Weekly Contest Results Tuesday March 16th

Hello everyone, sorry for the delay! Thank you judges and Congrats
to the front page Winners- Larry Chamberlin, Ben Pickard and Walter
and those who received HM.

WINNERS://

Sea Turtles (13 word haiku) by Larry Chamberlin (4+7 points)

New Growth by Ben Pickard (10 points)

For What It's Worth by Walter (10 points)

COMMENTS://

Sea Turtles (13 word haiku) by Larry Chamberlin (4 points)

Visual display at its best within this wonderful 13 word haiku- I could
see the birds landing upon a mossy shell and then I could see the turtle
diving downward. Excellent!
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Sea Turtles (13 word haiku) by Larry Chamberlin 7 Points

Although a haiku usually has a seasonal word (kigo) this one, instead,
captures a brief nature moment, that of the determined sea gull pecking at
the moss covered crustacean. This form benefits from a ‘heightened sense
of closure’ (kireji) from line 2 into line 3 and this poem does that wonderfully
well: Once the gull prize is revealed, the flock descends, to steal the hard
work away. This is a splendid way to close a haiku. Splendid!
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New Growth by Ben Pickard (10 points)

Here we have a poem of 4 stanza, each one basically consisting of 2
rhyming couplets. Nothing special, you say!? But of course, it is! You may
wonder why and how it reads so buttery smooth? Does he cheat by copying
the work of some, ye old bard? No, this is not this poet’s style; for he hath
studied and practiced, ye old art of, meter. No, not the traffic kind, but the
meter that is, syllabic beat/feet, or as you hear them, the sound of connected
words/syllables. You will find, like me, if you count the beats, there are 4 in
each line. Much like a heartbeat, these beats form the life-force, structure if
you like, that this ‘nature’ poems sings to you. This particular meter is iambic
(unstressed then stressed sounds) and because there are 4 of these iambs, it
is an iambic tetrameter poem. If you are reading this and already know about
it, all is good, but, I for one, like to read poems using meter, especially rhymed
verse. However, if you haven’t got a clue of what I am talking about and enjoy
reading ‘buttery smooth’ poetry, then you can either, research how to incorporate
meter in your poetry, or just ask someone who you feel writes, like this poet, in
a melodic, sing song way.
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For What It's Worth by Walter (10 points)

Walter has this wonderful way of writing beautiful rhyme poetry
along with sending a heartfelt and powerful message mixed in. Yes its
true that what you feel is no longer needed can be a huge treasure for
another. I love ants and I do feel the ants by his feet was a great twist of
events for the poem. Just beautiful!

HM’s://

A Wilted Gladiolus (Senryu) by Keira Pickard (7 points)

Careful What You Wish For by Walter (4 points)

COMMENTS://

A Wilted Gladiolus (Senryu) by Keira Pickard (7 points)

Gladiolus are Armour and a warrior flower all on their own, Keira has
crafted a powerful and lovely Senryu here- the message is wonderful!

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Careful What You Wish For by Walter (4 points)

I could have chosen other rhymed verses, but I chose this poet. He is a
prolific writer, and his poems are often enjoyable stories that often have words
of wisdom. This piece does not lack substance, in fact it’s really good, but it
does, sadly, lack, like other rhymed pieces this week, consistency of meter.
Let’s take the first stanza as an example: (Line 1) I throw a coin into a well,
(Line 2) High in the air and then it fell, (Line 3) I watched it as it makes a
splash, (Line 4) then disappear in a flash. The first 3 lines read well, 4 beats
in each, but then in line 4 the meter is off. Meter is not all about counting
syllables but listening to how the sounds of the syllables rise and fall. To
make this particular line flow well, it simply needed a minor alteration, like
so: Then disappear (with)in a flash. I would not suggest a complete revision,
merely to think about this meter when writing another rhymed verse. Personally,
if you, or any PnQ poet were to do this, I would find it hard not highlighting
such a poem.

Congratulations to the winners and HMs! Thank you to Meena for hosting and the judges for their time. Also, thank you so much for my HM and the lovely comment on it.

Well worth the wait, Menna - thank you! Thanks too to our judges, a rapturous round of applause to our winners and those special poet's now garnished with HM.

Congratulations to all the front page winners and HM's! Stellar writing! Thank you Meena for hosting and our judges for making the tough choices and well informed comments.

Thank you, Meena for posting and to the judges for their dedication.

Congrats to Walter and Ben: honored to share the page with your works. Congrats to the honorably mentioned.

Thank you, Keira, for the prompt!

Judge 2: appreciate your analysis. The season reference bothered me in writing, but I decided that mother ocean is timeless.

Many thanks to the judges for their time and, in particular, to the judge who gave such an informed comment on my poem...buggered if I know what they're on about :) Thanks, too, to Lucero for her nomination.
Can I also say how great it is to see shorter forms being highlighted recently. There is often so much cleverness and beauty in them that is too often overlooked - I suppose because of their very (brief) nature. Anyway, well done to Larry and Walter and all those mentioned/nominated.

A big thank you to Meena and the judges especially with pointing out my meter count consistency. It becomes much more obvious with the detailed in depth explanation which was provided. To Larry and Ben, congratulations with the wins as well as to Keira with her HM. Thanks also to Scott and Brenda for your nominations.