Weekly Contest Results August 4th

Hello Everyone, sorry for the delay in posting. Congrats to the front page
Winners: Skyfire, Nourayasmine and Megan Chapman-well done!
Thank you judges for your time and effort!

WINNERS://

Tides by Skyfire (10 points) + (7 points)

Border Crossings by Megan Chapman (10 points)

One of the Sad Days by Nourayasmine (7 points)

COMMENTS://

Tides by Skyfire (10 points)

I am intrigued by the immediate contrast of the beginning lines. Bubbles are light, airy objects
that rise up... yet the imagery immediately changes in tone once the word "drown" is used. The
transition of imagery is consistent throughout the poem. I am hooked onto each line because of this,
but also love the feeling of melancholy that each line evokes. It seems like the persona itself is as
perplexed at these emotions, as if every tide of imagery is a surprise. A lovely, ponderous poem.
~~~~~~~~~~~
Tides” by: Skyfire (7 points)

Tides is an aptly titled poem, as the force behind the words was extremely palpable. I imagined
the persona being overwhelmed by uncertainty and sadness. The poem is almost separated into
two parts: the first part is full of missing answers, vulnerability, whereas the second half feels
much like a tired, broken admission. The language choice and similes are excellent, especially
the description of memories being akin to rabid dogs. A wonderful write.

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Border Crossings by Megan Chapman (10 points)

Megan’s vulnerable and open poem about metaphorically crossing personal borders
was my pick this week. This a confessional poem that doesn’t hide behind complex imagery.
The reference to the scrabble board, the strong, stark language, and the fragments of speech
towards the end give this poem an incredibly distinct and effective voice. The poet holds her
hands up, and accepts all that has come and all that has gone.

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One of the Sad Days by Nourayasmine (7 points)

As with this poem, the opening stanza is simply brilliant. "Insomnia spitting in my coffee mug"
was such a clever way of showing how sleeplessness affects the persona regardless of the amount
of coffee. There's so much despair in this poem as the reader is taken through a house of memories.
An effective way of painting nostalgia. The ending stanza is equally strong as the opening, which is
rare to find in a poem. Such a creative way of describing a writhing heart.

HMs://

Night Shirt by Violet Raven (4 points)

I stole birds (4 points)

COMMENTS:

Night Shirt by Violet Raven (4 points)

The references to LGBTQ+ issues in this poem is easily recognisable yet feels so
personal due to the author's emotions. A time bomb, demon spawn... such initially
dark and aggressive words, which are naturally turned into something empowering
(glitter, comfort, maxi skirts). The concluding stanza seemed a bit more "telling" than
"showing" compared to the previous stanza, but I thought in this case it was effective to
end with such a clear, concrete statement... it shows boldness and braveness in a topic
that is not usually openly written about.
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I stole birds (4 points)

Rania is one of the most prolific poets on the site at the moment, and you can always rely on
her poetry to tug or strum on the heartstrings. “I stole birds” though, is a very delicate,
simple poem, which tells of escaping the monotony and bother of everyday life. Sometimes
you just want everything around you to stop. Sometimes you need the calmness of nature to
wash over you, to rid you of your baggage, at least temporarily. ‘robbed the day of its
disorder’ may be my favorite line of the week. Lovely.

I'm not sure I understand what happened here. Violet Raven's poem Night Shirt is still on her account. Also, if there was only one judge this week and Night Shirt actually had been deleted how was the substitute poem chosen? Night Shirt by Violet Raven has an HM award I notice.

It appears a second judge cast votes without comments. We’re trying to work out what happened right now. Oops.

There should still be numbers for the second judge...where are they? Violet Raven's poem was not deleted so, why say it was?

Just a misunderstanding about what happened, Hellon. We missed the second judge’s votes and thought a winner had deleted their poem, but it turns out that’s not the case. Votes from the second judge will be up shortly in the original post, and comments from said judge will be late, but they’re on their way.

Thanks to the two judges! Thanks to Meena for posting :)

thought a winner had deleted their poem, but it turns out that’s not the case.

^^^^^^

How can that happen? The poem is still very clearly there.

How can a second lot of votes be missed?

The second set of votes came in last minute. If a host only sees one set of comments & votes in the mod private messages, then it is reasonable to assume those corresponding poems will be on the front page. Seeing a different poem on the front page than anticipated, it would then be logical to assume one of the three winning poems was deleted and the site’s unknown algorithm chose another poem to replace its spot. Turns out said poem was not deleted and merely was bumped down (off the winner’s page) because another judge cast votes last minute without messaging the mod account.

