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
how the ryegrass grows
chaotic, everchanging
the bunches flow free
oh, the month of may
the life it breathes into us
spring, it does portray
oh how the sun shines
in through my bedroom window
i do crave her warmth
I.
As it rustles leaves
I find the West Wind hiding
A soft, silver laugh
II.
Frostbitten moonlight
Encloses Faerie stillness
A charming snow-globe
III.
A winter zephyr,
Fluttering the falling flakes,
Whispers wistfully
Wild man dancing hard
Wind blows soft, dancing, dancing
Wild man dancing, hard
Dancing free and light
Sunshine beats down on the dance
Shines light on it’s truth
bitter autumn gales ~
barbed wire on the barracks wall
wails through the darkness
Twilight dark as grey
Nigh time dark as pure pure black
Morning light yellow
meditation hike
in blossomed woods, my mind still
at the trailhead stump
A sunset on Skye.
Cinnabar flames burn wild.
The summer murmurs.
winter interment
of the opera tenor . . .
snow falls silently
snowy fluffy sheets
ivory frosted pearls
white blank canvas
the nelipots walk
a tender earth gives yet takes
it is time we give
droplets of water
the leaves weep all through the night
we grow in the dark
provoke the sea once
swim deeper into its depth
provoke your beauty
Sun sets in ocean
Darkness on the horizon
The light shows the way
[waves]
underneath the waves
runs the uneasy stormwind
breathing oceanward
[damp spring]
raindrops at soft leaves
falls from gentle petals of
wildflowers
[mountains]
the majestic crests
where magnificent sun rests
bury deep forests
Thoughts in August
Sweat pores on blank page
The heat foments ideas
Inspires like ice
More thoughts in August
Sweat pores on blank page
Heat fosters vacant ideas
Inspires like ice
In the wood
Pine sap scents the air
Dry needles cushion foot falls
Fueling a fire’s rage
April
Every day I swear
you breathe down my neck as if
one could hurry spring.
—–
May
You again draw close,
glaciers between us no match.
Spring will have her way.
—–
June
By a single leaf
is the chief end of winter
declared to be spring.
Haiku written before coffee…
1
Bacon frying; smells
Like breakfast – heaven at dawn
Sunshine in a pan
2
Feel my heat up close
See my demons in my eyes
Twilight falls; they dance
3
Mushrooms in the grass
Dancing fairies in the fog
Vanish – Sun’s first rays…
Singapore lights up
like mystical fireflies
from an elven land.
Wolves might surround you
when you defy boundaries…
Hope they’re not hungry…
A refreshing breeze
trembles fat spiders in webs
like lacy curtains.
Trees bowing forward
form a shaded canopy
a tired farmer rests
Wet grass, lonely shell
snail emerges from its shell
moving at snail’s pace
Tree left bare after
breeze, bird looks for shelter to
save young ones elsewhere
Beds cling to silk sheets
Your tears on a spider’s web
I watch from above
Chrome against blue sky,
quivering, a gingko leaf
anticipates frost.
Mist, fallen beech leaves,
fungi bursting from the ground,
hands no longer held.
Revealed by the thaw,
artefacts left by Vikings,
writing on a wall.
The original Japanese haiku doesn’t have the 5-7-5 structure. Haiku is only a kind of statement depicting some stunning image that is special to a season which they call as kegu. In haiku anthropomorphism is strictly prohibited. The lines also shouldnot start with capital letters. Please see examples of haiku by legendary Japanese poet Basho:
The old pond
A frog leaps in.
Splash!
Jumping over the brook
for water
not needed.
Another modern school of English haiku discarded the 5-7-5 rule and emphasized on less number of syllables and more pronounced images.