::::: judge's note on "Observations on an Ordinary Evening" by Joanna Ring :::::
a comment from this year's judge, Joshua Poteat:"The irreverent and quirky tone of this piece won me over instantly. By assigning pronouns to inanimate objects (bottles, candle, toy whale), the poem takes what could be just a list of junk and gives life to the 'unliving.' It’s almost childlike the way these objects are described, and this is what makes the poem original and thoroughly enjoyable."