WEEKLY WINNERS:12/12/2011

Judges again you've proven the mods perfect choice, thanks for your time, dedication and commitment! All votes and comments were in on time, one judge was super fast, super organized and hence received
5 points this week.

Any judge who is the 1st to send his/her comments/votes in will receive 4 points, one extra point for being neat and using a black pen.

By the end of your journey, the judge with the highest number of points will have a "Thank you" thread of their own, a collaboration written about him/her
a total of 20 free comments/votes + 3 nominations..
<<Cross my heart>>
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Winners & H'ms : Well Done for

-Sibyllene
-The Prince
-Karla
-Senryu
-Hellon
-Narphangu
-Lebanese Pheonix,

(make sure that the 7 of you read the following)

Sibsib what shall I say Lady you have won 12 times previously and today you show up on the front page with not only one, but TWO wins. You must have
blown the judges minds away, I had one of them complaining about you being so awesome ( honestly happened)... though you've totally obtained 48 points! (taking the HM into consideration)

DANNY so you pleased my curiosity last week, if it will be your last or not..obviously NOT, such a neat poem Prince! Congrats

Pleiades by Sibyllene ( 10+7) = 17 pts

>>This poem caught my eye, and it never left. It has the piquance of 10 on my Scoville scale of 1-10 (a scale used to rate the hotness of various chilli peppers). I guess I have a special weakness for poetry that uses Greek mythological symbolism
of the constellations to spice it..... It makes you look at the sky in awe. Though classified in "nature poems". it probably fits in the category of love poems, perhaps unfulfilled.

The title Pleiades denotes the constellation of seven sisters. The description of the seven sisters...sizzling, hot and blue ...is what gives it the 10/10 on the spice scale. The middle aged is a little anti-climax
in there...could have been omitted. Sips of ....cocktails with wisps of nebula garnishes...deliciously painted. Flirting with Orion....I would not, he was an animal slayer and supposedly raped Oenopion's daughter, or Leiro, because he could not marry her. But does it matter in love poetry? He was also a great warrior, a hunter and perhaps many fair maidens fell for him. There is a left over feeling of unfulfilled love here, as the poetess leaves the thoughts incomplete, but again the chosen words and the imagery of the constellations in love is painted so vividly.

So, it does invoke those butterflies for the reader, but leaves it to the reader to fill in their thoughts.
-10 points

---------

>>This took me to space, this miss is sets the
bar of poetry so high,its amazing.

"the sisters
bathe religiously, luxuriously,
in the foam of the Milky Way,
bubbling with gossip and
using asteroids to scrub
each others backs. "

^
this was most certainly the best part of the poem..
who knew religiously and luxuriously could go together
in one phrase and sound so magically?

what a winner, Pleiades just took a whole other meaning..can we trade the descriptions with wikiPedia, when you search what Pleiades are..
can we find this poem instead?

I think so
-7points

******************************************************************************************************
Tidal by Sibyllene (10+7) = 17 pts

This poem reaches to the very insides of every woman in love who has waited patiently for this moment to arrive, but was disappointed. The expectation of some day to be proposed to by her lover, for the ultimate in fulfillment. The images painted here ...waiting in frigid weather, by the banks of a dark river with flowers on our icy breath, feeling the chills of "love", and yet that expectation unfulfilled that day....as the approaching wave (of expectation), raises immense expectations

There, for the first time,
you see the water rising
like fate in my eyes.

but the wave (the moment) simply passes by and breaks on the rocks with
a great roar. Riveting, from the insides of a master poetess!
-7 points

-------
>>the writer here chooses to approach her situation with "story-telling" tone and she starts by explaining the scenario beautifully and while this poem, is not so long at all you could say so much about it,her words were chosen carefully and what I loved the most about the poem was the attention to detail for sure. you could picture everything so perfectly in mind,

I love how the title relates directly to the feeling this piece creates..whilst reading my emotions rose and fell too..and its the way the emotion in the beginning of this piece seem so distant from the emotion she ends with make this piece special not too mention that her vocabulary was exquisite,and was set to rest perfectly between the complex and the simple.

