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Winners announced here.
Write a haiku 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. See traditional haiku requirements here. Note that a haiku is like a a painting of nature. If your 5-7-5 poem is focused solely on human nature and is more cynical or humorous, then it is technically a senryu, not a haiku. However, haiku do concern human activities in relation to nature. The required seasonal word can refer to seasonal sports, holidays, entertainment, gardening, housekeeping, or visits to special places. Although this contest is held in summer, haiku dealing with any season are acceptable.
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WHEN:
Now until Saturday August 28, 2021 midnight EST. Winners Announced September 5.
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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.)
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WHAT:
Each entrant may submit up to three haiku. Must conform to traditional haiku rules above.
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WHERE:
Post your haiku in the comments section below.
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PRIZE:
$100.
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JUDGE:
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ENTRY FEE:
None
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EXAMPLES
See last year’s winning haiku here.
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1.
first day back to school
a piece of the Berlin wall
deep in his pocket
2.
Chinese abacus:
a murder of crows cover
city power lines
3.
the fallow deer fawn
still echoing mother’s pose
morning yoga class
Haiku 2 makes me smile:)
The sun warms the soil
Small sprouts erupt from the earth
Mother’s tears nourish
Song of a cuckoo
Rises from the bamboo grove
Curious moon peeps
Late summer evening
In the gap between buildings
The full moon appears
Wisteria blooms
Along a sidewalk café
Coffee in the air
No vast thunderstorm
Just a steady persistence
Of drizzled sadness.
Sunny summer days.
Children’s laughter echoes bright,
Golden bells chiming.
Stubborn light of love
Shining through the saddest days.
Through dark clouds, rainbows.
unknown galaxy
seeing through all dimensions
silent the snow falls
unknown galaxy
seeing through all dimensions
the silent snow falls
1.
Beneath a cool moon
Beyond a warm fiery ring
One coyote cries
2.
Summer cicadas
Sit in the shade while the trees
Sizzle in the sun
3.
King spider rules here
Soldiers march on his domain
The queen wants his head
H===The winds of winter
whispering against my skin
Spring soon to return.
1.
ebony rumbles
advance on war-bent wind drums
wings and earth-feet flee
2.
a thousand sea-shells…
each a gift from Triton’s hand
speak joy to earth’s child
3.
torrent-tossed sea tern
perches…stunned…far from the gale
shivering in fog
1.
Antarctic icebergs:
frozen origami swans
float, white-blue: summer.
2.
The yellow-brown moon
peers in my kitchen window –
new year approaching.
3.
Crescent moon pours stars
into night’s glass: bouquet,
body, ah, bubbles.
open window leaf
I push on the path of true
a buzzing monster
Glance of elegance
Through garish fabrics
sartorial flamboyance
displays power’s stripes
Gilded age
Animated shadows
of prosperity salesman
withers nation’s sap
Stock exchange
Money tiptoes bails
out of liberal pockets
Cherry leaves assets
now, with piercing howls,
cavorting through murky haze,
the flies wreak havoc.
Water my Sweet Love
Famous sensual portal
Love me perfectly.
Heaven knows only
I yearn sacred afterlife
In my mortal case
Light reveal your soul
By sensual hedonism
Revive me again.
My submissions:
starry sky beckons…
we map known constellations
and bid a farewell
***
long after you’ve gone
your warm hand on my shoulder…
like autumn sunshine
***
white owl on the oak
cries for its mate, late tonight
the creak of the door
***
solstice
by a drying puddle
crows are jostling
Full moon.
On the cooling sand
dog footprints.
The willow blossoms.
At the feeder
disheveled titmouse …
“Cicada Season”
Cicada season –
Empty shells crunch under feet,
Gray streaks my long beard.
peacock dances fast
his body pulses colors
like Monet’s garden
*
first breadcrumb on square
pigeon thanks with concrete eyes
grey wings disappear
*
field of spider webs
but every little spider
craves the lost summer
walnut husks –
inside everyone hides
brittle shields
*
snake skin –
out of the wardrobe
the old clothes
Owl
The owl is roaming,
at night, it sees everything;
sickle come would tame.
“You know, I don’t mean…”
sad she said, I lift my head
just to see her smile
*
The only words heard
“I want you to be happy”
such a nonsense talk
*
Distant sounds of rain
Thirsty doe drinks from river
thunder scares her out
The sun burns grain fields
Rising upwards, seeding, to
Resurrect bread loaves.
1. In the gloomy bog
The log is moving closer
Snap— the fawn is gone
2. Skimming the surface
A graceful rippling sight
Duck feet motor on
3. Tranquil resting blades
Absorb, basking in the sun
The cow feasts freshly