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Poems That Should Have Won...But Didn't

Have you ever entered a contest thinking your poem was better than all the rest...only to not win so much as an HM? Did you wonder...why? Did you wish the contest host had said something in his or her comment to help you understand why you didn’t win, instead of things like, “nice work, good flow, thanks for entering, I loved this”? If you can answer “YES” to those questions, this is the contest for you.

WARNING:
YOU NEED TO READ ALL THE RULES FOR THIS CONTEST. There aren’t many, but they are important.

RULES:
1.) Give me a poem you thought for sure was a winner. I will critique it to the best of my ability, with what I know about poetry, and to my preferences of likes and dislikes. Be prepared for kind but honest and detailed opinions of your work, and possibly suggestions on how to improve it. If it is special to the point where you cannot handle criticism of any sort, do NOT enter it in this contest. You do not have to agree with me, or take any of the suggestions I give. Just be prepared to receive them.

2.) Your entry MUST be a prewrite, and it MUST have been entered in another contest previous to this one. The contest it was entered in needs to still be shown beneath the poem, and it cannot have won a trophy of ANY color, in ANY contest, including the lovely green for HMs. The previous contest or contests must be closed and already judged. (Obvious, I know, but you’d be surprised.) No exceptions to this rule, so don‘t even ask!

3.) If your poem is in form, please note the form in your author notes, along with a brief description of the form or a link to an explanation of it. I am familiar with many, but not all forms of poetry, so this is important if you want the best critique I am capable of giving.

4.) Sensuality is fine, but I will not accept hard-core erotica or writes with massive amounts of cursing. Religious bashing is also NOT acceptable. If, for whatever reason, your poem is not suitable for younger readers please be sure to label it correctly.

5.) Your poem should not be edited from the original entry in the contest. I will have to trust you on this...

6.) All other standard contest rules apply. Play nice with everyone, and have fun!

I will be looking at all aspects of your poem: Title, flow, grammar, spelling, originality, imagery, poetic device, form, depth of emotion, etc. Winners will be the ones that make me, too, wonder why it didn’t place in the previous contest.

NOTE: I can't really tell you why your poem didn't win, nor am I here to question any other poet's judging. Too much depends on personal preferences, which I'm sure you will discover in my own critiques.

Number of HMs will be determined at close of contest, based on number and quality of entries.

Good luck to all!

UPDATE
_______________

My sincere apologies for the length of time it's taking me to judge this!!! I won't bore you with the reasons (whether they are valid or not, lol) but will be increasing the points and number of HMs for making you all wait so long.

Thanks for being so patient, results soon, I promise!

Contest is Over

  • Contest was judged on February 24, 2008
  • Rewards: Gold: 600, Silver: 300, Bronze: 150, Honorable mention: 3 people
  • Final notes:
    Firstly, my sincere apologies to those of you who did not receive a comment from me, which was, after all, the whole point of this contest. : ( I won't bore you with the details, but will just say that between serious, ongoing health and personal problems, my AP time has been reduced to almost nothing. I had hoped to still be able to comment at length on each entry, but in all fairness this has been open far too long and has begun to feel like a noose around my neck every time I log onto the site. So, I am going ahead with judging for now, and if you don't remove your poem (for those I haven't commented on yet) I will continue working on giving reviews. My sincere thanks to each of you for your patience and (hopefully) your understanding.

    Please know that I have read each and every poem, and found it difficult at best to pick my winners. I've found that there are far more great poems on this site than available trophies in the contests they get entered in. On the other hand...I also think we get fed so much of the “this is great, I loved it!” type comments that it becomes difficult to know when our writing needs improvement and occasionally, maybe, giving us a false sense of our abilities. It’s not always easy to be told your poem isn’t perfect, especially when you feel you’ve put your entire heart into it. For those of you whose poem I did comment on, I hope you didn’t find it too painful, and hopefully something I said helped or at least gave you an idea of what areas you might need to work on...in my opinion, at least. : P And for all of you, I strongly encourage you to be honest in the comments you make. I think for those who have been writing poetry for a long time or have more knowledge of what makes a poem good or bad, it’s especially important to share what you know, and help every poet here grow. But even if you aren’t an expert (and I don’t think there are many of those here; I know I’m certainly not one!) your opinion is just as valid and important as anyone else’s. The fact that this contest filled up as quickly as it did, with 75 entries, should be an indication of how many people are looking for and appreciate an honest comment or critique.

