Welcome back!!!
Jeff and Sue welcome you to the greatest test of Rhyme and Flow on AP.
Some changes from the last time we were here, first, thanks to generous donations we have MUCH bigger prizes. We hope to pick up more donations so we can continue to give large numbers of HMs
Each round will have a "Dalaney" contest, this is a sort of beginners prize, details to follow.
Also this time two entries per round per poet, and only one of these can be a pre-write.
1 5000 gold 2000 silver 1000 bronze Summertime
2 2500 gold 1000 silver 500 bronze Children's
3 2500 gold 1000 silver 500 bronze New
4 2500 gold 1000 silver 500 bronze Fantasy
5 2500 gold 1000 silver 500 bronze Love/Romance/Sensual
6 2500 gold 1000 silver 500 bronze The Wall
7 2500 gold 1000 silver 500 bronze Old
8 2500 gold 1000 silver 500 bronze Memories
9 2500 gold 1000 silver 500 bronze Feelings
10 6000 gold 3000 silver 1000 bronze Grand Finale (Subject to be decided)
Advice to a poet
Paint in a poem a place that you love
Show us your world as it's seen from above,
Tell us in rhyme of the things that you do
Give to the reader the story of you.
Dream us a dream of the life that you crave
A hero of childhood so manly and brave,
The form doesn't matter, the art is the thing
Put up a poem that makes a heart sing.
Sue likes fond sadness, it's whimsy for me
Tell us the tales of the visions you see,
Weave us a spell that we'll never forget
But really just pen us your best poem yet.
Dive to the depths of the way that you think
Show us the nectar that you love to drink,
Guide us with fondness where-ever you go
Put all your wishes and fancies on show.
A taste of the food that you think of as home
A step on the path where you wish you could roam,
The beach where your sandcastles washed in the tide
A glimpse of the you that you think you should hide.
Sue likes nostalgia, a love song for me
Sing us the songs that would let you fly free,
Weave us a spell that we'll never forget
But really just pen us your best poem yet!
In other words what we are after is poetry that rhymes, and we both strongly favour exact rhyming, and poetry that flows.
We both love poems in other forms but this contest is for rhyme and flow. Formed or unformed doesn't matter, so a sonnet has as much or as little chance as a loose ballad.
Judging:
We set a standard for rhyme and flow, all poems that meet that standard reach the final, from there we mark on meeting the theme, the content and what we call the poetry, that is the rhyme, flow, meter etc. These are not "Form contests" not spelling tests, we do want you to get everything right but unless the spelling and punctuation mean we find it hard to understand, we won't punish you heavily.
Finally they are our contests, and we decide!!! If we prefer one poem to another it will win!
Part 1
Summertime
Interpret this how you will, literally or metaphorically. Whatever Summertime means to you, if it is very obscure please justify it in your AN.
You may enter two poems each, but only one may be a pre-write. You will not win two major prizes, but you can get a cup and an HM.
If you have not won a major cup from us, or two or more HMs you can enter the Dalaney contest that will run in parallel.
Dalaney cup winners are invited to this contest where they are automatic finalists.
The picture is only for show and is not the prompt, but you may use it for inspiration if you so desire.
Jeff and Sue welcome you to the greatest test of Rhyme and Flow on AP.
Some changes from the last time we were here, first, thanks to generous donations we have MUCH bigger prizes. We hope to pick up more donations so we can continue to give large numbers of HMs
Each round will have a "Dalaney" contest, this is a sort of beginners prize, details to follow.
Also this time two entries per round per poet, and only one of these can be a pre-write.
1 5000 gold 2000 silver 1000 bronze Summertime
2 2500 gold 1000 silver 500 bronze Children's
3 2500 gold 1000 silver 500 bronze New
4 2500 gold 1000 silver 500 bronze Fantasy
5 2500 gold 1000 silver 500 bronze Love/Romance/Sensual
6 2500 gold 1000 silver 500 bronze The Wall
7 2500 gold 1000 silver 500 bronze Old
8 2500 gold 1000 silver 500 bronze Memories
9 2500 gold 1000 silver 500 bronze Feelings
10 6000 gold 3000 silver 1000 bronze Grand Finale (Subject to be decided)
Advice to a poet
Paint in a poem a place that you love
Show us your world as it's seen from above,
Tell us in rhyme of the things that you do
Give to the reader the story of you.
Dream us a dream of the life that you crave
A hero of childhood so manly and brave,
The form doesn't matter, the art is the thing
Put up a poem that makes a heart sing.
Sue likes fond sadness, it's whimsy for me
Tell us the tales of the visions you see,
Weave us a spell that we'll never forget
But really just pen us your best poem yet.
Dive to the depths of the way that you think
Show us the nectar that you love to drink,
Guide us with fondness where-ever you go
Put all your wishes and fancies on show.
