Weekly Contest Winners - May 6, 2019!

Hello everybody, Rania here! Ramadan Kareem to our Muslim community and Happy 1st week of May for everyone else. I would like to note before posting the results that the below votes and comments are from 4 judges, we still need ONE volunteer, otherwise all future results will be based on the outcome of the current panel. I hope someone who believes they've got some extra time to dedicate for the site would jump in and help out! Thank you!

Congrats for the poems who went to the front page and well done for everyone who keeps showing their awesome skills in writing poetry and sharing it with us all! I will keep it short following my introduction and leave you with the results. Enjoy!

Burning wind. By Shruti 24 points

Truth in winter by Ben Pickard 17 points

Highs and lows by Michael 14 points

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Burning wind. By Shruti. 24 points

I read this poem a few times to try and attain the meaning of what lies beneath it.
The conclusion I came to is, this poem could have several interpretations. I felt a profound depth to this piece, displaying a host of emotions, such as loss and fear and love.

I am particularly fond of how writers use the ‘wind’ as some kind of entity or message as if the wind brings a presence to where they are.
Only the writer knows what perspective they are coming from, which brings a curiosity into the equation.
A poem with the right balance of layout, along with content. A really well-written piece. Well done (10).

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The poem starts with this painting: “The sky is redder and less black tonight.”
The scenery brings about the feeling like the end of the world, otherwise why should be this red?
It feels likes “and you are there, painting it with the last colour left in your pocket.”
Like all of us have given some colours to paint in the world. But HE is out of paint.
Evidently, the narrator is spiking about a young boy who now is gone, and his absence has been of a little consequence: “The day you ran away, no one spoke a word.”
“After all, you were only a young boy who dreamt of swallowing fire”
Maybe now that he is gone, with all the fire he dreams of swallowing, that made the sky redder, because the fire is the impression he absorbed, and now he is painting the world (sky) with it. He painted the sky out of it because “… they told you to never dream again. You burned.”
And now that he is gone his reminiscences print themselves as the element, like wind, fire… That shows how malleable he became at least in the memory of a girl. (10)

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Shruti's piece this week stirred a lot of emotions in me. This boy, this special boy who wasn't made for this world had a special connection with her. They chased him away and I feel took her dreams away too. He visits her though, she knows it too. They are still trying to quash this boy because they know what they did was wrong and they are afraid of what is going to happen when the winds pick up and the world starts to burn. (4)

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Truth in winter by Ben Pickard 17 points

I really have been enjoying Ben's stepping out into more free form poetry. It's fun to see him.experiment with rhymes and throwing meters to the winds. This particular piece struck me as how in those heady early times of a relationship, how everything is so perfect. The sky is blue, the birds are singing and the angels are sighing. But things can get hard. Life tends to throw a lot of curve balls. Some people stray, looking for those greener pastures again. They are your fair weather friends and lovers, bolting at the first sign of frost and stormy skies. Eloquently as always Ben has written a solid piece definitely worthy of my (10) points.

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This poem poses a simple question... "Are your words of love real or simply inspired by the romantic situation and if so... if the situation was changed would you still feel the same way?" Ben weaves natural imagery playfully around the question and throws in for good measure some inspired and strategic wording to reinforce the point. "I am yours" deceives as it finds footing on the breeze" eloquently describes how he feels about her disingenuous outpouring of love. "tell me this again when your chattering teeth are gripped by winters cold and honest freeze" reiterates his continuing scepticism whilst retaining a small modicum of hope. (7)

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Highs and lows by Michael 14 points

Like the sentence at the end of the poem: “my pen will find a joyous sound.” All this little verse is breezy and exiting, using joyful vocabularies and expressions and most of all, imagers, to convey the ups and downs of a poetical mood.
In the beginning, obviously, the poet is straggling: “My ink runs slow, my mind subdued?So many words, are misconstrued,?my quill is not, in the rhythmic mood?it’s just my own, poetic feud.”
For the next stanza, the theme does not change: “my wordless bank is overdrawn… sheets of paper, crumpled and torn” and poet keeps on explaining the mood, the frustration of the writing block. He really makes solid attempts, but nothing would come: “the rhymes then haunt me, when in bed… when morning comes, my thoughts have… my roily mind is left for dead.”
But in the end, the glory belongs to those who sweated and waited, and his writing device suddenly starts to work. “but in the end, all shall be found?my pen will find a joyous sound.” (4)

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Sometimes a poem will just instantly resonate and for that reason alone will immediately speak to the reader. Other times it's the style and form, the beat and or rhyming structure of the piece or just the way you feel at that moment in time. For me the image of pen stubbed fingers and crumpled sheets of paper was the initial lure with the excellent rhythm and rhyme really making the grab. A light hearted clever combination of similes and metaphors that were impactful and intelligently delivered. "My wordless bank is over drawn" (was a particular favourite). Everything works smoothly throughout to provide an effortless delight to read. With the final stanza ending on what for most writers is a joyful note indeed. (10)

