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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 Once entries are posted, they can be revised or withdrawn ONLY by making another Comment.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who submits more than three entries will have ALL his or her entries disqualified, unless excess entries are clearly withdrawn by a later Comment.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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the wail of a loon
rising through the moonlit mist
unrequited calls
When the wind chime rang
On the porch, he was hanging
A new bamboo blind
Reeds, thatch, and bulrush
And rusty water fills them
Certain places were bright
In the paddy fields
Weaving in and out between them
The two of us walked
the silver lining
found in ascending mayfly
drawn to moonlit rays
tears of remembrance
as “Taps” bugle gently plays
somber autumn rain
Silently flowing
Banks wrapped in green and blossom
Sparkling stream in spring
Pretty pink flowers
Covering the tree branches
Spring’s cherry blossoms
I’m not sure I could
ever love somebody half
as damaged as you
bed hot twisted silk
sweat heavy cold and callous
his back turned to me
whispers in my ear
tugging so hard on my breasts
he never calls again
WHY HAIKU?
By Dan McCrory
The wind called her name
“Windy”: not unexpected.
Bad jokes imminent!
WHY NOT HAIKU?
By Dan McCrory
Sure, why not haiku?
You can stick words together
And they might make sense!
NOT ANOTHER HAIKU!
By Dan McCrory
Not one more haiku!
Stupid form of poetry
Short and confusing.
Golden gorse lined road
March brings unexpected sun
The future looks bright
Three Haiku by Veronica Jorge 7/15/2022
the erhu’s two strings
closely attached make music
the sound of our love
a coursing river
stepping stones to walk across
living words that guide
branches upward rise
touching sky, reaching heaven
outstretched arms in prayer
Judging another
Is like knowing which seeds,
will bud and bloom first.
SUMMER HAIKU
Sunlit dreamy days
Float through golden summer haze
Into memory
AUTUMN HAIKU
Musky amber scents
Swirl in sultry wistful air
Infusing my mind
WINTER HAIKU
White virgin snowflakes
Winter’s gems whisper to me
Immortality
humid afternoon—
lone monarch fluttering low
in long pine-shadow
rush hour traffic jam —
drifting across my windshield:
downtown thistledown
light snow blowing through—
a few flakes on my shoe, gone . . .
your hurry, flurries?
solitary bird
why sing you only of spring
outside my window?
I stole a flower
from nature’s bed, bottled it
now it is dying
the wildflowers of spring
dance happy in the backyard
till the mower comes
Fiddlehead croziers
Break the thawing ground to raise
Volute cathedrals.
________________________
Rainy tea harvest,
Early mist on leaf and grave —
Fragrant communion.
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Hikers sit, sweating;
Anvil clouds breach horizon —
Earth drinks greedily.
Death-defying walk
Blossom-hued breathing
Sickness delayed
We’re getting ready
Cleaning the kitchen is first
Then my attitude
Creation demands love
Love demands creation
Delicious tyranny
Moon-lit summer night
golden pathway to the shore
shimmers on the sea
A Plant In a Pot
Glorifies The Morning Light
It Rest In The Night
The Scent Of Sweet Pine
Joy To My Nose Heart and Mind
My House Cleaned With Pine
Roots Turn and Do Loop
Trees Plants Flowers In One Troop
Drink Roots Morning’s Juice
under heaven’s blue,
picking berries, berries blue—
bluer still, this heart
a chevron of geese
flies aloft while acorns drop—
ending summer’s lease
August, long in tooth,
reveals canines through the haze—
renders dog-eared days
Dear Sister Corey, I’m Ever So thankful For Poetic Individuality.
Each Phase or Statement We Make Is From Our Own Heart Reality.
In Reading Your Work I See a Woman At Work, and Her Love In That Work.
Beneath the slick bridge
one dozen precocious koi
om in unison
Hi Dear Sister Lee, You Do Drop a Fine Line.
Foolow Writer Mary Continue To Shine.
Forgive Sister Lee For The Type O, I Meant Fellow Writer.
Rain drops in puddle
Circles forming, reforming
Summer Alchemy.
I Do Enjoy The Rain, and Your Writing Makes Me Look Forward To The Next Down Pour, Nice, I Mean Real Nice.
Mary Ekpenyong
July 18
Nectar to nectar
The big butterfly flutters
How sweet the freedom
Mary Ekpenyong
July 18
Yellow autumn leaves
Trees’ naked beauty unveils
Cold crown of winter
Mary Ekpenyong
July 18
The wet green grass swirls
To a sunny whistling breeze
Life after the storm
Yes I Did Enjoy * You Drew a Picture In My Mind Of a Levier Kind. All the Best Dear Sister Ekpenyong.
Raindrops fall on tears,
Dilute, like streams in the sea,
Lost in pain too deep.
Forget-me-not blue
Springing from frostbitten earth
Is summer’s bright cue
Hi Nina S. * You Truly Hit a Lovely Mix Of Nature and Emotion, What a Lovely Combination.
Raindrops mix in tears,
Dilute, like streams in the sea
Lost in pain too deep.
Forget-me-not blue
Springing from frostbitten earth
Is Summer’s bright cue.
She’s At It Again With Another Win, Write On My Friend.