Weekly Contest Winners - August 31, 2020!

Hello! I hope everyone has a great start to their week. This week, we had two judges, and I want to thank them both for their time! Sai, Gracy and Skyfire have such incredibly haunting poems this week. Congrats to you three and Maher and Lost star, for the HM's. Great highlights this week! Take care everyone.

-MA

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WINNERS:

"Afternoon Tea" by: Sai

"There's something so casual about this poem infused with the grief of the world... something that's rare to come by. It feels conflicting (in a good way), makes your stomach turn and read on. The opening stanza is incredibly poetic: pairing hibernation with the stretching of limbs and a stairwell's tune... the latter makes a good introduction of the less-casual horror this poem is about. The hunger. I love how the sentence "How many days are between you and me?" immediately makes the poem feel personal... we can feel the darkness from within the persona starting from this sentence... and the ending beautifully wraps it in darkness." (10)

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"This week's nominated poetry is really powerful, but this stood out at least for me! Although there is the struggle with ourselves, with life, with reality with nature, with our planet it is a fight we can take on and get up and do something. This poem literally felt like an afternoon tea, a break in the middle of a long day." (4)

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"The Old House on the Hill" by: Gracy Judith

"If there was a note under the poem saying it was inspired by The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho, I honestly wont be surprised. This poem gave me chills and that feeling when we try to hold in tears. I sat lost in thought, going over many memories. I love the ending it's a reminder that we can move on,, also the form and wording works together really well. Thank you for sharing this, it is a much needed read at the moment!" (10)

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"Dichotomy" by: Skyfire

"The contradiction of wants and needs... I loved the conflict that was displayed in this poem. The pondering, the indecisiveness. I'm wondering what this "sticky stuff" is. Was it meant literally, or metaphorically? It does feel like a slippery slope kind of situation. As a reader, I'm enjoyably stuck in what these words might mean... just to be hit by a pang of reality: a lost coat; shivers. It's as if the poet just woke up from their thoughts too; realising what was lost all along... or perhaps the coat is what they want and need from the person they're describing. So many feelings are effectively packaged into these few simple lines. Well done" (7)

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HM'S:

"Eternity and Stardust" by: Lost star

"I'm impressed how powerful the format of this poem conveys the love. The wording and images are so beautiful, that I cant choose my favorite part. So well written, I'll be waiting for your next post!" (7)

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"Nothing Fits" by: Maher

"I'm usually not a fan of rhymed poetry because it often feels forced; but I think the random rhyme scheme of this poem makes it feel somewhat like free verse but with a very good rhythm. The first sentence pulled me in immediately. I could smell the grief in the lack of alcohol, the guns, the open fire. There's also some heartbreaking sentences in here, such as "for in the Fall we're sure to die"; "if you're happy, then it's all fine"; "love the needles in your side". They speak of such struggle yet an attempt to just deal with this unfathomable reality. Some unique phrases such as "she loves me like a virus" are truly compelling and fitting of the theme. This is something refreshing to read." (4)

Congrats to the front page Winners and those who received HM's, thank you judges for your time and effort!

Thank you for hosting MA!

Thank you judges for your time, selection and feedback…I’m humbled and honoured. Thank you so much Mary Anne for the nomination…grateful.

Congratulations Sai and Skyfire for the well-deserved win! So humbled to be sharing the page with you. Congratulations to the Honourably mentioned…Lost star and Maher. Brilliant writing as always.
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Well done, all and a genuine thanks to the judges for their valuable time and commendable efforts!

Congratulations to all the front page winners and HM's! Thank you judges and Mary Anne for hosting...