A taste of the food that you think of as home
A step on the path where you wish you could roam,
The beach where your sandcastles washed in the tide
A glimpse of the you that you think you should hide.
Sue likes nostalgia, a love song for me
Sing us the songs that would let you fly free,
Weave us a spell that we'll never forget
But really just pen us your best poem yet!
In other words what we are after is poetry that rhymes, and we both strongly favour exact rhyming, and poetry that flows.
We both love poems in other forms but this contest is for rhyme and flow. Formed or unformed doesn't matter, so a sonnet has as much or as little chance as a loose ballad.
Judging:
We set a standard for rhyme and flow, all poems that meet that standard reach the final, from there we mark on meeting the theme, the content and what we call the poetry, that is the rhyme, flow, meter etc. These are not "Form contests" not spelling tests, we do want you to get everything right but unless the spelling and punctuation mean we find it hard to understand, we won't punish you heavily.
Finally they are our contests, and we decide!!! If we prefer one poem to another it will win!
Part 1
Summertime
Interpret this how you will, literally or metaphorically. Whatever Summertime means to you, if it is very obscure please justify it in your AN.
You may enter two poems each, but only one may be a pre-write. You will not win two major prizes, but you can get a cup and an HM.
If you have not won a major cup from us, or two or more HMs you can enter the Dalaney contest that will run in parallel.
Dalaney cup winners are invited to this contest where they are automatic finalists.
The picture is only for show and is not the prompt, but you may use it for inspiration if you so desire.
Contest is Over
- Contest was judged on May 16
- Rewards: Gold: 5000, Silver: 2000, Bronze: 1000, Honorable mention: 11 people
- Final notes:
We thought a new series might see a gentle re-introduction. Maybe forty or fifty poems, twenty finallists and a few minutes judging to decide on gold.
We got over 70 poems, under our old rules over 60 finallists, under our new tougher ones we still have over 40, under our old rules we would have 30 HMs!!! For the first time in the same contest we have reached impasse over the best poem. So first and second were invited to a second contest and both now have silver and gold. Second place first; Pervirtuous has provided a perfect example of what we thought we wanted, it is in ballad meter, used either deliberately or inadvertantly at times by just about every rhyming poet in English, rhymed to perfection, and that from a poet who likes to slip in a few slants when he thinks we aren't looking, flowing like hot honey over a perfect cold pudding. Your most enjoyable, and perhaps best executed poem in forever Allan. Everyone in this contest should read it before carrying on reading my drivel.
And the gold. Amera usually gives us a complex form executed brilliantly with a theme she knows will make the judges drool, she did this in one poem, and it would have got the silver behind Allan. However she stumbled upon what the contests are really about. Her winning poem is what Sue and I love above all else in poetry, yes Amera even above impossibly rhymed nonsense verse, it is a slice of life delivered with emotion and truth with plusperfect rhyme and flow, in so simple a style that every poet in this contest can look at it, sigh, and aspire to write it. I, and I know Sue agrees, feel privileged to have read it.
We fought hard over bronze, there are at least five other gold-worthy poems in this contest several from poets new to these challenges, this in the end pushed ahead, read it, it is much more than worth the effort as are the other HMs in no particular order. We could, probably should, have had more HMs but we agreed to limit it to 10 and 11 was close to that.
To the rest of you, there wasn't a single poem we didn't enjoy reading. Over half of you wrote poems we wanted to reward, fan-bloody-tastic if you will excuse the tmesis and the language.
We still have a few comments to go, please don't remove your poems until we have completed that enjoyable chore.