Hellon, I’m sorry but I’m cracking up at your interrogation. What do you think is going on here? What do you think we’re up to?

It's not an interrogation...as per usual I'm batting for the underdog here and...you've still not answered my questions...why was a poem thought to be deleted when clearly it's not. The second judge voted last minute and yet...the post went up so late today and still no votes or comments from second judge which should have come in overnight at the very latest.

Why has Meena pissed off and left you to handle this shit BTW?

I’m a mod and I can handle this shit if I’m online and available. Despite what you might think, we are fallible humans leading full, busy lives, and we make mistakes and miss last minute votes and whatever else. Meena didn’t “piss off” and that’s rude to suggest.

See my above post for an edit as to what happened.

So is Meena and my original reply was in question to her post.

You don’t get to dictate which mod answers your questions...

So can we see the second judges votes now?

When the second judge submits votes and comments you can see it Hellon. The votes and comments all came in late and Meena wasn't around for your interrogation so which ever mod is there will answer.
Does all this answer your questions Your Highness

This part of your post I don't understand...

When the second judge submits votes and comments you can see it Hellon
^^^^
Are you saying you have not received votes or comments from the second judge as yet?

Does all this answer your questions Your Highness

^^

This part I will just ignore.

Hey; Rania here. I would like to try sum up what happened in details because Meena was updating us at morning before we knew a 2nd judge had voted.

Last time we checked we only had 3 votes and 3 comments, which were the following: Tides by Skyfire (10) | One of the Sad Days by Nourayasmine (7)| Night Shirt by Violet Raven (4).

Which meant we thought we had those 3 winners at the time. When Meena posted the votes and comments she noticed that Raven's poem is not on the front page and thought the poet deleted their work and that the site replaced it by a random pick. She didn't actually visit Raven's account. It was a quick assumption.

After she edited this post, the 2nd judge who voted late sent her a PM to clarify that they actually voted this week but couldn't write comments just yet and said they will send their comments and votes later on today. Which means they obviously voted for Megan's poem (waiting for their comments + votes)

So it was just a quick assumption that VR deleted their poem. The 3rd poem on the front is a poem the 2nd judge voted for..I assumed it was a 4 points tie between Raven's poem and the current poem on front but was waiting until the comments are in for the full clarification **<3

So you have the votes from the second judge...can you post them?

Sorry yes:

Border Crossing (1o)
Tides (7)
I stole birds (4)

So all the winners this week could /should be different?

Nooo! The votes were actually cast that's why Border Crossings is on the front page, it received a 10!

All votes are in place and those who should be on the front page are on the front.

The only odd thing that happened is that the 2nd judge voted after we last checked the contest nominations. None of us knew a judge voted after we last checked because their comments did not come in on Monday so we assumed we only had 1 judge.

and consequently Meena thought Raven deleted their poem..but that was not the case.

However, all votes were cast and that's why the winners are exactly those with top votes. I updated the original post perhaps it got clearer ?

I stole Birds...who wrote that?

I stole the birds, me

Actually...the title is I stole Birds...that's why I couldn't find it when I done my search...you also got a HM...congrats :)

Rania stole the birds, get her!!

thank you <3

@ Danny LOL I admitted my deed though..forgiveness ??

Were the birds tasty?

lol that's a cruel question. poor birds

To the mod who changed the original post without any indication to members that there had been a huge edit, thanks for making me look like an absolute plonker.

Hello everyone, the original post was made before discovering that the second judge had voted just prior to the recycle. As a result, this post previously identified all three of the first judge’s votes, including the 4 point vote. Then, seeing the contest winners and realizing the 4 point poem was not included, I mistook it to mean that the author had deleted the poem. As I looked further into this matter it showed the votes from the second judge, followed by comments later on.I apologize for the mix up and I didn't want you Hellon to look bonkers, I felt the post should be done in the right manner with the Winners and HMs

:) y'all gave me a chuckle so thank you for that.

Hellon, I know you have thick skin, but I apologize for being harsh in my responses above... I was having a bad day and that's no excuse.

No worries Jane...as predicted it all bounced off my thick skin, I think we were all having a bad day and now, with so many other major problems in the world this all seems very, very minor. I hope everyone stays safe...

I agree with all that you wrote. Perspective is important with everything going on in the world. I, too, hope everyone is able to stay safe.