Dear crazylaner :

I think that I've been sitting here for fifteen minutes staring at these stanzas, shaking my head. I've probably read this oh, about six times now, at different speeds, and counting syllables and dissecting it every possible way that I could think of.

The reason being that I believe this piece is absolutely perfect. And as Sonali said earlier, I'm glad that I'm not judging in this contest. I am not at all used to seeing so many five star poems in a row.

Now, let me explain something from my experience as a poem reviewer: Most poems that are laid out in stanzas, with the same amount of lines per stanza, have anywhere from 4 to 8 syllables per line. Yours have 14, each and every line. This is unusual, to say the least, and that's because it is more difficult to create poems with such lengthy lines, that a) rhyme, and b) make sense, and c) maintain a smooth, even rhythm. Your poem does all that and more. The rhyming didn't seem forced or contrived, but rather clever in the context of the message delivered in each stanza.

It is true that, the theme or message of this poem closely parallels that of many of the other contest entries, however this was written so wildly different. You focused more on oil, and its nasty by-products including lead, and your ending ties in a nice spiritual theme.

Your writing style is so nifty, that I'd like to show one of your stanzas here that stuck out maybe a little more than the others:

"Though, that was not so long ago, we speed to future's toil
One single day like those of old no future's fare can soil
When oil men came they drilled to claim of bitter, rotten spoil
And spit back in her face again the by-products of oil "

Your spelling was perfect, and interior punctuation was sound, though I would have loved to see proper 'end-of-line' punctuation as well. Either way, I was very impressed by your writing ability, and the neat message that you masterfully conveyed here.

IM PRIMATUR! (Let it be printed)