Amazing Job.
-10 points

******************************************************************************************************
Thistle
by Sibyllene (4+10)= 14 pts

>>I don't have a whole lot to say. The poem itself isn't short, but the line breaks are. This adds a lot to the overall feeling of the poem.
The little thistle is a sad creature - a perfect picture of that person in our lives whom we want to reach out to but never have the chance. This poem feels quiet and sad. It's pretty well perfect. Alliteration:
check. Flow: check. Meaningful simplicity: check. What a great write.
-4 points

-------------

>>A very creative, cleverly written poem and it works so well in the feminine. The poet has taken something everyday, harsh, unattractive and painful to many and breathed life into it, not just life as a living plant but giving it subtly, grace and opening a window to its soul and the very reason for its existence, till it has substance and form, perhaps the poet herself? I will never look at a thistle in the same way again
-10 points

******************************************************************************************************

Awash
by The Prince (10+4)= 14 pts

>>First I noticed how this poem was broken into parts. Then I noticed the imbalance between the length of the first two parts and the third.
The asymmetry of this poem's form makes it all the more intriguing. Alliteration is used well by this poet - very cleverly implemented and there is not too much, nor too little. Great imagery is littered throughout this poem, I especially liked this:

"But either I leaked too much out
or the damned dam had broken,
and now everyone around me chokes under
thick and undiluted sludge."

My minds eye sort of became lost here, just as the people being drowned by the poet's misguided ink.

The ending is poignant and I really don't think it could have been done any better. The fact that two phrases wrapped up the entire piece so neatly is a huge 'yes' in my books.
- 10 points

--------
>>effectively portrayed and conveyed by the use of bold metaphors, the reader is left in no doubt of your intent with this poem, it is graffitied as you put for all to see, which is one of the reasons this poem attracts me, its bold and descriptive. Well done
-4 points

******H'ms with more than 10 points************

Sus's poem by Narphangu (7+4)= 11 pts

>>There's something inside this that touches the reader, a warmness that flows through the whole piece the repetition, everything works, rounded off with a lovely ending.

I'm not going to try and dissect this, there is no need. Captivating
-7 points
-----
>>this piece starts of getting credits for uniqueness.. haven't seen something quite like it..and while to some seeing so many comma's would be a turn off..
the pauses did nothing but intrigue me more..

" and
there you are girl, now
here's to the day
love realizes us instead."
^
how beautiful, and I think all girls that are chasing love should read this and print the message in their heads..

this write stirred controversy, but if you analyze it.. there is no need to fuss about it..it is simple a conversation about love led to one conclusion..

what a clever use of words, this writer is probably one of the most promising poets out there. She can do anything..from writing about sleep..to having others pulled their hair out when writing about friendship.

-4points
*******************************
Your Natural Disaster
by Lebanese Phoenix (7+4) = 11 points

>>Abed, Abed, Abed! You're coming so far in this poetry writing game. Your callbacks to past writes and allusions to comments left on them is a very nice device (...although I will never succumb to your
'excessive use of ellipses' heheh). I can see that you're gaining a greater grasp on the language with regard to metaphor and wordplay - there
is definitely room for improvement but regardless I find this piece very impressive and I expect that you will start to shine brighter and brighter as time passes.
-7 points
------------
>>This poem really is humorous and electrifying! Explosive in temperament, from beginning to end, it matches the inner youth of LP, breaking through
....... (just have fun filling the blanks here, if you know what I mean here). Though long, each stanza keeps you thrilled, as if riding a roller coaster
of natural disasters. From, a hair raising scenario painting a volcano filled with bubbling magma (of poetic lava flowing with outrageous line breaks
and excessive ellipses), ready to erupt from its deep chambers (to melt your insides) and the ash cloud that would engulf your sky

(drown you in his choking thoughts), to a 9.88 earthquake (on his poetic scale),
with accompanying aftershocks and tsunamis (to relieve your scorching pain....
I have to assume that this event is the next cataclysm he planned, after the reader has experienced the volcanic eruption (of poetic lava and buried in its ash),
and survived. LP says if you are still alive (unfulfilled) you may need more of "me", maybe in the form of Katrina (the category 3 hurricane that devastated the
Gulf coast of the US in 2005), as his mighty pen was "born to be your natural disaster"(not a sirens song). A poetic thriller painted with a calculated degree of arrogance to grab the readers attention, brilliant and most envious.

The only misplaced lines (lines 4-7), in my opinion, would look more appropriate if placed at the end as follows:

for men shall no longer
speak with a floral pen
or a written tongue
of feminine tendencies

my pen wasn't meant
to be a siren song
It was born to be
your natural disaster.
-4 points

******H'Ms with 10 points*******************

Your Beautiful Mind By Hellon Aka Miss Take

This piece was captivating to say the least, I want more of this. It was breathtakingly beautiful and somewhat sad too, and the touch of flowers here made the imagery so vivid and the wording was flawless and free flowing. I Liked the addition of speech, which made the imagery stand out even further.
The title was simple yet fit perfectly to the poem, The way you incorporated the love for someone into a piece like this is beautiful. An amazing piece to say the least.
-10 points

