SciFaiku Honors

I've carefully reviewed all submissions to the conference BBoard and chosen the following poems for honors, but I want to thank everyone who contributed. Looks like everybody got into the spirit of things.

What am I looking for in these poems? My favorites had strong imagery and a sense of being in the scene. I'm also fascinated by new perspectives on old SF themes.

**** First Prize ****
Name	From	SciFaiku <br>
Godot	Andromeda DS	Barefaced astrobat Soars through the airless void Alights in airlock. (Thanks A.C.C.) <p>
Beautiful! A unique concept, a strong image ("barefaced" is a curious choice of words), and a nice sense of mood ("airless void" both sets a mood and describes the lifestyle of the bat). Mentioning an airlock brings it into contact with humanity and suggests all sorts of fascinating implications.
Second Prize
Arion214	my brain	Wires like tentacles connect the modem to my brain... I swim the web seas. <p>
The concept is old, but the poem has a fluidity and beauty which makes it very successful. The "tentacle" metaphor creates a vivid picture in the mind. The connection of "tentacle" and "sea" is not a strong one, but nevertheless helps contribute a wholeness to the poem, and the mundaneness of the term "modem" helps lend a sense of reality and personal relevance.
Third Prize
vaporlad	MA	Fire from the sun Calls to the soaring rocket Like a siren's song <p>
The concept of a siren is similar to its use in the renga that appears on this site. Here, the "fire from the sun" is a bright, burning, colorful image, but wouldn't be so strong if taken out of context -- the comparison to siren song is what makes it powerful. The attraction of the rocket lends it a personality, suggesting intelligence of some sort, or perhaps this is meant metaphorically, that the behavior of the rocket is "as if" it were attracted, which lends a grace to its trajectory.
Honorable Mentions
poet70	CA	Fitfully I sleep Awakened from my slumber To their abduction. <p>
A simple and common statement, but beautifully phrased and with a nice surprise ending on the last word.
Acolyte	Purmerend, The Netherlands	Flying through the mist of vacuum Like a leaf fluttering through the wind Unknowing of its destination <p>
I like the nature reference, which links it to the tradition of haiku. This one feels as if it has many many layers of meaning...
JerseyGirl	Japan	scintilating bright death pulse of a dying star Death reborn: beauty! <p>
I like the picture, and the phrase "Death reborn" lets us see a human meaning to it all. The ending "beauty!" is a nice change of pace over the common grammatical structure and pounds the image into you at the end. At a deeper level, the whole concept of "death reborn" being beautiful forces me to reflect on the poem...

Thanks to The Dominion for providing the programming for this SciFaiku BBoard.

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