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February 2010 results

February is a short month, and there was a drop in entries and in reviews.

Top of the ratings came Stewk with “Forever”, a Valentine’s Day love poem, with a nasty twist in the tale. There were only four reviews, so the cash prize is rolled over again to March. (By the way, I am having temporary trouble accessing my websites, so that the size of the March prize may not show up for a few days while I sort it out).

Second came Sue with “REASONING”, a poem from the heart about the strife of life.

Third was marm with “As the poet’s brain chugs to a halt”, a crafted piece about poetic block.

It is worth listing the rest too. Sue on “Between you and me” inspired by Mars and the moon in unison; myself on “Count to a million”, part of an obsession with getting a perspective on large numbers; Elaine W. on “Wishes”, reminding us of the problems we can cause if we get what we wish for; Sue with “Reason”, a cleverly crafted moan about poetic block; Chessking on “Yesterday’s Man”, an interesting observational poem on the changing worldl; Elaine W with “How the Pest Was Won”, a beautiful piece on the battle against head lice; Sue on “Another Day”, the sights and sounds of the starting day;Phil A. with “Fly again”, about a wolf who had previously lived as a bird and a human, but is succumbing to the cold snow, very gripping in its telling; Sue on “Orange”, a sensuous description of splitting open and eating an orange; and Sue on “Nearly a Doyen”, about the charm of steam trains.

I should also note that I had one complaint in the month that the site did not allow a piece with slightly less than 3000 words. The detailed rules – there if you dig for them – specify 15,000 keystrokes, so if you use BIG words with an average of more than 5 letters, you may not be allowed 3,000 words. (It pops up when you click on “Read more about the vision and concept here.”)

May your creative and critical juices flow in March, as the Northern earth warms up again.