*******H'Ms with 7 points***********************

The third bank of the river By Karla

Many awhile have I read poems based around the writers themselves as poets, and how they feel when writing, writer's block and incorporating great metaphors, This writer outdid all I have read before, the words here, captivating, metaphors
were outstanding, the ending was flawless, as was the opening, and each line flew into the next with anticipation. I am thinking this piece may be about having writers block, or indeed writing too much that it overcomes your life, whichever way this is interpreted I love it and it most definitely is one of the best I have read.
-7 points

******H'Ms with 4 points***********************

Souls of the Conquered By Senyru

I was outstandingly amazed by the wording in this, It reminded me of Shakespeare a little, and also I liked this addition of 'twas throughout, the repetition worked well to my surprise here, I thought it gave an insight to the world and the aura was sad yet ended hopeful.
A very good piece in my opinion.
-4 points

Ms SunShine.

Well done to all the winners and HM's!!
Well done Sibs, Fantastic achievement!!!

Awesome Awesome Awesome

Sibs keeps sweeping the competition!

I think she needs her own thread so that we can embarrass her.

Oh Nana, you're the best, oh Nana, you're the best, you're the best. ;)

-------- Congrats The Prince and Sib ;) Sib is a super poetess for penning two poems this week, and girl, you really have props. Your 'Tidal' is gonna be one of my whole-lifetime favorites.

Thanks judges for your hard work. I really think this batch of judges is the best, well, not because I received two votes, but they really know what they're doing!!! Have you seen their comments? Super accurate and they have lots of general information, smoothness and dense interpretation. Chapeaux Bas for them all.

And thank you for the HM :)

I'm honoured to be on the front page 3 times in a row. And to share the front page with a brilliant poet!

Loll Abed :$ , Danny hats off!

Congratzzzz everyone !

High five to Danny.

Thanks for the comments on my poems. It's interesting to see different interpretations. "Tidal" wasn't actually about any proposal, failed or no, but hopefully I didn't confuse people too much by throwing it in.

Congrats to the HM's this week. I haven't read all of them, but a couple stick out in my mind as being very splendid, such as Narph's "Sus's Poem." Also on the nom's page, Thomas' "As Poets Do" was another slam-dunk, in my eyes. Read iiiiiit.

I'm going to go hide in the club now.

Congrats to the winners and HM's!!! Well done by all!!

Thanks for the HM, guys! Mucho appreciated. :)
And wooooahhh, girl. Sibs, you're a superstar.
Congrats to Danny as well for the win, and to everyone else in the HM's, not to mention everyone nominated, well done!

Congrats to the winners and Hm's and thank you for mine also...much appreciated.

Did Sybs'poem Thistle tie with Danny's poem Awash, both on 14 points?

Sibs,
you blew me away on both your wins and and an HM ties for points with 3rd!
You need to go buy a lottery ticket.
Congrats to everyone else this week & Thanks to Nana & her judges.

How does this work exactly....when there is such a tie? Last week 4 poems tied for 3rd spot on 10 points....how is it decided which poem goes through?

The site chooses. I think then its the one with the most/highest votes and comments.

I thought it was the 'site'who was the judge when it happened last week just by what Nana said...

However there's a tie between 3 other members who received "10" as a rating, and hence we will have to wait for the site to update itself until we find out who is the 3rd lucky poet who will be shining like me on the front page!

If the site selects the winner from a tie situation based on the amount of comments/ votes...is this fair? Obviously some people get more comments/votes than others...and...if it goes on the ratings well....that's bollocks too because a lot of poems get downvoted for no apparent reason.

I agree with you that some poems get down voted! It happened to me last time... people put a vote on your poem but don't leave any comment at all lol

Hhmmm well I don't think it's fair ...yet I don't believe it's unfair, I doubt people will like the idea of a judge or a mod voting for one of the poems, like with an extra vote.

However, if the site chose the poem regarding those certain strategies we can't say it's as biased as one of the Mods making his/her own pick. If a poem has a lot more comments than another poem, or if a poem is down voted and another is highly rated, then the poem with the highest rate or # of comments deserves to win, it means it was liked enough to be read by a bigger number of people. And if it didn't win because it was downvoted, then it wasn't like enough by others.

Ofcourse to each his own, we don't all have the same taste, but I think that's a fair way of looking at things, especially that in reality, the WIN flag beside the poem won't make much difference, if there' a tie, hence the poems received the exact number of votes, hence they are all winners, despite which one ends up on the front page.

I'm not sure that sitting on the fence will help the situation either...something is either fair or...it isn't? and to say you doubt people would like the idea of a mod or extra judge voting well...we have to put our trust in the judges every week to make their selections so...why not have someone on standby if needed?

If two poems have been judged and both have the same amount of votes...is it right to let a computer make the decision as to who will win? If I had the same STAT count as you for example and my name was selected for entry to uni and yours rejected...I'm sure you'd be pretty pissed off and....quite rightly so.

