The winning haiku can be found here
Write a haiku on any topic and post it in the comments section below. The haiku must adhere to the traditional parameters of a haiku to qualify (and may be deleted if it does not). It must…
1. Be three lines. The first line must have five syllables, the second seven syllables, and the third five syllables. Seventeen syllables total (5-7-5).
2. Contain a nature or seasonal reference: the crumbling leaves, the cold air, the smell of manure, the taste of fresh black berries, the cicadas’ buzzing.
3. Be in the present tense (swims rather than swam).
4. Be subtle and observational.
5. Contain some sort of twist in the third line: a shift in perspective or mood, a surprise, a new interpretation of the first or second line.
Read more about writing a haiku here.
When: Now until Saturday August 8, 2020 midnight EST. Winners Announced August 15, 2020.
Who: Anyone in the world, any age or background, may participate. From within the Society, anyone, including Advisory Board Members, not involved in judging the contest may participate. (If you are outside the United States, you will have to have a PayPal account or a bank that accepts U.S. checks to receive the prize money if you win.)
What: Each entrant may submit up to three haiku. Any topic. Must conform to traditional haiku rules above.
Where: Post your haiku in the comments section below.
Prize: $100.
Judge: Mike Bryant
Entry Fee: None
Lull Before the Storm
Moisture in wind, petrichor fills nostrils
Tsunami’s seismic splash
late spring arrives new,
no rain – petals, chokecherries, sweetgrass spate,
your vague form parts
(fixing an error)
late spring arrives new,
no rain – petals, chokecherries, sweetgrass spate,
your vague form departs
The empty silence
crouches within me, I remain
awake on my bed
wintertime is here
darkness prevails over me-
a smile of sunshine
cold, mist surrounds me
hands lay on the yellow pages
memories flooding
Tributary:
Bare feet still on stones
Fear a silent serpent’s stare—
Just an empty skin.
the end seems so near
feels bitter like unripe fruit
one door closes, then opens
This is all right. You could do better.
sharp bend of the albatross
behind the slow spinning of the fog
the uncertainty of my dreams
a morning sirroco whirls by
while the cicada escapes to nowhere catching
breath on the maple leaf
first family reunion at summer
a long forgotten name is quickly remembered
by the size of bowl
thoughts I redirect
in lockdown meditation
the sun is quiet
It seems like the poet is in prison, but the sun calms him.
we waited all year,
free to the outdoors with friends,
then the virus came
sixteen isn’t seventeen
Dewy petrichor
Waiting for the rain to pour
To watch farmers smile!
The time has come
For the moon to shine more
The poors to rise up!
Birds are chirping,
In a vast empty space…
I call my heart
wind wafts petrichor
i dance in the rain to mark
the end of the drought.
you walk beside me
fall leaves crunch, forming footprints
But only one pair
it’s safe in the rain
wind knits me a warm blanket
grow me like the grass
clouds of fire,
the dawns fate to bring the sun,
hazy candle light
the moon rains her beams
showers rain of melody
stream down deep slumber
clear water trickling
like silver threads weaving
her shimmering dress
Correction for first one (I had a typo)
the clouds of fire,
the dawns fate to bring the sun,
hazy candle light
Restlessness beats on
My soul like waves on the rocks.
I long to be gone.
“Hi queue!” is one way
To address a line I’d say,
Not in USA.
Beneath the surface
The river runs swift and deep
Salmon are spawning
Eternal beauties
You bequeath the tidal waves
I see in the day
Dancing in the rain
Letting go of all the pain
Liberated crane
The grey-lit clouds form
Like smoke blooming in the sky
Thunder cracks the skies
it’s safe at daytime
the Sun God dims all desires
…night; the Moon ignites
the path I tread thence
is all poesy sprinkled now
like gold dust on sand
monsoon doctor helps
the pregnant earth deliver
a million sprouts
I really like the monsoon doctor!
balcony garden
I let the money plant find
its way to the sun
tossing and turning
when did I become as old
as the blinking stars ?
the apple pickers
bent backs carrying baskets of
the sweet fragrance
1.
Coming home from work
Without wearing a face mask:
Unhealthy practice.
2.
Birds tweeting freedom
prancing on branches of trees
pollution thinning.
3.
Meaning is the same
mother by no other way
she’s pregnant with child.
Karachi’s air
Such a summery affair
Can’t belong here
Winter Haiku
It’s cold, and it’s here.
It makes life complicated.
I so hate the snow.
As the sun sets in
the dispersed raven return
to home with his kin.
At a total loss
With haiku: too short to get
My full meaning acr
LOL Peter!
The bright full moon,
Rides through the dark night,
Staring back at us.
Bad workmen blame tools,
Good workmen blame other fools:
(They CAN’T blame owt else).
Long winter journey
Cloaked in a blanket of snow
Asleep by the fire
Spring at her easel
Wielding a palette of green
Paints leaves on the trees
white droplets sprinkle
oak leaves in the rainy night—
sending weeping sounds
a flash of bright red,
cardinal in the garden:
Audubon appears
old rusty key turns,
entrance to ancient building—
opens ancient thoughts
1.
Glittering sunlight
Pierces through the canopy
Disturbs the coolness.
2. Water
Swarming molecules
Dance throughout the streaming flow
Resolute to fate.
