.
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.
.
PRIZE
$100
.
JUDGE
.
WHEN
Now until August 15, 2022. Results to be announced August 30, 2022.
.
WHERE
Post your entries in the Comments below.
.
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 Once entries are posted, they can be revised or withdrawn ONLY by making another Comment.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who submits more than three entries will have ALL his or her entries disqualified, unless excess entries are clearly withdrawn by a later Comment.
.
PAST WINNERS
.
.
Camels are the desert’s glory.
The oasis lacks by the sand dunes.
What bird dare to fly?
A rock beyond the river,
Living centuries, with air of grand stillness.
What would be it’s company?
Deary winds and empty trees,
Greet my waking, along dewy colourful leaves,-
Fallen leaves and dry grass.
Wait for the last leaf
And sun, to drop, shine. In harmony-
Under trees. Paint this autumn.
Night and rain, one and
Whispering, “let us share the open secret.
Roar what the heart says”.
Yesterday, the pea was seed.
Today, it is out, dancing to winds.
Come Morn, it will dew.
Lady fall pursues
Family views the river
Exhales on my skin
Long warm fulfilling
Change of seasons conflict rift
Damaged what if’s black
so far yet so near
winter stars soon become friends
to those who have none
suburban midnight
whirring air-conditioners
keep the crickets up
high-rise balcony
the perfect panorama
of summertime smog
Wanting to go on
Nature’s last summer day, yet
Nature calls, head home
Staring at the sun
Setting over the forest
Goodbye to summer
Leaves throw themselves down
Now that summer is over
Fearing what comes next
the time of writing
so helpful to the author
a garnish of sage
Sense-soaked to the bone
On rich banana plant leaves
Worms cryˎ journey on
Sun on fingertips
Beams of life run through our grasp
No one owns the light
Teased by winter’s breath
Sakuras bat their lashes
And wind-flowers fall
Hi Donna Lynne Griggs, my name is Maria, Mary is also nice. Despite being beautiful, your poem bears a strong resemblance to one composed by another exceptionally talented and eloquent young poet named Jijo who has also composed a haiku for this contest. The verbiage she uses is extremely unique and specific to her, so seeing you post something similar is extremely suspicious. Look her up and see if there are any similarities and act accordingly. My best wishes to you.
Maria, one haiku submitted by Jyi Jyo on August 1 speaks of banana plants, but otherwise I see no similarity between her poems and those of Donna Lynne Griggs. The Griggs haiku mentioning banana plant leaves uses an ancient Japanese poetic convention in speaking of the worms’ cry, which cannot possibly be unique to any modern poet.
Running out of thyme
It is mint to be divine
A dill-icious dish
Sweet fruits of season
Summer better than others
Berry good to me
Wave to the beaches
Suns and daughters together
Special sand to hold
If to die’s to tire
of your blue, dewy lupine
I am immortal.
Over the pavement
dragging itself through aether
singing butterfly.
High up in the sky
O buzzard, your shadow falls
on some patch of earth.
Emerald fronds sway;
dewdrop, teary, wrenched away
from lover of jade.
The young bud blushes
as summer cicadas trill.
Red sprouts, kiss of bill.
Crystal flakes, silver;
Hobnailed foot-marks deep in pairs;
Chiming church carols.
dandelion pox
garlic plugs the oral route
unpronounceable
sun-locked and tinctured
April like a dumb disease
sneezes between dates
footsteps populate
multiplying involvement
there and there and there
Light clears the path, then.
Now, beauty is clearly seen.
Eternity reigns.
When one sows, one reaps
Receiving consequences
Actions produce fruits
With toil comes sweet gain
Feet and hands labor to earn
Glad hearts follow suit
High in the Sky
Monarch Butter flys galore
Only a few flutter by
wet dog strains to chase
pigeons from puddles, who rise
like the scent of rain
The streetlight blinks off.
Dawn pearls the sky discreetly
Erases the stars
“YOU ARE WHAT YOU EAT!”
that’s what all people say
Then I guess I’m “NUTS!”
“YOU ARE WHAT YOU EAT!”
that’s what all the people say
Then I guess I’m “NUTS!”
Still, hot countryside;
restless insects buzzing, cut
by a lone cyclist.
Longing for winter,
lasting strife draining the land,
until a storm breaks.
A secret growing,
a promise all summer long.
And then, you are born.
a church bell pealing
potatoes for midday lunch
sunday roast today
Bruised, swollen, cut
The sting of eating crisps
More Bonjela please
1
Dead leaves fall and dance…
A little bit of cold rain,
a desperate wish.
2
Young nuns pray sadly,
The wisteria weeps gold…
Tears, pain and cold.
3
A bonfire crackles,
little faces smile and glow…
A picture of warmth.
From the tree of life
Howling winds screaming covid
tore another leaf
Torrential rain seen:
weeping clouds are mourning death
amid pandemic
winter cemetery –
the last moments of a mouse
are etched in the snow
harvest moon rises
through the tree’s tangled branches –
a tawny owl calls
the old enemies
shake hands for the cameras –
cherry blossom blooms
Plastic Haiku
On the beach, plastic
catches the light, looking like
ocean left behind.
I sit in the tree
gold leaves falling around me
wealth abounds for me
autumn glows within
sunlight through the deep shadows
a sprinkle of gold
sun setting early
gold sinking into the dark
stark limbs against sky
Trees blow their pollen
Like clumps of cotton drifting
Snow in hot July
A desert monsoon
Rain lashes across the sky
And floods the parched ground
The lawnmower growls
Destroying animal homes
The snail speeds away