I'm sure you know by now I have no regard for that little win thing next to any of my poems..it doesn't mean anything but...if this site feels the need to put winners on the front page...at least make it fair....in a tie situation.

Oh yes I know you don't "personally" care much about that as we've talked about it before, and lol hellon you gave me the wrong example (Uni rejection) kind of convinced me :P

and what I posted previously is just my plain opinion, doesn't represent what the judges or the Mods believe in. Perhaps when they read the above posts, they will take it into consideration and find a solution.

It was just an example Nana...like The Fountainhead...if you've ever read it?

Yap and I said your example convinced me lol.

edit:the novel ?

man, you always bring interesting stuff to my attention, but yes I know it, read it, but I am definitely not Howard :P neither are you, I believe.

Ayn Rand...have you read it?

Noo, is it as good as the movie you told me about ? lol I just got it this morning when I came back, will watch in an hour

Totally different subject...obviously! You managed to get the movie....so cool...you will love it, I have no doubt in my mind.

Hahhaha neither do I have doubt in yours lol.
Will keep you updated XD

now I'm off to the supermarket, will shoot you a pm within hours to discuss my favorite parts :P

I will expect a very long pm because ....every part is good haha!!!

Sorry we've gone off topic here but...I'd still like to know how the system picks a winner in a tie situation?

Not sure there is any correlation between The Fountainhead and what poems win.. but anyway

But understand about two poems having the same vote count pehaps we could have a tie.. and have four or more winners.. ask Janis

Well there was none intended but...

Types of Correlational Studies:
1. Naturalistic Observation

Naturalistic observation involves observing and recording the variables of interest in the natural environment without interference or manipulation by the experimenter.

Well then the computer is the Naturalistic observer in this instance

Not manipulated by Mod nor judge

so its fair then, you would agree..?

No.....of course I won't agree Nicko! The computer is looking at something that is not natural...people who are popular and gain more comments/votes/rates than Joe Bloggs..who's poem is just as good. Judges are put in their seat to select and....in the past two weeks I've not seen anything I disagree with regarding the results but....when you have a tie....don't let a computer randomly select a winner....it will never be fair in my opinion...if that is, in fact, how the selections are made.

I believe the top 3..should be changed to top 5......ahahahahahahaha.

And...I had a reason for bringing up The Fountainhead...anyone who has read it will know why....I hope?

I was playing the devils advocate...

and yes ive read The Fountainhead, and Atlas shrugged... Two very deep books, loved them both

still struggling with the connection though..

Well...I'm saying nothing more....The Fountainhead is the best book I've ever read.

I just dragged this book from the shelf to see what I had written in the cover (from a previous thread, if you read it, I usually write something to deface a book that belongs to me) this is what I found...

22/06/90

Thinking of an acronym for the parasitic, sucking people of this society.

Yes its up there for me as well, though prefered Atlas Shrugged where she takes the second handers to the next level....though its harder to get into..

is that what you think we are second handers..?

She touches on Sci fi in this book...my head doesn't go there so...although it's on my shelf....I've never read it.

I never viewed it as sci fi ... You should read it

OK..Nicko...dragging it down right now...I will read it....I always read a couple of chapers of any book I have and this one...for some reason thought Sci Fi?

I'm a little weird when it comes to books...I've read everyone of Bryce Courtney's up until the Potato Factory...couldn't 't get into that so haven't bought another of his books since.

Ahh...side tracked again so...still my question???

My guess is that there is no real answer to your question. It seems that whoever above mentioned the site picking it based on votes might be correct - 'Awash' does currently have more votes than 'thistle' and if not then it is most likely random selection which chooses your winner. In any case, those two ways of breaking a tie are very fair considering it's a machine generating a winner. If you think that this is unfair, then is winning the lottery unfair? Also are people seriously still talking about down voting? I haven't heard of that in ages. I fail to see how this ties in based on two poems that have 5.0 ratings.

I really don't think that it's that big of a deal, though. It's just a site contest with no life altering results.

It's clear that nobody knows the answer to your question. Instead of being persistent in a place where you know you won't get an answer, perhaps you should go straight to the source and ask Janis.

Your question has been answered on how the site finalizes a tie, so I don't get why you keep asking looking for a different answer.

Since you seem to have such an issue with this, what are your suggestions to make it fair?

I personally think its fair. That's why I comment and vote on poem I really like, and make sure I do my part. If another poem generates more votes and comments... Oh well. If it was amazing, then the judges would've voted it higher. To get an extra judge would be crazy, someone would have to watch it and be on standby every Sunday evening...if people have time for that, then I guess I just feel sorry for em.