3. Snake
Tenses as I near
Hidden amongst cool darkness
Slithers silently.
SMALL COMPENSATION
Summer’s stuck inside,
Covid contact cowering.
Neighbors wave more though.
ELECTION SEASON
Promises abound.
Hopes and dreams bloom on the Hill.
Breath of hot air blows.
SUMMER BUMMER 2020
Disguised by face masks,
sheltered this swimsuit season,
let ourselves grow fat.
Now
Stories of us now
Proffer universal theme,
Self preservation.
Lingers one question
Is Covid19, longest chapter?
Or call of curtain?
Anon
We’re at a place now
With an uncertain future;
arrested present.
Those slipups of past
Led us to now; hereabouts
Enfeebled passions.
Yen prospect of hope
Crafts life once again stable
The newest normal.
dawn walk near a bog
the taste of fresh black berries
blues the lion’s lament
long languid morning
the cicadas’ buzzing song
stirs the lemonade
Correction:
dawn walk near a bog
the taste of fresh black berries
blues the loon’s lament
Addition:
yellow crop duster
quickly dives wing over wing
the smell of manure
First Communion host
stuck to the roof of my mouth
dissolves. I . . . swallow!
Footsteps approaching;
calling birds fall silent: sh-h!
The willows whisper.
I realized, too late, that it wasn’t possible to edit or delete my first haiku (above) which has an error in the last line. Therefore, I’m submitting a corrected version of that haiku as my third entry, as follows:
First Communion host
stuck to the roof of my mouth
dissolves. I . . . swallowed!
Patricia
I think the swallow works as it keeps it in the present tense
Haiku Verses
A tormented boy,
Adrift on a sea of pain –
A shell of a man.
A shell of a man,
Tumbling on the shore of life,
Never to be filled.
Never to be filled,
A broken shell of a man
Is swept out to sea.
vintage lacquer box
on the blackened mantelpiece
sandalwood perfume
whoops of chimpanzees
in a listing wooden boat
summer getaway
a nightingale’s song
on the forest canopy
waxing gibbous moon
Very beautiful!
Thanks ever so much, JOE TESSITORE. So pleased you enjoyed. Very much appreciated.
~ Christina ☕❤️
Yours are the real haiku and beautiful ones.
Thanks ever so much my dear poet friend, Vandana Parashar, deeply appreciate your support, encouragement and feedback always.
~ Christina
Three haiku
city umbrellas
lovers kiss the rain away
under black silk skies
lighting the wood fire
seeing a gold ring glinting
in last year’s ashes
this summer evening
taking us all for a ride
a merry-go-round
tiny white phlox blooms
exhale a whole hay field’s scent
cupped in your two hands
the owl’s head spins ’round
his spring-loaded talons flexed
mice mate naive bliss
as the crow flies straight
into autumn’s heart of fire
an icy arrow
Three haiku
Sunset at the beach
The waves rising and falling
I miss the summer
Breeze and dancing trees
Signs of rain yet to come forth
Joyfully we sing
Darkness drawing near
We stay close as lovers do
What a lovely day.
Into Shinto shrines?
To go to noh theatre
Don’t follow the signs.
Shogun if you must
Nippon the bullet train while
Flaunting noh ticket.
They’re heasy to do:
You just need an ‘igh haiku,
(What I ‘aven’t got).
clouds cover the skies—
the rain approaches far east
but birds sing away
the rolling mountains
over the sugarcane fields
trees are witnesses
thatched roof of palm leaves
the rain is silent—the moon
quiet in hiding.
Fog enshrouds the night.
Woven in the heavy mist,
A thread of fireflies.
How tranquil the sea,
Next day’s spring tides gleefully
Drowning you and me.
Nature’s fire expires
When Empedocles sneezes
And Etna freezes.
Beautiful image- a light of hope in the gloom of the present situation
my comment referred to Joe Tessitore’s haiku:
Fog enshrouds the night.
Woven in the heavy mist,
A thread of fireflies.
We are as common
as dinosaurs once were and
as apt to die off
White cherry blossoms
Tinged pink by the setting sun
Gently drift to sleep.
Mating spring peepers
Erupting in symphony
Celebrate the night.
Flying fish seek light
Leaping toward the ocean sun
Renewing their lives.
We mutter and cuss,
As time slips away from us –
It is always thus.
The virus scares us
Trembling in isolation
Mother Nature smiles
Sand dunes lurch through night
A single scorpion shuffles
I gasp as dawn breaks
Crepuscular light
Above the city skyline
Night devours twilight
The following haiku was inspired by a visit to a church graveyard in the Michigan county where I grew up. I came across information on that graveyard in a geocaching website.
Among black walnuts,
To German gravestones,
I give them a gift.
Correction in the second line, as follows:
Among black walnuts,
To the old German gravestones,
I give them a gift.
I would like to share a German oversetting of the haiku, that has been made possible with help from Reddit user leu34 (https://www.reddit.com/r/German/comments/hmp8tw/oversetting_my_haiku/):
Bei Schwarznussbäumen,
alten deutschen Grabsteinen
geb’ ich ein Geschenk.
Another revision of the haiku once again, this time with a change to the first line as follows:
By black walnut trees,
To the old German gravestones,
I give them a gift.