As January fled, so February has followed, and as March begins, we at ~simplypoetry are happy to announce the results for our Response Poem contest! (For those of you interested in the results to *simplyprose's contest, please see the news article.

Our contest netted nineteen entries, which at first seemed disappointing for a contest offering such a wealth of prizes. However, the inherent quality of our entries was so great that judging was truly a challenge! Our judges agreed in many cases, but each had his or her own favorites. Of our nineteen entries, fifteen of them were voted for by one judge or another. I can honestly say I did not expect the competition to be quite so fierce. Everyone should be very proud of their entries.

Without further ado, allow me to unveil our winners:


Honorable Mentions
These two poems ranked significantly above those further down the list, and were so close to the winners themselves that it would be a crime not to mention them.

If he tried by ~isabellakay


Tommy 1337 by =Francine1991


Both of these pieces are exemplary response poems, and we at ~simplypoetry are happy to announce that =Francine1991 has, in fact, already received a DD for her entry! Congratulations to her!


Third Place
In this delightfully-bawdy response to The Imperfect Enjoyment by John Wilmot, the Earl of Rochester... well, *orphicfiddler provides quite a counter-perspective. We must warn that this piece is for mature readers (and has been appropriately tagged as mature content), but it's well worth a look for those of us unafraid of matters of the flesh.

The Earl In His Incapacitation by *orphicfiddler

If in the past your prowess on the field
Was half as full of maidenhead in yield
As you have claimed, then prove it—at the least—
Prove it now or after hold your peace.

For her steamy reply, *orphicfiddler wins two months of subscription to deviantArt!


Second Place
In this thoughtful response to Eldorado by Edgar Allen Poe, ~XburiedinblackX further explores the fabled City of Gold. As Poe's poem focuses on the impossibility of questing to find a fable, ~XburiedinblackX focuses on the importance of finding one's own gold.

"Eldorado". by ~XburiedinblackX

And as you grow
In age, you know
That in this world of shadow
No gallant knight
Will see the light -
There is no Eldorado.

For her quest for her own Eldorado, ~XburiedinblackX wins six months of subscription to deviantArt and her choice of a set of smiley squeeze balls or a fella plushie!


First Place
In this engaging reply to Wings by Miroslav Holub—which is, itself, a response to a piece by William Carlos Williams—~saartha provides further insight on the topic at hand. While at turns abstract and tactile, her poem does a superb job of simultaneously addressing Holub's thoughts while developing a piece that is entirely her own.

Feet by ~saartha

But above all
we have
hands,
hands that sometimes
do nothing at all

For her adept response to a response, ~saartha wins two years of subscription to deviantArt, as well as a deviantWEAR shirt!


Congratulations to all our winners, and thank you to all who entered! Thank you especially to our judges:


This contest has been an absolute joy to judge, and we at ~simplypoetry hope to continue to see such stellar pieces!