Judges Struggle to Select Best of the Excellent Poems Submitted to TLE VE Day Poetry Contest

By: Alas Zerbino - TLE Official Blogger

It's always a risk to hold a writing contest: what if no one enters? what if the entries are worthless? what if the judges don't like any of them? Well, it turns out there was no need to worry in regards to the VE Day Poetry Contest sponsored by TLE Educational Network, a nonprofit virtual education center in Second Life.

All 26 entries in the poetry contest were incredibly moving and well-done. In fact, the judges struggled for days to identify only the three best to win the prizes. Eventually they had to call a tie for first place and sent TLE a request (quickly granted) for two first-place prizes, as well a a second- and third-place award.

In a moving presentation at Saturday night's Speakeasy Party and Poetry Slam at the TLE Creative Showcase for Writers in SL, the choices of the three judges (Skylar Smythe, Jilly Kidd, and yours truly) were announced:

• First Place: "At the Beach" by Huckleberry Hax and "Blut Und Ehre" by Manx Wharton
• Second Place: "And the Snow Fell, 1944" by DanteOsaka Deschanel
• Third Place: "Katie" by Caliban Jigsaw

All but one of the winning poets were able to attend the presentation and read their poems, and the most frequent responses from the audience of 35-40 avatars at TLE in Second Life consisted of terms like "powerful," "stunning," "amazing," and, for one of the poems, "words that cut like a knife."

The contest touched people in many ways. For some, it stirred memories of their own experiences during World War II; for others, memories of their fathers, grandfathers, or uncles. I didn't write a poem for the contest, given that I was one of the judges, but as I read the entries, I was moved to tears so many times. And, I was reminded so much of my father who fought in Europe during World War II, that it was almost like he was alive again.

One of the poets who entered the contest wrote three incredible poems dedicated to her father, who also served in the European theater in WWII. On her blog, Debbie Bulloch writes of her father: "He carried a lot of anguish over the events surrounding WWII. He was a very sensitive and moral man who was deeply troubled by the events that took place. . . ." I can relate to Debbie's words, as well as to her poems (which you can read on her blog), because my father carried that same sense of anguish for the rest of his life after the war.

But what is noteworthy is that Debbie's father lived in Germany and served with the German army, whereas my father lived in the United States and fought on the opposite side. And yet, they both suffered those deeply troubling memories that affected them all their lives. Which serves as a good reminder that human beings are basically alike, no matter where they live, and give me great hope to know that even after a horrific global conflict like World War II, people can, in time at least, rise above the battleground and recognize that war hurts everyone, no matter what "side" they're on.

So I want to thank Debbie and encourage you to read her poems. And I also urge you all to go into Second Life and get a copy of the anthology of all the poems, and read every last one! They're all worth it! The TLE Publishing House has released them in the SL book titled The Poems & The Souls Of The Poets -- a very apt name for this compilation. You can get it at several locations on the TLE Educational Netowrk's virtual education campus in Second Life, including the TLE Creative Showcase for Writers. Just locate the box that looks like this and click on it:

For a short time, the anthology is being offered for free, so all you need do is click on the box and you'll receive a box containing the book. When The Poems & The Souls Of The Poets is added to the TLE Publishing House main list, it will be sold at the same minuscule cost as the other TLE books.

Like all of TLE's books, you can rez the book wherever you have rez rights and view it as an object. Or you can attach it to a HUD and read it anywhere in SL (as the following photo shows).

In addition to the poetry contest, the TLE Educational Network's VE Day remembrance event on May 8 also involved production of a video that you can watch by clicking the image at the top of the sidebar. In addition, it has been highlighted elsewhere on the Web. Among the sites that have picked up the video are the Second Life news sites Metaverse Journal and SLentrepreneur Magazine.

Events such as the VE Day event (shown in photo above), which bring together people of different ages and cultures in a common cause for the benefit of all humanity, are among the top reasons why I'm glad to be associated with the TLE Educational Network and hopeful that the free virtual education it offers can have a significant impact on the physical world.