A C P C - 2015/03 New Challenge Poem/Title Contest - Vote Here Comments

well, as i count it................. Abekah Emmanuel got one vote and Brian Johnston got two (even though he doesn't seem to have voted) .. As BJ's habit has been to end the voting at the end of the 12th of the month, i am UNofficially declaring Brian Johnston the winner. once he wakes up, we can have the party! :) bri

My vote, having read all the great entries for this contest, goes to......................................Brian Johnston, commissioner Of Elections.

i VOTEd FOR........................BRIAN JOHNSTON, but the vote hasn't shown up here yet! so while you're waiting, let me say more! i believe that Brian followed the instructions [he gave us for writing an echo poem] better than the rest of us, including (perhaps) me. also, the more times i read his poem, the more i was comfortable with the complex (to me) way it was worded at times. the rhyming is admirable, and i even understood (parts of) it! ! ! ! if i would/could just read it through, not caring about........... what it means, or if i knew all the words, or if the grammar was as i would do it..............., i believe it would sound MARVELOUS! i believe i've already sent the whole ACPC page to MyPoemList already, but i'll go through the drill, just to make sure; maybe by then, my vote will show up! ! ! bri ;)

my VOTE: goes [somewhat reluctantly; i have TOO MANY awards already in MY trophy case! ] to............................ .......................................... ......................................... MR. BRIAN JOHNSTON. bri :) [see my comments on each poem, except my own poem, .................. below in other comment areas.]

WELL, AS for Abekah's responsive comment, previous to this one: Im glad to say i am NOT Editor-in-Chief, as that is Brian Johnston's job. i DID take over for him (was it for 1 or 2 months? ?) , and i may lend a hand again if he asks (politely AND sends me lots of Dr. Pepper, pizza, AND ice cream!) . bri :)

Thank you very much Editor-in-Chief Bri Edwards, am grateful for your scholarly comment. To my dear Diane, I am grateful for your vote. Thanks all of you!

COMMENT ON ABEKAH EMMANUEL’S POEM: “cane/bane” ……………. good rhyme, but I need(ed) help with both words. “bane” …………I looked up and found “a cause of great distress or annoyance”. ok, that fits. “cane” ……. just guessing here………. chalk and cane=articles found in schools there? cane=stick used to punish students by hitting? ? after reading 3 stanzas, I’m liking this, though it doesn’t seem to echo John’s ….yet. well, more so, perhaps, than Diane’s poem did. I’d use “sweat”, not “sweats”. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - “Now you are asking me to describe who I am, But frankly, this is a huge and cumbersome task And so will let time to reveal that to you for I am tempted to say things that will delight your heart.” ABEKAH, I LIKE that you did not force yourself to do something which you may feel uncomfortable doing: echoing a poem just because “that” was BJ’s ‘assignment’. and of course, you are SO YOUNG compared to the rest of us entrants! you obviously don’t know how to describe who you are, because YOU are still growing-evolving while we other 3 poets (DON’T tell Diane I said this) are just “growing older”! if I count John (who certainly deserves to be mentioned, since without him none of us would have an echo poem! ! !) , there are 4 other poets; John is not nearly as old as the others, though he is significantly older than you are! yes! “get a little time under your belt”. AND certainly don’t describe yourself in terms just to ingratiate yourself to us. [I don’t think I’ve EVER used the word “ingratiate”; it just popped into my head………….., but I checked the definition and I like it here.] I like the repeating of the title at the close of the poem. BUT …………DO (please) WRITE “WHO I AM”, in time, when you’ve figured yourself out, if you ever do, and send me an autographed copy. thanks. :) bri :) p.s. “born from one vein”. I like it. I watched a PBS video a while ago, in which a geneticist ‘took the viewers’ from Africa to Asia, to Australia, to Europe, taking blood samples from people there and later discussing the conclusions derived from the presence of genetic markers(?) in the blood samples of some of the donors. He (and others I suppose) concluded that the first humans lived in Africa, almost became extinct, some migrated (over a period of years) to the Middle East, to India, to Australia (largely on land, some of which is under water now) , and some ended up in China/Siberia regions. some went to Europe, and some crossed on a now-underwater land or land/ice bridge to North America. SO YOU SEE, my PH friend, YOU and the rest of us may truly have been “born from one vein”. ok……….p.p.s. Upon glancing at your poem again, it struck me as extremely odd that you would write that you “have difficulties describing myself”, YET …………. you DID state this: “I have grown to understand the simplicity As well as the complexity of human lives, The blessings we enjoy and the mysterious bane.” I rather think you ‘want to say’: “I have grown to understand that there IS simplicity as well as complexity in human lives, and understand that there ARE blessings as well as mysterious bane” thanks to all participants, even Brian! I mean ESPECIALLY Brian! ! !

it seems i accidentally have submitted comment on J.W.s poem twice. i have submitted a comment on B.J.'s echo, but i don't see it yet. : ( bri

