Judges Report by Derek Adams.
After reading through all the poems the first time there is a small percentage that can be easily discarded because the poets have not proofread the copy that was sent off, typos, uncorrected spelling mistakes or worse perhaps incorrect ‘spell-check’ corrections that have slipped in! A second read-through weeds those that look like someone’s first attempt at poetry, heartfelt but not a poem. Then there are the poems written by someone who has not read any poems written since the 19th Century, who write lines in Yoda speak ‘to make rhymes at the end of the line sit’.
By now you have 50% to 70% left of competent, crafted, creative writing. I read these with an increasingly critical eye, looking for: clichés, unneeded adjectives, obvious or over-explained endings, nice poem but so what? It doesn’t tell me anything I didn’t already know. Eventually I ended up with a baker’s dozen of good poems, crafted, honed, not a word wasted, all separated from each other by less than a cigarette paper’s width. Then personal bias starts slipping in, here is a good poem and I like it and here is another good poem and I like it, but for some reason you can’t quite put your finger on, one sings to you in a way the other doesn’t.
When I got down to the top five, it is a bit like trying to say which of my children I prefer! But as a judge it was my job to choose, so here is my final choice and why.
First prize: Puppy Love, this is a dark poem, it starts dark and builds. You can’t call it a slow burn because it is pretty black all the way through, but nothing prepared me for the last two chilling lines. I have now read this poem perhaps twenty or more times and it still makes the goosebumps rise. Apart from that the lines are perfectly judged (note to self, I must make my line endings as tight as this). Each stanza does its job in creating its own little vignette and still moving the whole poem on.
Second prize: Deep Beneath the Waves, is a dream of a dream poem, with pin sharp surreal images. Domesticity is distant and dreaming, but close are dangerous metaphors that rise from the ocean of the subconscious.
Third prize: Nailbow, a poem in the shape of a bow, was a bit of a creeper. I liked it on first reading but it felt a bit odd. The more times I read the poem the more it stood out and I realised that what I had at first found odd was part of its charm. The poem has a good rhyme scheme which is kept consistent without feeling forced. A wealth of intricate detail about the bow’s construction makes everything sound plausible and allows you to accept the fantastic elements.
Highly Commended
Ties That Bind, is the sad story of a mother who attempted suicide four times and is re-reading her suicide notes in her old age, looking back at ‘…yesterday’s sorrow/ like it’s a mouse turd/ found under the sink.’ This poem is spare with not a wasted word and brutally touching.
The Swans, a novel twist on an idea from a familiar fairy tale, engaging and beautifully told.
THE RESULTS
First Prize
Al McClimens - Puppy Love
Second Prize
Madeline Parsons - Deep Beneath the Waves
Third Prize
Jim Sitch – Nailbow
Highly Commended
Judith Neale – Ties that Bind
Keith Shaw – The Swans
A varied and interesting selection as always, with many poems on the themes of relationships, the natural world, journeys and quests of all kinds.