# "A Touch of Grace" Voting Thread



## Chesters Daughter (Mar 15, 2018)

*AS PREVIOUSLY ANNOUNCED, IF YOU ENTER THE CHALLENGE, YOU MUST CAST AT LEAST ONE VOTE IN THE POLL. FAILURE TO COMPLY WILL RESULT IN YOUR ENTRY BEING DISQUALIFIED.

*Welcome to another "kid in the candy shop" voting poll! Please read all of the *entries*, and then proceed to cast votes for as many delicious pieces as you see fit, but you may not vote for your own work. *If you vote for yourself, your entry will be disqualified.

*All entries are eligible for critique which should be posted in this thread save for critique on entries that are posted on the secure board. I've created a thread for those who wish to critique secure entries which may be accessed *here*. Please be mindful of where your critique is being posted so that the first rights of entrants are not compromised. 

I remind everyone that all critique, and responses to it, must be directed solely at the work. Any comments that veer into the personal will be promptly removed upon discovery and will result in appropriate moderation for the poster. There will be no baiting, flaming, or trolling in this thread, or its partner on the secure board.

You have ten days to make your selections. This poll will close on *March** 25th at 7pm EST.

Best of luck to all entrants!

And remember, it's all you can eat, so choose as many as you desire!

Please also remember that once the poll has closed, and the results have been officially revealed, you may post your entry on either of the Poetry boards for additional feedback.
*


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## sas (Mar 16, 2018)

Voted, for one, as I always do. Helps to eliminate all those ties, too. Pretty soon I expect all poems will come in first.

I love different interpretations of prompt. Nicely done.


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## Firemajic (Mar 16, 2018)

Voted...


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## ned (Mar 16, 2018)

sas said:


> Voted, for one, as I always do.
> Helps to eliminate all those ties, too.



nice poetry Sas - but is there evidence to support your assertion? - and what's wrong with ties anyway?
one way or another, we always come up with a prompt....er......promptly.

three quarks for muster mark......


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## sas (Mar 16, 2018)

ned said:


> nice poetry Sas - but is there evidence to support your assertion? - and what's wrong with ties anyway?
> one way or another, we always come up with a prompt....er......promptly.
> 
> three quarks for muster mark......



Guess it's an American thing. Not everyone gets a trophy, and there is only one for first place. It's one of the few things American I still agree is right. I've seen others here say they voted for friggin' 7.  Really? Like I say, vote for all then. After all, they showed up. Deserve it.


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## Pelwrath (Mar 16, 2018)

When I do vote, I’ll vote for three or the ones I feel belong in the top 3. Might there be a tie, maybe. It’s hard to narrow the field down. I mean a good time reading a very hard time deciding.:cry:


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## ned (Mar 16, 2018)

sas said:


> Guess it's an American thing. Not everyone gets a trophy, and there is only one for first place. It's one of the few things American I still agree is right. I've seen others here say they voted for friggin' 7.  Really? Like I say, vote for all then. After all, they showed up. Deserve it.



yes......Americans.......you're either a winner or a loser! - what's wrong with an honourable draw?

there is no mathematical proof that multiple votes generate more ties.
but there is a proof for the minority of entrants that cast a single vote - increasing the chances of their own poem winning.....

do the maths..........as we Brits say.


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## Kevin (Mar 16, 2018)

wow- tough choices.


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## Darkkin (Mar 16, 2018)

Being firmly in touch with reality...I know I'm lost, no chance of redemption.  :thumbl:


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## H.Brown (Mar 16, 2018)

Great entries guys, I've placed my vote.


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## sas (Mar 16, 2018)

ned said:


> yes......Americans.......you're either a winner or a loser! - what's wrong with an honourable draw?
> 
> there is no mathematical proof that multiple votes generate more ties.
> but there is a proof for the minority of entrants that cast a single vote - increasing the chances of their own poem winning.....
> ...



Ned,

You are quite correct. I have been elected to public office, and been involved in campaigns for 40 years, so I understand the power of casting a singular vote. The term for it is "plunking".  I have even mentioned it two years ago in WF. However, there is no advantage to an individual here, as one cannot vote for oneself. It is a mute point.

Do they give two Pulitzers per category?  Are there two Poet Laureates? Two Nobel Prizes in a category? Only poets cannot make a decision.


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## ned (Mar 16, 2018)

no, it is not a moot point - it is the huge, twin tusked African elephant stood in the room.
I said do the maths - it is not that one cannot vote for oneself, it is the votes that you deny others...
that the majority of us give - including your poem.

Sas, I'm not saying that you mean it, it is just that you seem to miss the point.


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## Pete_C (Mar 16, 2018)

I have always been a 'one vote' person because I look for the poem that has interpreted the prompt in the best way, which can only be one piece. 

I popped in here here to vote and must say that I found the implication that people who cast only one vote are doing so in order to 'deny' others possible votes in order to promote their own work distasteful and offensive. I feel very strongly about it despite the fact that I didn't have time to enter this month, such is the arrogance of such a declaration.

I only stick an entry in the challenge to be supportive of those organising it, who put a lot of their time and effort into it, and I think that such comments do them a disservice. I also believe it is a slur on another poet whose views on voting are perfectly acceptable, and is therefore beneath acceptable behaviour in such an environment.

For me, it has sullied what should be an enjoyable challenge.

It is ironic given the prompt...


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## midnightpoet (Mar 16, 2018)

I believe it was a football coach some years back that commented "a tie is like kissing your sister."  What's wrong with winners and losers.  Losing builds character.  Probably why we have so few of them nowadays - everyone gets a participation trophy - no losers.:icon_cheesygrin:


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## andrewclunn (Mar 16, 2018)

I've voted for two most times.  Only voted for one this go around.  I recognize that statistically a single vote for a piece I don't think will win is the best strategic move if you're trying to get your own to win, but quite frankly I'd much rather continually lose to superior poems than be so cynical.  I never expect to win, that's not why I enter.  The prompts themselves are a means to motivation.  If there are three poems I can't decide between, I'll cast three votes.  If there's one I like above the rest then I'll cast one (as I did this time).  And to put it bluntly (with nothing but love at its core of course) anyone questioning my integrity for picking too many or too few poems can shove it.


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## Pelwrath (Mar 21, 2018)

Voted the other day, a very good selection of poems. You all dud a great job!


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