, moments, keepsakes, pictures bring back memories of many a people or just a loved one. But a house, yes that is where memories were made, moments were sketched and lessons learnt and to top it up, its where love resides. This poem portrays just that and the sadness of this write can be felt from start to end…a lovely heart touching write.” (7 points)

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“To Court a Rose (English Sonnet)” by: Ben Pickard

“I feel the ‘woe’ in this piece very strongly. It read like smooth flowing water and once again I am in awe of the writer’s dedication to formed poetry. I find this very delicately woven, with great word choice and of course, commendable syllable counting. Very effective piece, well done!” (7)

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"Autumn" (acrostic) by: kasie

“There have been many poems in recent weeks regarding autumn and the impending winter to follow. Most have been trepidation fueled.

I enjoyed reading this because it is the complete opposite. It does a fantastic job of reminding us that there is beauty in all seasons.

To rhyme an acrostic can be difficult but I think the author has done rather well. The only thing that threw me a little was the rhyming between lines 3 and 4. However as criticism goes this is tiny.

well done on a lovely poem.” (4)

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“On my way Home; The Truth nobody wants to Here.” By: Maple Tree

“I don't even know where to begin about this because it's raw, honest and pulled at my heartstrings and though we have our own worries it's hard to feel like we're fighting losing battle (I think that's correct) of loneliness but I just want to offer my thoughts to Andrea, applaud her for her bravery and honesty and say you are not alone in this fight. Stay strong.” (4)

Congratulations to all the front page winners and HM's! Beautiful writes all around!

Congratulations everyone.
Huge Thanks to judges and moderators for their valuable time.
Thanks to the Senior members for nominating our poems and motivating us.

Massive congratulations all.

Gosh and golly. It looks like I sneaked in with a win this week. Mark and Naomi, I feel I've robbed you - so sorry. How about we share the 3 letters of the W-I-N badge?

Thank you to the judges who work so very hard; often sitting at their PC instead of spending time with loved ones. I know its a sacrifice and I/ we appreciate your time and effort.

Thank you for hosting this thread and well done to the long list of HM's

I'm off to bed now!

Hi All

Firstly I would like to thank the judges for taking time to read, more and more incredible poems from the authors of PnQ and the difficulty to select winners and HMs.

Thank you also for my comments on my poem that made the news today :) Mr Darcy and Ether, along with and all HMs achieved all winners. There are incredible pieces of work here on the site :)

Thank you to Purvi Gardia for my nomination, and Poet on the Piano for hosting.

Much love
Michael :)

Very wonderful poems! Congrats to everyone. ^_^

Well done all, and may I just say how wonderful it is to see Michael (Mr Darcy) back on site and in such marvellous form!

Ben

Thankyou judges for your time and effort! And to all winners and HMs. Thanks Scott, Nam's for nominating my works, and Britt - who nominated my Hymn.

Wonderful week of poetry!!

Huge congratulations everyone :-) xx
=^.^=

Congratulations to this week's winners and HAm and much thanks to the judges who work tirelessly behind the scenes to make this all happen best wishes Milly x

Congratulations to our winners and to fellow HMs. It's really great to have members posting again. Great stuff this week.

Thank you judges and mods and to Mary Anne for hosting.

Congratulations to the front page winners and my fellow hm's. Thank you, judges as well.

Wow I am very humbled - thank you for the beautiful comments, judges. You had a number of great pieces to chose from this week and I didn't even think I'd get a HM! A little bit of a belated congratulations to everyone else mentioned and those who didn't receive a HM. I had a browse of the contest nominations two days before the end of the week and was blown away by the high calibre of poetry being posted to this site!

And thanks to the judge who picked up on my typo, will rectify that now. Thanks guys.