First place (tie) entry from Niina Pollari

First place (tie) entry from Nubia

Runner-up entry from Joanne Johns

Check out all the ecard  entries here.

by Community Judges Dave Bonta, Tina Celio and Lori A. May

First Prize (Tie): “Bird Song” by Nubia Bint Aqeel and “2006″ by Niina Pollari

The judges speak –

Lori: Nubia took what could have been ordinary and made it extraordinary. The language itself is a joy to read, but the use of space and fragmented images truly brings this piece to life. This poem in particular takes the abstract and humanizes its narrator, bridging the gap between nature and humanity.

Niina Pollari brings to mind a feeling we can all relate to, for those of us who have moved, shuffled, downsized, and rearranged our lives. The poem embodies the optimistic hope we find in newness, while shedding a tear for disappointment and reality.

Dave: “Bird Song” is stunning in design as well as text. “On the tip of my tooth,” “a dress the color of my blood-wet whistle” — how I wish I had written this poem myself! I give Nubia naturalist points, too, for ending with a reference to the red-tailed hawk’s cry, which has acquired a totemic status as universal marker of wildness in Hollywood films (though I think most people assume it’s an eagle call).

In “2006,” I love “The balconies of the housing project, pushed out like open drawers.” I like the way the card could be addressed to the hawk — and regardless, the use of the 2nd person is very appropriate to the postcard medium. The questioning of what is real and what is only a façade really resonated with me, and the self-reflexive reference to a postcard view makes for a cool ending.

This card and Nubia’s are the stand-out submissions in my opinion, the only two where I couldn’t find anything to criticize. More than a simple synthesis of text and image, they each achieve the kind of synergy I associate with the best poetry postcards or Japanese haiga. Several of the others are “close but no cigar” entries; Niina and Nubia each qualify for a box of Flor de Caño. (The winners are getting cigars, right?)

Tina: I like the way Nubia rearranged the imagery to accompany her poem, “bird song.” The slicing up called my attention to all of the anatomical details — tooth, vein, wing, shoulder, blood — which made the “blood-wet whistle” of the proud bird song feel visceral and eerie.

The nostalgic, wistful tone of Niina’s poem, “2006,” felt appropriate for a postcard, as did the central idea of something obscured/lost. She also used truly enjoyable language — particularly the “gleefully peopled” balconies sticking out like “drawers.”

Runner-up: “When you’re finished … ” by Joanne Johns

The judges speak –

Lori: I was drawn to the script and textual imagery presented within this poem and its simplistic but appropriate use of space. In so few words, here, the poet has conveyed emotions: rage, wisdom, hope, remorse, and tenderness. One can read this poem again and again and still find new meaning in her words.

Dave: Jonanne Johns’ poem really looks postcard-y, which is good. I like the end-rhyme, and happen to agree with the message, too. This is definitely the best of the rest, though I was impressed by the high quality of the submissions in general. Perhaps this is a tribute to the wonderfulness of the photo as well as to the creativity of those who entered the contest. Each postcard had at least one thing I liked, and several were only marred by a couple of weak words or a slight lack of pizzazz in the design.

Tina: All of the entries successfully captured something unexpected about the image, in particular the submission by Joanne Johns, which used a rather biting tone and “don’t look at me” shrug to playfully speak for both a headless woman and a defiant bird.

Directors’ Note: Tomorrow on the main site, we will run the cards submitted by the two winners and the runner-up, in addition to the Get Your Poem On post that we know so many of you are anxiously awaiting. So stay tuned for that special poetry ecard post!

We also want to announce the winner of the comfort user. Our process for selecting the winner was to create a wordle using all entrants’ first names. We selected the name that ran horizontally in the uppermost left side of the wordle. (This position was selected before we created the wordle.)

And our winner is: Barbara Young! Please email us, Barbara, and we will get you set up with the character of your choice whom you may log in as anytime to explore that character’s voice (or if you just want to goof off by shrugging your real identity now and again).

Dave Bonta is a poet, editor and web publisher from the eastern edge of western Pennsylvania. He co-edits Qarrtsiluni, curates the video poetry site Moving Poems and has been blogging since 2003 at Via Negativa. He is a senior contributor at Read Write Poem. (photo credit :: (c) 2009 Jonathan Sa’adah)

Tina Celio is a Southern California native, poet and writer, professional copywriter, blogger and aspiring seamstress. She graduated from the University of California, Irvine with a bachelor of arts in English and creative writing. She is currently writing her first poetry manuscript. Read more at tinacelio.wordpress.com.

Lori A. May is a poet, novelist, and freelance writer whose work has appeared in publications such as The Writer, Tipton Poetry Journal and Van Gogh’s Ear. She is the author of Stains: Early Poems and two novels. Lori is founding editor of The Ambassador Poetry Project. Learn more at www.loriamay.com.