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The illusion of mortality. By Paul Hirst 7 points

The title of this piece caught my attention, and once I read the poem it makes very good sense.
The idea or ‘illusion’ of whether we do actually perish, and the writer has taken us through how life is recycled. How ‘DNA’ is passed on and so forth. I found this to be a clever piece of writing, however, it also has a nice simplicity as they explain their thoughts.
Reading through to the last verse, and I wondered who or what is the ‘friend’ they are referring to.
A thoroughly enjoyable read and food for thought! The only things I would say to this writer I feel the use of capital letters in places are used unnecessarily. But then that is only my opinion. A good job and well done. (7)

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Heavenly place by Dagmar Wilson 7 points

Dagmar poetry is brimful of such melancholic yet most human arrays of emotions. Dagmar strengths are her sincerity, passion, pessimism, and capturing unique moments. But she never banks on those moments to make a winner piece. she passes them and then praises other things and creates other imageries, because her own emotion is more important than the prize she might get after.
Here she comes across a field of unfamiliar flowers. their scent carries a spice?the colours were mystic…”
and she breathes soul into it with the “with a touch of London blue.” How profound is that! Dagmar is the master of tuning your mood, with her words, and taking you to the briefest, yet -if you get the glimpse,- the most spacious experience ever.
So, she is going towards her field of dream, the Heavenly place, of course as she approaches: “the leaves spontaneously detangled?leading me to a lake.” Because it is here dream the path opens for her like THE LITTLE BUDA
And yes: This is her world. The place that she created with her soul, that one-day rainbows will bridge across and will take here tormented glowing soul and set her free.? (7)

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A Cristian prayer (Sonnet) 4 points

I have come across many well-written sonnets on this site, and this one is no exception. They are by no means an easy style of poetry to write, let alone the ‘stresses’ and ‘un-stresses’ of word usage and all the while keeping a strict balance with the meter.
The author has written their sonnet, (as I read it) flawlessly. It read smoothly and the meter did not stray at all!
Also to tell a story well in such a strict form, takes some doing!
A piece, very personal to the author and their ‘beliefs’ within the Christian sector. I could hear this being read as a sermon actually, as it carries a message of hope and fears. Also, the author writes with passion and depth about their chosen subject.
I myself have an ‘open-mind’ with all religions and faiths, but I respect peoples beliefs.
The way this has been written is truly wonderful. Well done (4)

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Fire by Tanya Southy 7 points

Tanya's piece this week was intriguing. Some times you have to burn to the ground to rise up again stronger, fresher, renewed. It's like a forest fire, awful yes but the new growth is almost immediate. The old wood is destroyed making room for a sapling to flourish. We as humans sometimes need to shed that old shell we've been cacooning in to be able to grow and possibly leave something toxic. Well done Tanya! (7)

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Shell Harbour by Maher 4 points

The writer caught my attention when immediately as a reader I was asked to imagine the sand upon the shore and the waves kiss. There is nothing more magical than waves upon sandy shores and sitting on the cliff tops which immediately reminded me of blissful sunny days by the sea. The introduction of a relaxed appealing seaside setting makes the slip into darker more subtle musings of clandestine love all the more surprising. The reveal of the dark lure of the tide together with the voices of conscience work well together to hint at an air of doom and despondency which is finally brought to a fitting end with the last two lines. Subtle enough to show that whilst the affair is over the passion and memory of it for him remains still very much alive. (4)

Hi all :)

Thank you Rania for hosting.
Congratulations to Ben and Shruti, with who i share the honours this week. Thank you to the judges for my votes and comments, much appreciated.

Thank you to all the new judges for this term, and i doubt your tasks will ease ;).

Thank you to Em for nominating my poem.

Much love, M :)

A big thank you to our new judges - awesome work! Congratulations to all winners, HM's and big love for Rania too.

Congratulations everyone!!!!
Thank you judges for your time, and of course Rania for hosting :)

Congratulations to all the front page winners and HM's! Awesome, amazing writes all of you! Rania thank you for hosting and a big thank you for our new term judges. From the way it looks you all have your work cut out.

Congrats to the winners and HMs

Remember, if one more person volunteers there will be five more comments plus more HMs

Thanks, judges & thanks Rania

Thank you so much for both my comments; extremely thoughtful.Well done to Shruti and Michael (Shruti, good to see new work from you) and to all the hms and thank you to the new judges for their time.

Congrats to the winners & HM's
Thank you judges and thanks for hosting
Raina.

As mentioned by Larry we need another
judge and there will be more HM's!

Well done, one and all.

Congratulations to my fellow winners and HMs, I read every poem and they are awesome!
Thank you for the lovely comments, Em for the nomination, and the new judges for their hardwork. And thank you Ben!

Huge thanks to Rania for hosting this weeks competition and to the judges who make it possible to have a competition each week.
Congratulations to Shruti, Ben and Michael this weeks winners and to all of the HMs and on a personal level thank you so much to the Judge who
liked my sonnet and left such lovely comments and to Ben for my nomination. Best wishes Milly x