COMMENT ON BRIAN JOHNSTON’S ECHO: ok, I see the effort to echo. that’s good! In John’s stanza 4 (four) he mentions “conflicts” and “war”. In Brian’s echo he mentions “vanquished foes”, “wars”, and “battles”. fine so far. BUT Brian writes ……. “I don’t take pride in vanquished foes”. I’m (pretty) sure John has had physical fights and for “just cause” has injured some flesh-and-blood people, BUT I don’t think those are the kind of conflicts he is referring to in his poem. YET I do believe that Brian (at least to me) makes it sound as though his vanquished “foes” were human. am I wrong? IF the “foes” were other mishaps/impediments in your life which were standing in his way to a decent “better” life, wouldn’t YOU be justified in being “proud”………… in a sense? BUT, now that I’ve said it, I remind myself that I never feel “proud” in the way most people probably mean the word. so I may be in complete agreement with Brian. Well, there goes more of my busy day! “In personality a spark Of servanthood, like Noah’s ark, Yet to serve God, His judgment odd, World lost to save humanity. And honestly how can this stand, This horrifying reprimand Where saints all fail and demons wail, Is Justice too insanity? ” …………… nice rhyming and interesting, but I don’t necessarily “follow“ this stsnza. “I’m beginning to think that Brian is just barely echoing John’s poem. Brian is making a nice poem, but he is drifting a bit (I think) . He (as is often the case) throws God into his poems and it almost sounds in places as though he (Brian) is saying more about God, than about himself. THEY AREN’T the same being, ARE THEY? ? OK, now you are getting the echo think back. Yes! You DID use “lake”, “leaves”, and “ripples”. good boy. and “shawl” is a nice echo to “blanket”. and it fits you better! PLEASE don’t make me look IF you start walking down the street like the Emperor did…..in his ‘birthday suit’! MY Favorite lines: “At times my eyes are shallower Than tadpole bog from summer shower” “With sad stories and past glories” …….i’m a sucker for good rhymes! “My sails are full, sin’s lost its pull, My restless heart no more adrift.” “My happiness the world of Pooh With flowers that are meant for two, Or three or four, open the door, Here friendship has no enemy! ”……PRECIOUS! are you writing for Lora? heh-heh or me? or both? “I’m loyal like no one you’ve seen, Like color in an evergreen, ” ……………………OK! enough, already. nice work, BJ. [[ AND I REMEMBERED THAT john w. is not really “in the running” except as he is the author of ½ of each “echo poem”; right? So actually, I don’t really vote for Profanisaurus aka John Westlake without voting for someone else at the same time. right again? ? SOOOOOOOOOO, Brian, you may stand a chance to WIN this thing yet! Far be it from me to vote for myself, EVEN IF MY POEM IS SUPERIOR TO ALL OTHERS! ! ! ]] [BUT I have the last two entries which I have yet to read] “I swear it’s been a lot of fun, Though poetry’s not rocketry, ” …………not rocketry, but perhaps closer to most PH members’ “hearts”. AND I’m glad to report I didn’t notice any typos, including no improper use of or neglect of use of apostrophes! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! did I miss the typos? ? had to be. Brian, though going through and commenting on your and John’s poems HAS BEEN FUN, it has wearied me a bit. Time for more refreshments? ? ? bri :)

JOHN WESTLAKE’S POEM: well, how many superlatives are there to use for this poem? I’ll settle for fantastic! It is (assuming it is not Fantasy) warm, personal, advisory, clever, illuminating (how’s that for a word?) , refreshing, sweet, forceful, and ……………….loong. And Brian’s challenge was excellent (this month; ha ha) . Thanks Profanisaurus aka John, for lending us your words and putting out the challenge for us to reveal ourselves a bit. my favorite stanza: “Yet my temper is a volcano often smoking as a warning to others sometimes it will blow its top for a while but its often short lived unless the lava runs in which case be somewhere else” …………………………….. I love that you started the stanza with “Yet”. There are so many parts of it I enjoyed. I’ll just mention two more: “My truth is a shotgun let me give you both barrels” “there's always time in this peaceful place and none of it can be wasted by those who deserve it” bri :) p.s. I've sent the whole ACPC-2015/O3 to MyPoemList. i now REALIZE that [though John's poem is integral to each entrant's poem] John's poem How I Would Describe Me is not, by itself, capable of winning. But John will be a half-winner no matter what!

Wow! What a surprise. when i said 3 entries in my last comment, i was including John's original, but of course i was just stretching the truth, feeling it would be unkind to Brian to point out the lack of entries. BUT now i see two more 'entries' and i am looking forward to reading them, THOUGH i thought i could quickly review the poems i'd already read and get back to my pizza and ice cream. fat chance! or should i say less chance of fat? 1. i just read Profanisaurus's (aka John's) poem again. it can not be topped, CAN IT! ? unless of course the Reader craves humor (in which case, look at mine!) . (i THINK i put some humor in this one)

BRIAN, i'm busy, busy, busy, ..............sleeping, eating, more sleeping.......... what's a guy to do? so,3 entries. but you KNOW what they say about quality vs. quantity. i'll try to find the time between now and April 12th to reread the poems and perhaps comment more and VOTE! remind me if i'm slow. bri :)

Oh boy! i get to write about myself, my favorite subject! bri :)

ah, YES! Brian is in his element, having FUN! ! ! ! ! John's (aka Profanisaurus's) is spectacular. let me repeat that: SPECTACULAR! i'll have to read Brian's now, i guess! well, it shouldn't be TOO bad! i repeat: not TOO BAD! some day i'll write mine also. can you all wait? probably not. but TRY! bri :)