Weekly Contest Results 10/21/19

Congratulations to Larry, Matt, and Michael on your wins! One of our four judges couldn't judge this week, therefore we have the comments/votes from three judges. Their votes resulted in three clear winners and no tie-breaks. Bundles of gratitude to the judges for making my life easy. Congrats also to the honorable mentions :)
-Jane

WINNERS:

Hues of Living
by Larry Chamberlin
10 + 7 = 17

"As noted on the comments below this glorious poem, it is always intriguing to see what colours mean to others. Do I relate the colour red with passion and green with nature? Absolutely. But I don't necessarily associate blue with speed or purple with discomfort, but that's what makes writing like this so fascinating: it feels like stepping into the familiar and unfamiliar all at once. The real fun, I find, is then trying to understand each and every feeling the poet recounts whereas at the start, I may not have.
If I had a gripe with this poem it would be that I found the last stanza a little clumsily written, especially as I believe it to be a wonderful and moving end to the poem.

'Save that white glowing light
for the years after I have painted
my life with every colour
that can exist on my palate'

^^
Just a suggestion, but the idea of that all-consuming hue - white - only washing over you when you have experienced all the other colours there are to experience is a lovely and somewhat peaceful end indeed. A real joy to read, Larry." (10)

"Larry's poem this week is so lush in his descriptives of his life. Beautifully worded with all the colors of the rainbow I was transported to this life in vivid hues and it was a delight. So I thank you for that Sir. We tend to view our world's in hues of gray and black and white. Larry's poem reminded me of how lovely our world and everyday life can be." (7)

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Rust
by Matt Carroll
10 + 7 = 17

"Matt's poem this week highlights narcissists and he really hits well on all points. I'm sure many of us on this site have dealt with one or more in their lifetime. They thrive on keeping us unbalanced and always second guessing our choices and thoughts. Master manipulators who will keep the upper hand as long as they can or until we've finally had enough and stop engaging in their games. Oh boy, they don't like that, not at all! When you take back your power, they lose theirs and as Matt put it so eloquently they will slowly start to rust." (10)

"This bold and lyrical poem is expressed with such vigour and with no hidden agenda. The message is clear and full of the poetic bitterness of someone who's seen another's true character and will take not a moment more of their selfish nonsense. We all know someone like this and we've all been pushed to this point before, which makes what might otherwise be a hard hitting rant, a satisfying "YEAH!". Props to Matt for this bracing piece!" (7)

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Rapture
by Michael
10

"This metaphorical journey of intimacy blew me away. These wonderful moments shared between couples are the glue of relationships and Michael's use of metaphors to express the things we share and the gifts given to each other just made me outright swoon! Rapturous indeed." (10)

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HONORABLE MENTIONS:

Fresh Water
by Everlasting
7

"Lucero's style and imagination is rarely matched round these parts and her work is always a pleasure to read; you never quite know what's coming!
This poem was born from MaryAnn's excellent writing prompt - what would you do if everything you touched turned to a liquid? Umm, well, I would imagine most of us would be devastated - never being able to touch someone we loved again, or do normal, everyday things. But not Lucero. She imagines that - with that power - she could "touch...deserts upon deserts to birth plants and ecosystems...". Not such a curse when put in those lush and refreshing terms, is it? But she also delivers the piece the way only she can, with a tongue-twisting, brain-teasing edge (I may just have the start of a kenning for Lucero here!) Great work." (7)

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Thankful
by AnnaCG
4

"A simple poem with a relatively simple rhyme scheme, but executed very well indeed.
There's not enough goodwill and good feeling in this world by half and this jocund little piece had both in abundance. My cup of tea slipped down all the more warmly as I read this!" (4)

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"Don't settle for stone," she whispered
by Ben Pickard
4

"A story of the seasons of life and of love, this is beautifully written, sensual and vivid. I pictured an old man remembering his late, lost love, clutching at the precious memories of their youth when they were vital and all that mattered was their love for each other. Sad, poignant and graceful." (4)

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Winter Bird
by Poet on the Piano
4

"Mary Anne's poem this week, although short had a lot of content to think about. Her writing has opened up to a baring of her deepest thoughts and feelings and I applaud her ability to be so honest and are about what she is feeling. It's not easy to put ones neck in the chopping block in hopes someone doesn't actually take a swing at it. I think that's what is so wonderful about this site. We can bare ourselves without fear of being torn apart. Because of this we get these pieces like this. She writes of people being unaware of her many crashes into the ground and wonders if they actually haven't seen her failures or choose not to. I'd like to think they only hope the best for her and maybe the set backs she sees as monumental aren't. We are our own worse enemy, hardest on ourselves and sometimes we lose faith in ourselves, never seeing the wins, just the losses. Mary Anne, besides being a gifted poet is actually a lot stronger than she thinks. It takes great strength to get up each day and face the world, it takes great strength to write as openly and honestly as she does. Maybe that's why so many people don't see her failures but her ability to continue on." (4)

Congratulations to all you wonderful poets! Both front page and HM's! Lots of awesome writing going on. Jane, thank you for hosting and always our panel of judges for doing the voodoo that you do!

Really beautiful poetry congratulations everyone :)

Many thanks to our host, Jane, and to our three judges! Thanks to the one judge in particular for your heartfelt and encouraging comment, that touched my heart <3 Congrats to all!

Congrats to Michael and Matt and the Honorably Mentioned. Thank you, Jane, for hosting and to the judges for their time and effort. Especially thanks for the very good comments, especially for pointing out how to improve the poem.
Thanks also to Ben for nominating the poem.

Hi all :)

Congratulations to Larry and Matt, with whom I share the front page with.
To the wonderful judges for their time. Thank to the judge who voted for my poem and lovely comments, much appreciated. To all poets that received HMs.
Thank you to Andrea for her nomination.

Much love, M :) *x

Oh thank you for that wonderful comment and the nomination. I wasn’t expecting it.

Congrats winners and hm’s.

Well done to all those highlighted, and thank you to the judge who commented on my poem.

All the best to everyone.