Weekly Contest Winners - September 30, 2019

Hey, everyone! With it being just the second week of fall, what better way to be entranced than by Maple Tree's "Haunting of Autumn" and, in a less daunting but more soothing way, be calmed by the lush imagery and comfort of Ben's "Where My Future Grows". Both pieces make me immediately want to spend the day outside, in my quiet meadow, looking to nature for solace and hope. Could we ask for better poets to truly immerse us in the wonder of nature? Well done to you two, and a special congrats to Lost One for their "10" on "Lies to Ease the Pain", a beautifully rhymed but heartbreaking piece of loss and denial. Congrats to all our HM's! Many thanks to the judges for reading my piece as well, always means a lot just receiving support, without a nomination or anything.

I hope everyone has a wonderful week as we enter a new month!
- MA

*all judges' comments posted below

___________________________________________________

WINNERS:

“Haunting of Autumn” by: Maple Tree 10 + 4 = 14 points

“Where My Future Grows” by: Ben Pickard 7 + 7 = 14 points

“you’d be able to move on” by: Poet on the Piano 10 + 10 = 20 points

______________________________

COMMENTS:

“Haunting of Autumn” by: Maple Tree

“Andrea's ability to weave her love of nature and her feelings so effortlessly makes me strive to be a better writer. There is something about Autumn that evokes these feelings of sadness. Maybe it's the chill in the air and the crunch underneath our feet. Maybe it's the starkness of how the trees are and how the forest void of its canopy looks empty. Not lush and inviting but empty. But even in this stark world, fall is a beautiful season and I can see how she would fall in love with its haunting beauty. It has had me under its spell for years now.” (10)

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

Tie-breaker comment:

“As always, there is a certain soulfulness spiritual/other-worldliness in Andrea’s writes, especially in her nature poems and delving into the very spirit of a season. “veins of a leaf turn into a corpse” is a line I cannot forget. There is a sense of foreboding in this, a danger of feeling too far gone or sad from this morose atmosphere, yet it’s all the more breathtaking because there seems to be a story, pain and sorrow and memories, when the leaves change and you are reminded of your own hauntings. The voice here is chilling in its own way and Andrea narrates while providing the reader with imagery that is full of mystique.” (4)

_______________________________

“Where My Future Grows” by: Ben Pickard

“Ben's poem this week is such a lush descriptive of a place that is obviously special to Ben. One where he can recharge at and just commune with nature. He feels hopeful here, like the world is not so bad after all. Someplace his kids can just be free at, exploring the Brooks and moors, carefree and innocent. It's a place you go to to absorb this beauty that's around you, no city noises to distract you and jar your inner peace. A truly lovely place that I think we would all love to visit and experience this first hand.” (7)

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

“Ben always delivers on poems about nature and this is no exception. The wonderful descriptive and lyrical, flowing content paint vivid images that put me right inside the frame of this masterpiece.” (7)

___________________________________

“you’d be able to move on” by: Poet on the Piano

“Let me start by saying I disagree with the title entirely. I am convinced not a person this lady knows would "be able to move on". Anyhow, this poem sent shivers up and down my spine as I read, not least because by the time I reached the end, I too was forced to consider the advantages of "eternal disappearance" and I bet there's a good deal of us on this site who have had the same thought at one time or another. And yet, we are still here, safe and sound, writing because it's cathartic and sharing in hopes of understanding and - perhaps - the idea that our musings may actually help others better understand themselves.” (10)

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

"MaryAnne’s piece this week struck a chord with me. The feeling of not mattering; the paranoia, the anxiety. It speaks, perhaps in contradiction of wanting to disappear but at the same time, knowing that their presence will not be missed, that the idea of it is inconceivable. Sometimes our mind is sick, and it wants to convince us we don’t matter. There is hope here, however. The use of the word ‘seduce’ is telling, almost as if the persona is not fully convinced by the desire to ‘disappear’." (10)

_______________________________

HM’s:

