I see that Tim has posted an "Envelopes, Please" thread, in which I suspect he's revealed the names of the authors of these 18 poems. No harm done, though, so this Lariat and her choices are unaffected. I will simply refrain from going to that thread until after I've posted "The Winners."

I like arriving at such choices without knowing who wrote what, and in this case am almost totally happy on that score, since I know only 3 of the 18 poems, have no clue as to the authors of the other 15, and am reveling in my ignorance.

Tomorrow I'll post the 3 "winners" and one HM, which I chose, after many readings and long thought, before the poems were posted for comments by the 'Sphereans.

This has been a great pleasure to do, chiefly because the 18 poems posted are all competent, thoughtful and craftsmanslike, and also because I suspect that they are the tip of a large, very respectable iceberg. The 'Sphere has a lot to be proud of, and 'Sphereans have a lot to be thankful for: this site, for all the occasional sniping thereon, is accomplishing something very valuable for poets and poetry.

As for that sniping, it seems to be a natural byproduct of ambition and competition among talented people, and in any case nobody has ever died from a little mutual lip and sass. I've had a great time, hope everyone else has, and am grateful to all of those who have been participating with comments and suggestions. I also wish the "critters" good luck with their own work, and applaud every one of the poets--still happily Anonymous to me!--whose poems have been posted, and the much greater number who submitted work.

And, finally, profound thanks to Alex--"Saint Alex"--and to Tim and Carol, whose work and devotion make all of this possible.

Rhina, our profound thanks to you for this generous and most beneficial effort. There are no losers in this group of poems. The writers of all 18 poems can feel proud of the recognition and grateful to you for your attention. Yes, these 18 poems are, as you say, only the tip of the iceberg, but I think they are representative of the fine work we've seen on the board this year.

My thanks for an excellent job, Rhina! And thanks to Tim and Sharon as well, and to all the members who submitted.

Carol