.
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 Once entries are posted, they can be revised or withdrawn ONLY by making another Comment.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who submits more than three entries will have ALL his or her entries disqualified, unless excess entries are clearly withdrawn by a later Comment.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
.
.
Hi praying mantis
So pretty and green you are
Soon you will turn brown .
Cloudy days and nights
How long til you give us rain?
We need it right now.
Shades of blue and white
The sky is turning dark now
Thank you for the rain.
Moonless winter night
Telescope set up just right
Behold: ancient light!
Shadows growing tall
Grass grows slowly, if at all
Welcome back, dear Fall.
A warming planet
A couple falling in love
Let’s enjoy the end.
Hi, Sarah. It’s Eric. Not sure if you were submitting to brief that accepts traditional haiku in senryu form. But, If I may indulge you for a moment, while the first two pieces are enjoyable to read, they are considered haiku-syllabic tercet, and in that description if a brief calls for it, a form of American haiku with the focal elements on syllable and line structure. Traditional haiku, however, does not allow for rhyme. I hope this feedback will help. I look forward to reading more from you. Keep writing, and good luck.
Sincerely,
E. Owen
Sarah may have read my essay “What Makes A Good Haiku?” In it I offer several examples of good English-language haiku that use rhyme, meter, and alliteration. A poet may use these and other literary devices in haiku of traditional form (3 lines of 5, 7, and 5 syllables, including reference to a season of nature). Rhyme is NOT forbidden, and does occasionally occur in Japanese haiku. But this competition asks for traditional-form haiku in English, and therefore the artistic potential of the English language and English poetic traditions such as rhyme are most welcome, though not required.
I apologize if I re-enter my three haiku, but I was afraid I was not clear, and I had not received a confirmation response. Thank you very much, and good luck
an old abandoned chapel ‒
an hot offering of light
lies among the ruins
wedding ceremony
the snow that assimilates
the meadow and the path
it is so strictly short
the life of the butterfly ‒
intensity of farewell
Thank you, Maria. This is your confirmation that the above three are your entries.
Thank you, Margaret.
Holy night
telling small lie
to my kids
Long long ago
Grandma read the book
that I read
Ammusement park
Daddy keeps balloons
in the way
Trees sway in warm breeze
Soft chirrups burst through sunbeams
Blue birds on a branch
Jasmine morning scents
A Cloud of dragonflies float
Dog days of August
Mist wraps her winter
around velvet hills. Cows low
by evergreen trees
1
crops at death’s doorstep
when the sheets of grain rain come —
giving rescue breaths
2
creaky oak blocks clouds…
presenting a new target
for the magpies
3
some if these hostas
will flower grandly you know…
or do you not know?
1. Rust
Rust spots dust the leaves
So green they seemed, now dying
Fuzzy seeds fly. Why.
2. Splash!
Bare feet pound lush grass
While hairy green mosaics
top a still lake ’til…
meandering moon . . .
please tell how you met the star
in a rolling wave
beyond the red swing —
an old weeping maple tree
darkens the shadows
fading mountain goat . . .
why does the rolling fog bank
cover your footprints?
Tear drops down to earth
Middle of night, in forest
Sees the moon through trees
Ranges of Mountains
Colour fades, green to white
Hits the horizon
Hears soothing flute tune
In the midnight dark forest
Rushes to find none
Chilling with the cold
Unquestionable downpour
Beating… blabbing rain.
A duel with my chi…
Parading the market square
It’s masquerade festival.
The eagle’ talon
Piecing on the Y image
Giant of Africa.
The listless dancer
Pirouettes to the tombstone
For a final rest
Surrounded but alone
There is never a good time
For the sun to set
Five hallelujahs
Th repentance I needed
For my future sins
Heron’s ice thin step
Oil slick reflection ripples
Sodden feathers sink
sickle moon growing
over rows of summer wheat
soon for the harvest
fresh spring flowers left
at ancient raised stone circle
old celebration
Sturgeon moon hangs low
Fossil fish are not splashing
A silent red glow
full moon hangs around
for morning coffee—fading
out as I fade in
Dark clouds portend rain
S-shaped snake speeds toward shore
Spots our shadow, dives.
Standing mounds of white
Deck posts sport bishop’s mitre
Squirrels await cracked corn.
Flashing lights caution.
Northwoods diner homeward bound
Yield for loping bear.
Wanderlust:
I have wanderlust,
Miss soaring o’er waves and dust,
Heart now filled with rust.
From Al Gore
Temperatures rose,
All our leaders? Indisposed.
Extinction: It looms.
‘Tis a winter night.
You take your last frigid breath.
I shall join you soon.
The winter breeze blows.
The snow flurries flurry down.
Snow kisses your nose.
Thrust in a new world,
Look throughout the autumn night.
You are all alone.
Snowfall Memory
Withered fields flicker,
In time with the bonfire’s flare,
Wind melts away warmth.
Withered fields flicker,
In time with the bonfire’s flare,
Wind melts away warmth.
Apologizes, I wasn’t sure if this had submitted, plus I wanted to fix the formatting.
Apologies, I wasn’t sure if this had submitted, plus I wanted to fix the formatting.
Angel, you may have had difficulties because other poets were submitting at the same time. I am going to leave your excess remarks here because I don’t want to risk deleting any poems. Thanks for your contributions!
Doomed; being awwed and “loved”,
An illusion- belonging to family “behoved”,
Enslaving creatures- pleasure to fund.
Doomed; being awwed and “loved”,
An illusion- belonging to family “behoved”,
Enslaving creatures- pleasure to fund.
To heroes- flawed by dimes,
Ignored crimes, to build lasting successful regimes,
Cruel wars- fueling corrupt grimes.
Genesis Unwound
Colors tucked inward,
withdrawn. Russet clay to dust,
earth shaped into urn.