“Lies to Ease the Pain” by: Lost One = 10 points

“Illusions” by: Tanya Southey 4 + 4 = 8 points

“Classical Entry” by: Satish Verma = 7 points

“Sad” by: Daniel = 7 points

“Joy (acrostic/haiku)” by: Jessica = 4 points

“No Kidding A Kidder” by: Em = 4 points
_____________________________

COMMENTS:

“Lies to Ease the Pain” by: Lost One

“Denial is possibly our most protective instinct and I'd wager it's most often used where love is involved - when getting love, keeping love and losing love. I'll bet that not a single member has been able to read this sad but wonderfully flowing poem and not been able to relate. Losing love in particular often causes us to attempt a little self-preservation by telling ourselves that we didn't love them that much anyway. I love the honesty of this piece and the self-awareness of the process being played out.” (10)

__________________________

“Illusions” by: Tanya Southey

"Tanya’s poem encapsulates grief and death in such a sweet and calm way, that it’s almost soothing to read. There are a few concrete images here that I enjoy, coupled with the repetition that is prevalent in most of her poems. Sometimes illusions are necessary. Sometimes life is ugly." (4)

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

“Grief can cripple us when we're in the grip of its process, but there are moments when we can allow ourselves a little respite by imagining that those lost are still with us. Tanya's piece here is very clever in that she hasn't mentioned either death or grief but (to me) the sentiments are instantly identifiable as just that, but in a warm and comforting way. I loved this.” (4)

_____________________________

“Classical Entry” by: Satish Verma

"I think this is an old poem, as I think I’ve seen it before but Satish’s penchant for powerful, descriptive imagery and bold writing is always a pleasure. There is a typo in ‘catastrophe’ and an article error in ‘the walking dead’ <- Also possibly cliched - these do not mar the poem, which tells of time, disaster and omens superbly." (7)

______________________________

“Sad” by: Daniel

“Daniel has a delicate way with his words and a natural ability to express his emotions through subtle uses of imagery, metaphor and alliteration. It doesn't matter what he writes about, it is always done with real aplomb. As sad as I found this piece to be, there is, as is mentioned in the comments, an inherent hope too: Winter will pass and give way to Spring. Well done.” (7)

_____________________________

“Joy (acrostic/haiku)” by: Jessica

“Simply, this was a "joy" to read and you are all going to have to excuse the pun! Jessica makes these compound forms look easy and yet she is an obvious master of them. She doesn't just tick the technical boxes (the acrostic and 5/7/5 syllable count of a haiku) but she always manages to actually say something too.

Formed poetry isn't given half the attention it should get round these parts in my opinion, so here I am to give Jessica's double whammy a very worthy 4 points!” (4)

_____________________________

“No Kidding A Kidder” by: Em

“Em's poem this week brings a lot home to many of us on this site. "I'm fine..." I think we've all uttered those very words and even though we are falling apart inside we are trying to convince everyone else we are A-ok. One of the many things I love about Ems poems is she's never shied away from her feelings. She's been through a lot of horrific stuff and has been able to put it out on these pages letting us know there are many days she is not fine. She sees right through this person and knows they are not ok, no matter how bright their smile is at the moment. She's there to help out and get them through the pain which truly shows what a beautiful soul Em is. Even after all the terrible things that have happened to her she still is there, fighting the good fight, never giving up. That speaks volumes to what a sweet and caring person that she is.” (4)

Congratulations to all the front page winners and HM's! Stellar writing all around! Mary Anne, thank you for hosting and your HM! Judges, thank you for making the tough choices. I've been there, it's not easy. Happy writing everybody!

Really well done to all the winners, HMs and nominees this week. Thanks to the judges and mods as always for their time :-) x
=^.^=

Congratulations everyone !!!

Thank you mods and judges for your time.
Thank you to kitty for nominating my poem and to whoever saw it worthy of any points bless you for your kind comment I truly appreciate it.

Well done all front page winners and hms.

An honour to share the front page with MA and Maple, especially considering the quality of poetry on offer this week. In my opinion, six or seven poems could have won so thank you so much to the judges who felt my poem worthy of their points. Well done to all those highlighted.