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Our 2023 Haiku Competition is on now HERE.
WHO
Anyone in the world, of any age or background, may participate. Among members of the Society of Classical Poets, everyone including Advisory Board members may participate, if not involved in judging the contest. The winner, if not resident in the United States, must have a PayPal account or a bank that accepts US checks, in order to receive prize money.
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PRIZE
$100
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JUDGE
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WHEN
Now until August 15, 2022. Results to be announced August 30, 2022.
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WHERE
Post your entries in the Comments below.
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WHAT
Each competitor may submit up to three haiku of traditional form: three lines per poem with 5 syllables in the first line, 7 syllables in the second, and 5 in the third. Entrants are recommended to conform to other traditional haiku requirements outlined HERE. They should be new poems, written since the closing of the 2021 haiku competition. Although this competition is held in summer, haiku dealing with any season are acceptable.
If you want coaching on haiku features, please read the examples and explanation before submitting your entries. Once entries are posted, they can be revised or withdrawn ONLY by making another Comment. This is permitted until the competition closes, but do take reasonable care to complete work to your satisfaction before you enter it. Please do not use the Comment area as your scratch pad. That is discourteous to other competitors, to interested readers, and to the judge and will disqualify you.
Entries that do not meet basic traditional haiku requirements may be deleted. Anyone who submits more than three entries will have ALL his or her entries disqualified, unless excess entries are clearly withdrawn by a later Comment.
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PAST WINNERS
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Earth 16
Spring’s waters sing. They
are rushing, hiding, jumping,
pushing, laughing life.
Earth 17
Ebullient birds
finding sweet lilting freedoms
…pouring forth such…joy!
Little did the vampire know,
that the blood dripping from the rose
had poison in its petals.
Grabbing by the collar and
stabbing an envious scholar is relatively easy,
than slowly poisoning with words.
Your eyes burn too brightly,
like the stars twinkling in the sky;
unlike mine, the darkest night.
I don’t think blood has petals.
a frog hops on grass
wish i was as light as it
dancing in the rain
curtains drawn, i sit
my room mirroring a womb.
the sun, my mother
the clouds race, giggling
the high hills covered in mist
my home lies beyond
walking without shoes
my burdened soles feel the sand
of this tranquil beach
She sighs motherhood
as wind kisses leaves goodbye
dandelions weep
Crickets chirping loud
Morning dew cleanses fresh grass
Peeking Sun smiles, shy.
Nature beams, sated;
Soothed are souls ,content is life
Neath the divine drops.
The little robin,
singing of the autumn’s end
brings joy from his arm.
Behind the tall trees,
the cold winter has brought ice
On the deep black lake .
She sighs motherhood
as wind kisses leaves goodbye
dandelions weep
She sighs motherhood
as wind kisses leaves goodbye
dandelions weep
Weeds crawl out to feed
on rain’s deep melancholy
little bare feet run
Winter whispers death
life withers away, bowed down
the mole burrows deep
Three Haikus:
Warm air dissipates
A cool evening arrives
Dew rests on the grass
Wind scatters the sand
Sunlight beams of brilliance
Protected by shades
The plum tree’s leaves dance
The same rhythm as her hair
Partnered by the wind
Long winter journey
Cloaked in a blanket of snow
Asleep by the fire
Monsoon rain at last,
Trees open their palms in thanks;
Birds sing, frogs croak: joy!
moisture in wind
petrichor fills nostrils tsu
-nami’s seismic splash
a simple red thread
maps labyrinths for footsteps
like a minotaur
answer the koan
do dogs have buddha nature
stray dog are howling
a butterfly dreamt
being a human just once
but the wings were lost
Spring rain is falling.
The world begins to renew.
All is clean, for now.
The night becomes day.
Summer sun burns the horizon.
Awash with color.
Incessant rainfall
Inundates village cottage
Snake befriends human.
Himalayan monk
Meditates for lord Siva
Snow submerges hut.
corona virus
kills millions in all lands
like insects in fire.
The red onion
Is the opinion
Of the red roses.
Frost on my window
The harvest moon is rising
A golden leaf falls
Spring at her easel
Wielding a palette of green
Paints leaves on the trees
James, I am wondering… Wouldn’t
A golden leaf falls,
The harvest moon is rising.
Frost on my window.
work better in terms of a stanza before the third line?
Similarly
Painting leaves on trees
Wielding a palette of green
— Spring at her easel.
Hope you don’t mind. If I didn’t think you had it in you (unlike some other contributors here totally missing the spirit of haiku), I would not have written this comment.
Need to clear my mind…
A robin quivers and dips
Into a puddle
Swathe of goldenrod
Swaying in the summer breeze…
All that Debussy
Drifting into shore
The swan’s red intricacy…
Just a withered leaf
A riot of red—
maples’ farewell wave. We lose
leaves, but we gain sky
butterfly perches
then flits away, pollen-gorged
a rainbow with wings
light snowfall at first
soon buries the blue shovel
that we left outside
August occasion,
bells toll for school to resume—
my pupils contract.
Delicate white wings
dance over sun-kissed petals,
tipsy with nectar
Pretty patterns play
sparkling on the window pane,
crystal- cut rainbows
Golden daffodils
trumpeting the sun’s return,
the earth’s ode to love
A colleague paints these
exquisite watercolors
of fading tulips.
Gold leaf on a half-
heart stem comes down from heaven
on a strand of silk.
The snowflake falls like
a man’s life toward the ground
gentle and loving.
Sputtering wick’s flame
Contributes fading solace
Shivering; light strained.
footprints all around
across the waste a pathway
only for the blind
to see the sunrise
sometimes you’re obliged to go
where nights are endless
the road to nowhere
teems with swarms of en route stops—
each one’s a finish
HAIKU ON TWEETING
Birds’ reputation
Shaken by digital tweets
Indeed, some progress…
Are all tweets alike?
Digital rotten apple
Bad name comes quickly.
The real tweets from birds,
How soothing and sweet they are!
But digital tweets?!
Here is one of my haiku.
Squawks from up above
Black birds against pale blue sky
Crow calligraphy.
Three of my haiku.
petals of spun gold
sunflower on summer days
stoic in bright sun
duck in the koi pond
turtle watches from a log
Spring bull frogs singing
Twilight autumn woods
colorful leaves fall like rain
Owl stirs in an oak
Yellow butterflies
Flitting across green meadows
Like dancing sunshine.
Trees stretch twig fingers
Tickling the fat undersides
Of laughing clouds.
Strike
The lumberjack goes
to strike down the damp, cold oak –
the storm follows suit.
Today a kestrel
paused in your garden to drink
and you never knew
The two fell in love
The same way they fell out of it:
Searching for purpose.
The Warm Spring sunshine
Awakens the infant seeds
Sprouts climb out of bed.
And rain
Between sun
Temperate climate
Cold sun
Body afraid
Of touching water
Nightfall
Grandma in two clothes
August break