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
Fliping the book’s pages
Out flows words of unkown ages
The scent calms my edge
Horses mirror you,
Red sky morning, night in view;
Care they show, you sow.
“Outside Warmth” Entry 1
A sweet Summer sun
Warms with unmatched radiance
Yet I remain numb
“Creating” Entry 2
Piercing green eyes glare
Watching me through brush, Beware!
Yet, I shape their stare
“Stay” Entry 3
I pray for thee to stay
God’s rays pierce through Earth’s black clouds
You last though I fray
My 2005-2015 China, in 3 Haiku
disembark cool jet
to South China humid heat,
find a home for years.
Mid-Autumn full Moon
as huge campus falls asleep,
all night crickets chirp.
typhoon flag hoisted,
Hong Kong ferries stay berthed,
monsoon blows from sea.
1.
Digging through the Earth
Excitement in all his hearts
The worm swallows on
2.
Flowers grow up tall
Out of the new backyard pot:
The thrown-out toilet
3.
The moth tastes sweetness
And crawls among bright colors
In a soda can
Twilight drops the sun
And it shattered into stars
Dawn cleans up the mess
Like a drooping “V”
Black against a painted sky
Hangs the distant bird
The sun hides behind
Fat clouds frozen in blue glass
In comes clumsy wind
Gopher Tortoise digs
Finds shelter in deep tunnels
Australia fire
Fragile coral reefs
Climate change kills colonies
Fish lose their shelter
The long leaf pine trees
Supple limbs bend with the winds
Hurricane looses
scribbling down end goals
the scratch of bird claws on eaves
scouting for a nest
Correction
scribbling down end goals
the scratch of bird claws on eaves
scouting out to nest
The trees are screaming
It happens ev’ry summer
Hon, it’s just tree bugs
Sand, land and sea meet
Entangled and passionate
The storm blows always
After the first rain
I squish the mud in my toes
And my face, neck, hands
Squirming through moist soil
Rain persuades worm to surface
Plucked by a robin
Warm apple cider
Auburn leaves float off the maple tree
Raked into a pile
The river slithers
A snake sunbathes in the sun
The tree branch then snaps
mercaptan bellows
midst a mirage round the field
bumblebees steam by
Correction:
mercaptan boils
midst a mirage round the field
bumblebees steam by
black skies spotted with stars
tree leaves rustle in the breeze
expanding out my eyes
Nonstop Buzzing Phone
Never Left Alone Twenty First Century
Can Not Run From Time
Tokyo toyota
mitsubishi kyoto
teriyaki saki
translation:
September jonquil
you’re a little late here, pal–
the party’s over.
A moment later
billows and the bobbing boat
say the whale was real.
High up in the sky
O buzzard, your shadow falls
on some patch of earth.
In the sun’s last light
a grackle washed its purple off
into a puddle.
High up in the sky
oh buzzard your shadow falls
on some patch of earth.
Geese
High up overhead
a heard-abed clamoring
hijacking my heart.
Feel mud underfoot
Walking barefoot through the stream
The fish scream unseen
Build skyscrapers tall
Wonders of man above all
Watch as the world falls
Not all stop to see
to look at nature’s beauty
it leaves on the breeze
Correction
stars spot the black skies
tree leaves rustle in the breeze
expanding out my eyes
The haiku are –
1. squirrel losing grip
motionless, she fell
downwards
into my two hands.
2. dropping the mango
parrot follows the macaw
to snatch back his bell.
KNIGHT OF HOPE
A warrior trounce death,
yielding shafts of vivid hope,
renewing the world.
The whisper of leaves
Rustle on a dancing tree.
They say I am free.
Hues of gold and rose
On a berry blue night sky
Come and say “goodnight.”
Value
Broken branches of tree
Which were shed on a breezy day
Act as home for birds.
Haiku #1, “Pebbles”:
I count the pebbles,
as I walk past the evils,
my eyes cast downwards
Haiku #2, Words:
Sore words flow away,
down a stream of broken vows,
swelling in water.
Haiku #3, “A Burden”:
My heart beats again,
burdened by lungs that breathe and
perpetuate life.
visions of your eyes
dancing through the turquoise waves
archipelago
my ghost still loves you
kissing you every fall night
still waiting for you
I saved a cricket
lost with laughing cicadas
midwest summer storm
We all need to write
While there’s still some daylight left.
Coming fast, the night.