Weekly Contest Results Monday March 1st

Good Morning PnQ!
What a week of interesting poems and the judges surely had a tough
time in deciding their choices. Here's their decision. Congrats to the front
page winners Ben Pickard who also got a HM, Poet on the Piano and Em;
and well done to all those who received a HM. Well done everyone and
thank you judges for your time and effort!

WINNERS://

I Heard Such Treacherous Symphonies by Ben Pickard (10 points)

Spiders. by Poet on the Piano (7 +7= 14 points )

Vulnerable by Em – (10+4= 14 points)

COMMENTS://

I Heard Such Treacherous Symphonies by Ben Pickard (10 points)

This has a "Poe" feeling to it, filled with darkness, shadowy flavour
and just wild richness throughout this poem!!
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Spiders. by Poet on the Piano (7 points )

I love the Spider metaphor, this was excellent, and yet the message
sent me over the edge. I cant get enough of this poem!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Spiders. by Poet on the Piano (7 points)

Love them or hate them, spiders are fascinating. For some people
they induce irrational fear, whilst for others compassion. This poem
is full of relatable inner dialogue that reflects a poet and spidery mind
are connected. Haunting memories often induce irrational fear and as
much as we dream of shedding them, with their eight legs they cling.
There are so many rich descriptions, like this one “When morning light
shatters my plan, my eyes will spill out like egg whites.” This really does
reach out and make you feel the hopelessness of the haunted.
--------------------------------

Vulnerable by Em – (10 points)

Acrostics are such an underused and underrated form, in my humble
opinion. I have often thought that they are the simplest form - if done
badly. But to execute them well requires thought and precision and
Em has quietly asserted herself as one of the best on-site at that.
Her lines are all of fairly equal length and few words are wasted. She
sticks to the script (or word 'vulnerable' in this instance) and paints a
rather vivid, if entirely sad, picture of her state of mind at the present time.
Well done, Em, and I hope you feel more in spirits soon.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Vulnerable by Emi (4 points)

This is a magical and beautiful acrostic, with such a sad message,
yet a powerful one. I say magical because even though the message is
sad, the strength within is just wonderful. Beautifully written poem!

HM’s://

Night walk (haiku) by BirdWings – (7 points)

Life or Money? by Milly Hayward – (4 points)

Velveteen Madness by Blake (10 points)

Not Fertile (reverse etheree) by Ben Pickard (4 points)

COMMENTS://

Night walk (haiku) by Bird Wings (7 points)

In honesty, no elaborate comment is needed here. Haiku speak
largely for themselves - or the best ones do - painting a beautiful
image within the seventeen syllable rule. This does those two things
wonderfully and is a pleasure to read.
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Life or Money? by Milly Hayward (4 points)

The title of this poem, or words of the like, must have been
rattling around politicians' heads the world over for months now. In
all fairness, it is a terrible balance that they have to try to strike.
Remember, deaths from covid-19 itself are just part of the problem.
Locking down and saving lives from that costs us in so many other
ways. It is a truly tough decision to have to make and you get the feeling
there will come a point - whether the vaccines work or not - that we are
no longer going to be able to hide from this terrible virus, or else we
will find ourselves imprisoned forever.
Anyway, my opinions aside, this poem is relevant and got me thinking.
Well rhymed and written throughout, but in all honesty, I did find the
last line a touch forced and perhaps not in keeping with the rest of the
poem. Anyway, great job, Milly.
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Not Fertile (reverse etheree) by Ben Pickard (4 Points)

I do like the Etheree form. It is both visually pleasing and can
contain in its closed form a concept/ thought or emotion that
reverberates long after the poem is done. This mournful and self-
deprecating piece is fine example. I like the alliteration and the
overall emotion of feeling forever lost in mind and heart. The
poem is one thread that neatly and abruptly stops. The visuals,
to me, resembled the form of a funnel. This Vessel is so full of loss
that as much as it needs to let go, it is quite impossible.
------------------------

Velveteen Madness by Blake (10 points)

Here we have a unique piece. At first read it could be dismissed as
‘mad’, but with each exploration it grows. The numbered stanzas,
for example appear random, but like the ‘madness’ in the title, they
actually depict the syllable line count. Cool, and that is where the
velvet of this poem brushes both ways. The tale is deliciously cryptic,
but I felt through its madness there was a warning that if we do not
embrace our inner love and madness, we might just come undone.

Congratulations to the winners and HMs, and thank you to Meena for hosting and the judges.

Thanks, Meena for hosting. Congratulations to all this week's winners and those lucky souls who scooped an HM. As for the judges, your hampers are in the post!

Congratulations to this week's winners and HMs. Huge thanks to the judges and to Meena for hosting. Special thanks for the judge who commented on my poem. Very much appreciated. Milly x

Congratulations to all the front page winners and HM's! Awesome writing all around! Thank you judges for making the difficult choices and always your time. Appreciate you.. .Meena, thank you for hosting.

Congrats to the winners & the honorably mentioned.
Thanks judges & thanks, Meena for hosting.

Thank you very much to the judges for their time and comments on my pieces and the competition in general. A very well done to Em and MA, the hms and those nominated.

Thanks to the mods and judges for hosting I truly appreciate it. Well done to all Winners and HM's.
Thank you to the judges who saw my piece to be a worthy front page, I truly an overwhelmed and after a terrible few months it raised a genuine smile so thank you.

I appreciate you all <3

Congrats to all! Many thank to the judges and to Meena, for hosting.