Congratulations to all the participants, and another kudo for the winners. But, most of all, thanks to Tim and Rhina for devoting their personal time to setting this up and carrying it through. Rhina, those eighteen commentaries you provided were gems, as were your further remarks, I know that those crits don't just flow without thought and care and time, and it is very much appreciated.

I didn't thank Rhina for her sensitive and perceptive analyses of 18 poems. Rhina you always bring such integrity and scholarship to your comments. It is a great gift and I thank you for it.

And thanks too to Tim whose personal difficulties don't prevent his generous participation. Your lines about Anthony Hecht might also be applied to you. My grateful thanks.

And Carol who patiently posted all these poems into the forum while simultaneously watching for fires. Thank you.

And Sharon who created the ornate and impressive decor--many thanks.

Janet

Actually, Janet, my lines about Hecht apply to Rhina, not me. I never do anything with dignity and tact!

Congratulations to the deserving winners and to all the others whose work has given us so much pleasure. Also - again - warm thanks to Rhina, Tim, Carol and Sharon.
Margaret.

Tim you said:
Actually, Janet, my lines about Hecht apply to Rhina, not me. I never do anything with dignity and tact!
Tim,
They certainly apply to Rhina as well.
Maybe in your case not an excessive amount of dignity and tact but great generosity ;)
Janet

I neglected to thank one very important person: Sharon Passmore, whose artist's eye adds so much to the presentation of the work: thanks, Sharon!

Let me also express my gratitude to Rhina for the generosity, time and energy she gave to this project. I feel honored to have received her thoughtful commentary on my poem, and thoroughly enjoyed reading her insights and ideas on all the others. Congratulations to the winners, well-deserved! Thanks also to Tim, Carol and Sharon. A great way to start out the holidays!

The function of criticism is surely not just to swat down what is bad, necessary task though that may be. Better is to share one's insight into what is good and communicate that enthusiasm to another reader. That of course, is precisely what Ol' Blue Hair, General Darlin', Mother Superior Rhina has done this last week. I saw and commented on almost all these poems when they were in the making. I gained new insights into almost all of them during the course of this discussion.

My thanks to Sharon for adorning our discussion, to Carol for Tech Support, to the seventy-five poets who swamped my inbox. Most of all I want to express my thanks to this virtual community of poets that puts up with me. My poems are considerably improved by the rough housing they receive at your hands. And my spirits are revived by the elan, the esprit of all you people with whom it is my privilege to associate.

Congratulations to all--winners,
honorable mentions, participants,
everyone. And especially to Rhina
and all the staff who made it possible.

Joining the chorus. Congratulations to all, and thanks to all. I like Tim's point, that it's not all about tearing down. It's very good to see a thread denoted to pointing out what's best in what we all do.

(robt)