The Poetry Comp. Winners

[Diane]

Ta for the fun comp Mike n Manna. But Mickey_one said:

Very good try, some really clever lines, but not Line 5, the only weak part.

Weak line my (incorrect number of) foot(s)!! I based the entire piece around that one line, which took weaks to compose, dammit. The most striking, chilling thing about that pic you posted is Leonard's mean expression. It keeps me awake at night. < Shudder >

[Manna]

Dear Mr. Sunshine

90% of what Mickey writes is in poor taste. Only 75% of what I write is in poor taste. And although Mickey says that we are all nice to each other here, such a statement as this is, IMHO, in poor taste.

[lizzytysh]

Hi Mr. Sunshine [well, not so sunny today, but that's okay] ~

I've been out-of-pocket most of today; however, I need to weigh in on this in a bit more detail. I was honestly totally confused as to who were and how many were the winners, runners-up, etc. I agree that, regardless how fanciful the whole idea and undertaking of the comp is or may be, the fact that people make their poetic efforts toward it ought to be taken seriously and be truly appreciated. I'm sorry that your request for an apology hasn't been addressed in a serious way.

I imagined your disappointment after seeing it posted that you were the winner, accompanied by congratulations... only to read further down and find out that you weren't !?! When someone asked me if you might demand a recount, I sorta pooh-poohed the thought, as it seemed clear to me that there was uncertainty about it, even as I read it all the first time through. Still... had I been the one who wrote your poem and saw all that beside it, I'd have surely felt short-changed and disregarded, when I read further. So, I really shouldn't have pooh-poohed the thought. It's clear you're upset by the erroneous information given you and other readers.

For my own comfort level, I feel that whatever the exchanges and initial responses may have been, they ought to have been edited accordingly prior to public posting... and definitely not presented alongside poems themselves in a manner that would suggest official results. Why that didn't happen, I have no idea. I hope that next time we have a poetry comp, the presentation of the winners will be done in a no-confusion manner, as it's been done in the past. Too much booze and empty bottles in that hotel room, I would suggest, but I really don't know.

So for what it's worth, as the interthingy, I can't apologize as my role didn't involve any of what transpired; but I can express my regrets, which I do. I hope you'll stick around and that you'll participate next time.


~ Lizzy

[jaked]

Mr Alan Alda
I have never been on death row for what i have done but she has locked me here to labor inside these walls and my job is to mind my bees. is this a criime? No. God forgive for what you say about me been on death row. What i did was wrong but the savior has forgived me. I have never hurt nobody and what you say is cruel.
Mr Greg
I do not know what you mean.

“Give, and it shall be given to you. For whatever measure you deal out to others, it will be dealt to you in return."

[Alan Alda]

Hell froze over.

I agree with Liz about the way this was handled.

[Manna]

Manna~

There is a fine line between being funny and being disrespectful. A contest, even one based on a funny premise deserves some sense of having the judging been done with respect to the authors and their efforts.

IMHO
L

of course, she is right
but I'm not contrite
yet

I never for an instant thought that this was a serious competition. Was I wrong? I did say they were all Class A. Not all of my responses were intended for general audiences, and I didn't know that they were going to be put up the way they were, especially the part that says something like, "This is our winner? What was I thinking?"

Some of it was me playing the role of "Guvn'r," or trying to. I don't think I'm usually such a jerk.

[lizzytysh]

Mikey ~

Are you feeling all the faces turning toward you ? As some have been heard to say, "Edit, edit, edit... "


~ Lizzey

[mickey_one]

Mikey ~

Are you feeling all the faces turning toward you ? As some have been heard to say, "Edit, edit, edit... "


~ Lizzey

oh I did, I did. you should have seen the unedited exchanges my precious flower friends.

I guess, as a keen fan of smooooooooooth presentation, the process was rather rushed, and that led to the misunderstandings. Fortuitously, it does excuse me distributing the prizes and the $1,000 will go towards the damage caused by Manna to our hotel room.

btw I didn't even realise that Rudolf was one of our winners. where did he 'fess?

[mickey_one]

Ta for the fun comp Mike n Manna. But Mickey_one said:

Very good try, some really clever lines, but not Line 5, the only weak part.

Weak line my (incorrect number of) foot(s)!! I based the entire piece around that one line, which took weaks to compose, dammit. The most striking, chilling thing about that pic you posted is Leonard's mean expression. It keeps me awake at night. < Shudder >

a response to di for, typical of this well-loved poster. that one weak line was just to draw attention to yourself wasn't it. Admit it, you.

[lizzytysh]

Hi Mikey Mick ~

Well, I see he's withdrawn his comments to that [and other] effect; however, had your legal assistant stayed in the office and continued working when you went on holiday for some R&R after this tough assignment, the information would have been on your desk upon your return. Instead, she waited til you turned the corner and, well, your empty desk is all the proof you need... and now it's down to heresay.

Good workers are hard to find these days.


~ Lizzy

[Manna]

Part of the beauty of having a co-judge---
I get to blame everything on him.

[lizzytysh]

True... hey, go for it and milk it for all its worth. If he'd gotten to it first, you'd have been on the receiving end of it all .

Oh, by the by, you're not the "legal assistant" referenced in my above posting . That possible confusion just occurred to me, when I saw you'd responded here.


~ Lizzy

[Manna]

I didn't what the heck you were talking about with that, but I didn't think it was I.

[lizzytysh]

It was the imaginary situation where our barrister is just too busy with other things, and comes back having missed the salient posting altogether [or at least pretending so ].


~ Lizzy

[Mr. Sunshine]

Hello,

To be clear, I am the author of poem #6. Lizzytysh is correct that I had written a post that said that, but when I went back to reread it I didn't like some of what I had written so I deleted it.

Manna, I would suggest that you might be more contrite than you realize or perhaps wish to admit to.

As to mickey_one's post, it is factually incorrect to say that I am a "winner", at least in the context of this contest.

It's unfortunate that those who are rude are rewarded for their humour. After all, this is a "Leonard Cohen" forum. I believe that Alan Alda stated my opinion better than I myself could, however I will paraphrase myself from yesterday; a lighthearted piece does not necessarily reflect a half-hearted effort.

This seemed like a nice way to post something in the Leonard Cohen forum rather than just reading as I've done for some time. The idea that Leonard Cohen had been forced into a life of crime was quite the silly idea and appeared to be worth an effort.

Regards,

Rudolf