Greetings, Earthlings!
This week’s ultimate question (“Which way to go?”) took us in all different directions. It made for some tough decisions, both in your stories and on the grid. Six gargleblaster virgins and six hitchhikers joined our little traveling party this week. Let’s give them a grand yeah write welcome! Pull up a chair, folks; rest your feet. I’ll pour you a generous glass of the best drink in existence.
Crowd favorite
Angie takes the gargleblaster #162 crowd favorite prize with her bittersweet, sorrowful tribute to a beloved family member. From the dedication (“For Sandra who will always love Bob”) to the single egg, we were captivated. Here is I Wade Through:
i wade through the house
in deep water ~
i forget how to swim
in the kitchen
i sink
to the place you drowned
i rise and crack
one egg
over the skillet
and everything
without you is wrong ~
wet clothes,
this egg
There aren’t enough words to express the grief of losing a loved one, but Angie crafted a beautiful 42-word response. Congratulations, Angie. I think it’s fair to say we all loved your poem. I hope Sandra read this and found a tiny bit of comfort. Please pick up your winner’s badge in the sidebar and wear it proudly.
Editor’s pick
There were so many wonderful entries this week that deciding on an editor’s pick was almost painful. But there’s no doubt that Meg’s lovely, lyrical description of the distant hills deserves special mention. Meg answers the question very literally, but with stunning imagery and vivid metaphors.
Follow the Devil’s Backbone, she says, pointing to the trail. Pine tree roots form the vertebrae. The devil has scoliosis, curved, up to the neck of the ridge. There you will see the valley, the palm of God’s hand. Biblical, this land.
Meg says that she can “noodle over one line for hours.” That kind of attention to word choice and placement makes all the difference between a good piece and a really great one. Meg blogs at Pigspittle, Ohio, which is a made-up name for a real place, and this appears to be her very first gargleblaster. Welcome, Meg, and congratulations. You’ll find a badge just for you over there in the sidebar.
Top row seven*
In addition to Angie, these folks walk away with a top row seven badge: Forty c’est fantastique for Which Way to Go?, yours truly for The Only Way Out, Jennifer Knoblock for One Way, Nate James for Crossing St. Clair, Zeudy Tiger for Which Way to Go?, and Archita for On Fire. Well done, everyone! Don’t forget your badges.
The gargleblaster grid is now sorted in order of votes from most to fewest. It’s always a tight race and a wonderful opportunity to learn from your fellow grid-mates.
* I realize that your browser may not display the grid in neat rows of seven, but mine does. Therefore, the Top Row 7.
There’s more to life than gargleblasters
Hard as it is to believe, there are other challenges out there at yeah write! Go ahead — take a few minutes to check out this week’s challenge grid (for personal essays and traditional blog anecdotes) and the speakeasy (for fiction). Read, comment, get to know the community. And if the mood strikes you, submit your own post: the challenge grid and speakeasy are open until 10:00 PM Eastern on Wednesday. We know you won’t all make the grid every week, but don’t panic! The moonshine grid opens on Friday and we’d love to see you there.
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So I did a little sleuthing after Atryee’s question (and a little math), and in case you all were curious: this week there were a total of 103 votes cast on the grid. Clicks per link ranged from 38-72. 🙂
Congrats to all the deserving winners!A request to the Editors-could we please see the total number of votes polled and how many votes the top row received? Thank you 🙂
Hi Atreyee! The top row already displays the number of votes each received (once voting has closed). As for the total number, that would mean I’d have to go in and manually tally them up. There’s no way to automatically display that…
Thank you so much, Christine, for creating such a great challenge! I love gargleblasting! I am truly humbled to be counted among the “top row.” There are so many talented writers here! Congrats to all, and thanks to all for providing me with such great reading!
I’m thrilled you love it! I can’t take credit for creating it – that was Suzanne, managing editor over at the speakeasy. It is a total blast to run, and the folks who participate are fabulous. So thanks for being part of that group!
Congrats (and more hugs) to Angie! Congrats to Meg and the seven! I loved this challenge, and the posts.
Congrats to the Top Row 7 & to Angie & Meg for their honors! It was incredibly difficult to chose. This grid oozes talent!!
I’m so glad to have found such a supportive group of people. Where have you all been the last 20 years? Excellent work by all of the writers. You made it so difficult to choose!
Aw, Nate, that’s really sweet of you to say! I’ve known some of the writers here for a couple of years (virtually) and am just getting to know others. It’s a really diverse group, but the one thing folks seem to have in common is a genuine appreciation for other people’s writing and for supporting everyone’s efforts. I’m seriously proud and honored that I get to be a part of that. 🙂
All the nice things that the others have already written pretty much sums up what I wanted to say. I’m not going to bore you with reiteration but, you can read all the other comments again. That’ll work!
Well done all. Well done winners. Thank you Yeah Write editors for the time and effort you put in just so we can have a good time!
Congratulations to the winners! Loved the stories this week!
Congrats to all winners and all 42 wordsmiths. And Thank you for reading my entry and voting. 🙂
Yowza! Thanks so much. It is, indeed, an honor. I’m grateful for the recognition and to be among such fine writers. All of my picks ended up in the coveted top row, which makes me think I should now play the lottery. Congrats to all…the joy of writing is seen in all of these gargleblasters!
Super posts this week, so hard to choose. What an honor to be in such talented company! Congrats to all!
It’s a true honor to have my poem for Sandra claim the crowd favorite this week! I’m not sure if this piece was cathartic or commentary. Sandra’s message to us all is to cherish those you have in your life, because you never know when God will need them back.
I have only started submitting to this recently but already love the challenge of the Gargleblaster, especially seeing what everyone else comes up with each week. Congratulations to all the winners. I feel honoured to have made the top row seven – thank you to everyone who voted for me 🙂