Entries for the First Annual Numéro Cinq Rondeau Writing Contest have officially closed. As usual, as is customary, comme d’habitude, the esteemed and sapient judges will retire to a place of retirement to focus their immense and weighty brains on selecting the official winner, a difficult and painful task, necessitating many visits to the NC wine cellar. For now, it is the duty of every NC reader to vote in the People’s Choice competition. This is where you get to express your opinions, vent spleen, complain about the management, complain about the general decline in rondeau-writing, impose your taste, convince your fellows, cheer on your favourite, and otherwise pretend you really know what a rondeau is. This is where you get to defy the voice of authority and received opinion—the People’s Choice is the Tea Party of Numéro Cinq. It’s the ultimate democracy. Anyone can vote. You don’t have to be a regular NC reader. Aliens are welcome. Vote and vote often.
All the entries for this year’s contest are here.
Read them over, inspire yourself with a whiff of Talisker, and vote by indicating your favourite poem and author in a comment box beneath this post. In the past, we have had some confused individuals, writers mostly, who tried to vote God knows where. You vote here, on this post–just hit the reply/comment button. Can I be more clear?
Voting will close midnight, Sunday, November 28.
dg
My vote goes to Anna Maria’s “Kitchen Ostinato” for her sophisticated word play.
I think I resent that allusion to “confused individuals.” Despite that, however, I’ll be happy to assist the judges with their difficult and painful decision-making task, provided that I’m allowed to sample the contents of the NC wine cellar.
I always thought you were the judge. Who is the judge then?
Don’t know, but I understand he drinks Talisker in copious quantities, which may or may not call his judgment into question…
My choice is Anna Maria Johnson’s “Kitchen Ostinato.”
(Tied for second: Genni Gunn’s “In Fort St John” and Jodi Paloni’s “Thistle Down.”)
Happy Thanksgiving, Everyone!
Only because dg forces us into the impossible decision of selecting only one, I have to go with Axelrod’s “Repayment” because it struck a chord.
I may have to assume other identities and vote for four more.
My vote goes to Kitchen Ostinato by Anna Maria Johnson. I am not entirely clear on the rules here. Do I need to disclose my weakness for desperados?
So many great ones, but I vote for Vivian’s Birthday Rondeau.
Wow! I got a vote. Tante grazie, Natalia.
My vote goes to Repayment!
Thanks, guys. It may not be a great poem, but it was a great moment, when I realized that I was doing exactly as my Mom had done, driving my son home from the same camp in Vermont, on the same roads, even, giving that same sense of utter safety and contentment to my own son.
My Mom said to me once, “You’ll never know how much I love you until you have kids of your own.”
Aint it the truth.
So true, Steven. And I think that comes through in your rondeau. It’s moving. That’s not easy in a formal poem.
Steven Axelrod’s “Repayment” for its tenderness and balance.
Missed the deadline, dang.
My vote goes to Vivian for the Birthday Rondeau. It’s technically accomplished (for rhyme and meter), it engages me in terms of advancing age (having seen that creature myself and suffered the consequences) and besides, I am determined to support any poem/poet using the word “presbyopically.”
I vote for Anna Maria Johnson’s “Kitchen Ostinato.”