Contest Winners
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The sunbeam's gleam A steady stream• Commented on by judge. [remove]
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Stiff and stark the sunlights rays fall harshly on the plane
Drying out and baking hard a land devoid of rain.by One Angry Monkey 28 lines, 4 comments, on May 6 11:59 PM. In Nature, Australian, Hope. Reward
Bronze trophy winner
• Commented on by judge. Prewrite [remove] -
• Commented on by judge. [remove]
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Ottava Rima• Commented on by judge. [remove]
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You lie, for spring has yet to spread her wings,
So sadical, so cruel your promting word,• Viewed by judge. Prewrite [remove] -
I'm rushing to the station, to climb aboard a train
To start a brand new journey, find summertime again• Viewed by judge. [remove] -
In gentle wafts of summer time, The scarlet songbird sings.by coddledsoul 20 lines, 3 comments, on May 10 9:41 AM• Viewed by judge. Prewrite [remove]
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Sharp fusillades of hail pelt down...and glance --
Far distant thunder calls, and echoes a reply.by ecrivain01 28 lines, 20 comments, on Feb 23 9:18 AM 2005. In Nature• Viewed by judge. Prewrite [remove] -
• Viewed by judge. [remove]
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• Viewed by judge. [remove]
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Blazing heat upon downtown sidewalks
children gasping, air dry, old timers squawk.by PassionsPromise 36 lines, 10 comments, on Apr 30 8:30 PM. In love, pain, summertime loss, INTERLOCKING SONNETs• Viewed by judge. [remove] -
When the sun is shining, the flowers are in bloom.by Lady Altheia 18 lines, 4 comments, on May 6 10:55 PM• Commented on by judge. [remove]
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Barefoot walking hand in hand / digging toes in sun warmed sand. / Golden skies and shimmering seas / salty air and cool sea breeze. / Soothing songbirds, skies now blue / the sounds of Summer, me and you.by Dee23 15 lines, 5 comments, on May 16 10:22 AM 2007• Commented on by judge. Prewrite [remove]
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Bluebonnets dancing and wild roses grow,
the sweet scent of daisies tickles the nose.by PassionsPromise 30 lines, 5 comments, on Apr 30 9:01 PM. In love, fight, passion, hope, faith, Interlocking sonnets
• Commented on by judge. [remove] -
contest• Commented on by judge. [remove]
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March to November, it rarely rains
in that great valley that lies baskingby ecrivain01 29 lines, 3 comments, on May 10 8:30 PM• Commented on by judge. [remove] -
Summertime means a lot of things,
some I enjoy and some I don't.by JustADutchie 31 lines, 2 comments, on May 13 7:57 PM• Commented on by judge. [remove] -
Come join me when I roam my land
Just step into my door• Commented on by judge. Prewrite [remove] -
The end of a season that's bitter and cold
remembering stories, your parents have toldby SeaWithYourHeart 14 lines, 3 comments, on May 13 6:46 PM• Commented on by judge. [remove]
Gold trophy winner
Silver trophy winner
Entries [55]
1 - 55 of 55
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by myriad-dark 32 lines, 8 comments, on Jun 10 11:25 PM 2007. In Lyrics, Personal, Lost in thought, Childhood Memories• Commented on by judge. Prewrite
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I love to run and sink my feet, bare in the sand a summer treat.• Commented on by judge.
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Silky mimosa petals blossom, fragrant in the air;
skin bathing in sun's golden rays without a single care.by rose blood 87 13 lines, 2 comments, on Apr 25 10:16 PM• Commented on by judge. -
• Commented on by judge.
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for-get the fate of realities past
the future insanitys' are a dailey ritual in castby lost-one-w.o.n. 84 lines, 1 comment, on Apr 26 9:59 AM• Commented on by judge. -
'Can you smell the sea yet kids?' Dadda used to ask,
golden sand to fill my bucket, not a hard task,• Commented on by judge. -
Tuscan summer's never end
they stay with you like a good friend,• Commented on by judge. Prewrite -
Let’s discover the jewel that is Italy
While she snoozes in the golden sun• Commented on by judge. Prewrite -
Our lives an unsolved mystery, to which we have few clues
We touch the ageless galaxy yet everything... is new
• Commented on by judge. Prewrite -
Bathe me in summertime joy!by ears2hearyou 26 lines, 21 comments, on Jun 22 2:38 AM. In Contest, Nature, Life, Friendship, Happiness, Inspirational, Society• Commented on by judge.
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Summertime treasures are icecream, chips and sweet soda pop.
Barbecues of hotdogs and hamburgers,by ears2hearyou 40 lines, 5 comments, on May 7 7:10 PM. In Contest, Nature, Life, Friendship, Happiness, Humor, Family• Commented on by judge. -
you were always there for me,
through it all.• Commented on by judge. -
A singe through solarpowered heat,
I felt, the coals beneath my feet,• Commented on by judge. -
The Dark Cannons are lining,
Come hither, all the beams,• Commented on by judge. Prewrite -
She lays slumbering on her pillow, so pure With dreams of him, she feels so secureby writingismycure 31 lines, 1 comment, on May 13 10:34 AM. In Spirtual• Commented on by judge.
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It's fitting that he should roam,
far away,• Commented on by judge. Prewrite -
along the weeping will
my heart nestles still• Commented on by judge.
Add a comment
Comments
1 - 5 of 5
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If you have not won a major cup from us, or two or more HMs you can enter the Dalaney contest that will run in parallel.
Does this mean We cant enter this contest unless we have won from you in the past??? -
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No no this is open to all, the other contest (just ended) was aimed at beginners, this is for everyone.
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oh ok, lol, Just making sure I understood the rules....Thanks Jeff
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thank you so much for the hm and for hosting this contest-series ... both you and sue are doing an amazing job reading, commenting and judging this contest ... I would not like to be in your place, to be honest ...
congratulations to the main winners and to all the poets who have gathered here on this page ...
blessings to all,
maa -
Congratulations to the winners, Di
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