[The Tipsy Muse]

... and without any further ado, I introduce our distinguished and museful Judge, A. E. Stallings for the award speech - please, give her a toast!
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And the envelope please...

As Goethe reminded us on his death bed, what the world needs is more light. This excellent series of contests seeks to remedy the situation, and is already off to a bright start. Virtually all of the entries had their pleasures, and there were countless memorable lines, as, for instance, "Show me Poseidon in a leaky faucet," "Snigger, chuckle, chortle," and the brilliant couplet, "And those who follow classical callings/ To comedy like A. E. Stallings." (Indeed, this last poem should get some sort of prize for dropping the most names of potential contest judges, and Alex Pepple's to boot.)

Weirdly, the two front runners both contained references to Euripides, not usually known for his punch lines, (and whose wry sense of humor is such that even cross-dressing is an instrument of destruction.) Despite my not being entirely clear that the speaker is indeed the Tipsy Muse, and DESPITE the questionable Tipsy/ Pepsi rime, I feel I must award first prize to the brilliant "The Blot of Mustard." The surreal update of Dickens made me laugh out loud on the first reading (the biggest guffaw at the heretical "Agile Snooze"), and giggle on subsequent ones. I should perhaps confess here, though, to a soft spot for fourteeners.

As there can be only one first place, and no second, "Terspichore (Tipsy) Addresses the Poetry Editors" is relegated to one of the Honorable Mentions. Nonetheless, I feel the witty and polished poet who rimed "wacky" and "Bacchae" deserves a special accolade.

Another honorable mention to "For the Birds." Darker and sharper than the other offerings, it managed to include reference to all my favorite bird poems, and the pun on Shelley's blithe spirit is worth a champagne toast. And as we know, any poem that contains the word "darkling" is destined for the anthologies.

A last honorable mention to "Tipsy the Terrible," with its delightful bawdiness, non-standard grammar, and drunken meter. Or maybe just for the coinage "glee-verse."

I wish I had more honorable mentions to dispense, as there were so many I enjoyed. Give yourselves a round of applause! Or maybe a round of drinks is in order.

Alicia

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... and, click here for all the Tipsy details in The Tipsy Muse Hall of Light!

[Alex Pepple]

Everyone, join me in congratulating our Tipsy Muse Poetry Contest event I first prize winner:
Susan Vaughan

And, our three honorable mentions:
ChrisW,
Deborah Warren, and
SharonK

Fine job everyone ... you had what it took to sober up the Tipsy Muse!

Winning members using handles & abbreviations, if you can send me your full/real names, I'll update the announcements with the proper information. I'll also like to receive everyone's snail mail address for the prize money.

Congratulations & well-done!

Cheers,
...Alex

[wendy v]

I won't grumble out loud about Goethe extolling the virtues of light. Did he say it in his sleep ?

Big congratulations to Susan, Chris, Deborah, and Sharon !

And a big thanks to Alicia, too, for staying sober during the judging. Good picks.


wendy

[Carol Taylor]

Yes, congratulations to all the winners (sob) and thanks to Alicia for the fine job (sniff) of judging the winning entries. To those of us who also wrote (hic), I raise my glass (blubber, sigh): Cheers!

Carol

[Susan Vaughan]

Thanks, Alicia and everyone, for a wonderful surprise! I must say this epic was one HARD son-of-a-gun to get right -- I almost gave up a few times during revising. Guess it proves the importance of the old adage to FINISH WHAT YOU START!

I really enjoyed reading the other entries, in fact am printing them out for future smiles. Thanks and my sincere congratulations to all who posted -- excellent competition.

Susan