Open Me First Winners - Craig Cornish's Blog

I'd like to take a moment to celebrate the winners of the Italian Sonnet contest. As Dear Heart's blog alluded, most poets are born, yet not all excel. These are some that excelled in this challenge. Only those who combined true iamb flow with the proper rhyme scheme and enlightened content were chosen. Greg Barden's sonnet was clearly the best for me on all counts as Greg is never "ordinary". He speaks of a poets passion and tosses between a sparrow's song and whispering, to being grounded on shoals and the wonderfully uncommon image created by the "bleeding from the hem of days remains" and warmth in your veins and the sunset's ownership of the sky - a special write. JP Marmaro's "Which Door to Open" is such a well constructed write, a conundrum which brings to mind Frost's "The Road Not Taken", yet cleverly includes the theme with a door to open. Sandra Adams is proof that a top quality free verser CAN write meter and do it very well; an excellent way to skillfully write about a heart, with the pulse of the sonnet, when simple syllables could never do as well. Another Sandra (Haight) was next with a cute Christmas story. Sandra has always been consistent with her quality of all she writes. Frederic is another of the skilled sonneteers on the soup and sharing the wisdom of life. Nina always has an original take of any muse and this one took us on a fun emotional ride in 14 lines. LuLoo is one who improves month by month and poem to poem and I love what she did with this prompt that brought back memories about film and a wish that the best of life will win. Frankly my dear Scarlet you did a nice job as a new member and obviously have a good understanding of meter and your message is a wise one. My only thing you might think of changing is the cliche line about glitter and gold, but well done! Thank you all who entered but in fairness I had to stick with the rules and requirements I listed.