    I had a LOT of problems with people who didn't follow the rules in this contest, so please...when you enter a contest, read them! If you have a problem with them, don't hesitate to contact your contest host, as several of you did me. Often something can be worked out to everyone's satisfaction.

    Lastly...congratulations to my winners, all of whom truly deserve recognition for their entered poem.

    Thanks again, and best wishes to all of you in your writing endeavors.
    ~J.

Contest Winners

  1. *~ Talk of Treasures *~
    by Desire 44 lines, 7 comments, on Aug 18 11:50 PM 2007. In Love, Hope, Spiritual, Thoughts, Personal
    Gold trophy winner
    • Commented on by judge. Prewrite [remove]
  2. Exhume
    by Allyce May 44 lines, 6 comments, on May 12 7:45 AM 2007. In Sad, Personal
    Silver trophy winner
    • Commented on by judge. Prewrite [remove]
  3. consume
    Hope glowed today, like this fire warming my cheek
    by michellemybelle 32 lines, 41 comments, on Oct 25 8:41 PM 2006. In Hope
    Bronze trophy winner
    • Commented on by judge. Prewrite [remove]
  4. Error: Unable to find finalist item 3572882, it seems to have been deleted :( [remove]
  5. Imaginary Purple Sky
    As I place myself down to you, I observe how gently you shift,
    by BeautifulXxDisaster 32 lines, 3 comments, on Nov 3 8:03 PM 2007. In Fantasy, Contest, Love
    Honorable mention
    • Commented on by judge. Prewrite [remove]
  6. Daddy Said
    Now! It flares from her eyes,
    no hint of request, only demand,
    by penman 40 lines, 19 comments, on Nov 23 10:07 AM 2007. In Other
    Honorable mention
    • Commented on by judge. Prewrite [remove]

Entries [44]

1 - 44 of 44

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Comments

1 - 12 of 12

  • Griswold gold member
    November 16, 2007
    Edit | Reply
    Oh hell, I remove all my non placing poems from the contests as soon as I get a notice they are closed.


    • trista gold member
      November 17, 2007
      Edit | Reply
      The contest should be open for a while yet, so you've got some time if you have a poem or two currently in contests...Hopefully they'll win though!


      • Griswold gold member
        November 17, 2007
        Edit | Reply
        Well of course they will win... *pftttt, yea RIGHT*

        • trista gold member
          November 17, 2007
          Edit | Reply
          Gee, does that mean I'll see an entry from you after all? I'll let you reserve a spot if you're really confident that you'll...lose. (Gosh that sounds bad, doesn't it? lol)

          Well anyway...good luck in whichever contests you end up in.

          • Griswold gold member
            November 17, 2007
            Edit | Reply
            I must be different than anybody else here, I think ALL my poems will lose, it's a big surprise to me when they do win


          • Griswold gold member
            November 17, 2007
            Edit | Reply
            Hey I'll be damned, I found one I didnt pull from the contest that didnt get a trophy!!!


  • lifeisjazzy
    November 18, 2007
    Edit | Reply
    hiya.... just had a similar problem as griswold... well, my fav. poem has been entered in some contests earlier but it didn't win anything... unfortunately i hv removed it from the contest... but the very first comment on the page is by the judge of a contest and it is pretty evident!!! so, will u consider it as a 'proof'(!) that it was thr in a contest and didn't win...??!!
    i'm just sending u the link if u don't mind. plzzz suggest me by the commenting whether to enter or not...
    http://allpoetry.com/poem/1656514


  • Alleksa Jan
    November 18, 2007
    Edit | Reply
    You're getting a nice amount of entries - I sense judging is going to be fun!
    How are you doing by the way?

    Jan


  • Never Fall in Love
    November 20, 2007
    Edit | Reply
    woot
    too bad I remove all poems from contests as soon as they end and havent won anything
    Good Luck with this!


  • Laura Lamarca gold member
    February 24, 2008
    Edit | Reply
    Thank you for hosting this and also for the HM, I'm sorry to hear you havent been well...I did wonder where you'd been, I hope things are now looking up for you. Congrats to the winners! Laura x


  • Desire gold member
    February 25, 2008
    Edit | Reply

    Thank You!!


    Thank You for the Trophy and points for I am Honored also Appreciative
    Congratulations to all who placed

    Oh My Word~~
    I am so Blessed and balled like a baby to receive this Honor
    Floored me...

    Wonderful contest and Thank You
    for Hosting Sweet Soul!
    Many blessings to You
    Best wishes in all You do
    and much love~ Desire~*~

1 - 12 of 12