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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 a U.S. resident, must have a PayPal account or a bank that accepts U.S. checks, in order to receive prize money.
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PRIZE
$100
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JUDGES
J. Thomas Rimer, Professor Emeritus of Japanese Literature, Theatre, and Art at the University of Pittsburgh; former chief of the Asian Division of the Library of Congress.
Margaret Coats, Ph.D. in English and American Literature and Language from Harvard University; retired from a career of teaching literature, languages, and writing that included considerable work in homeschooling for her own family and others.
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WHEN
Now until September 16, 2023, 6 pm EST (New York time). The original Sept. 15 deadline has been extended for those in other time zones. Results to be announced September 29, 2023 (corresponding with Tsukimi—the Japanese Moon Festival).
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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.
IMPORTANT: By submitting haiku to this contest, the contestant declares that the poems are his or her own work, and that they were written after July 2022. Please submit using your first and last name, as we may find it difficult to distinguish between contestants who have similar first names.
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 Once entries are posted, they can be revised or withdrawn ONLY by making another Comment.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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Prairie-rose perfume
Permeates the open road.
A truck kicks up dust.
________________________
Hermit infiltrates
Icy cave, lets loose a cry —
His voice or the rocks’?
________________________
Pine, plum, and bamboo:
Steady fellow-travelers.
I go for firewood.
In a freak snowstorm
John looks for the Redeemer
eyes misting over.
Shy lips at midnight
Meld as a meddling moon beam
Lays bare their embrace.
Beneath dripping trees,
Geckos dream with open eyes,
As morning mists rise.
Through dark depths plunging,
Brave seamen pray and ponder
Sunken sailors´ bones.
Seasonal Risk
Crisp weather is here
It’s that time of year, achoo
Seasonal hazard
Winter acts so mean
A cold-hearted icy guy
Go play somewhere else
Red poppy beauty
A promise for tomorrow
Hope crushed by abuse
Morning, night’s old coup,
Makes marsh diamonds out of dew.
I make love with you.
Night lights, children’s noise,
Fast life as dawn reappears,
Grown folks skipping tea.
One after the next,
Feet going in, feet coming
Out, who knows who’s next?
Darkness fills the room,
Silence gets restive with none
Home to call for calm.
replacing the second haiku in previous comment please with:
One after the next,
Warm soil swallowing cold skins.
Now who knows who’s next?
Wren’s familiar voice
“Video” or “Figaro”.
It’s his song, your choice
Universe Balloon
Universe is crashing like a deflated balloon
I looked at the stars and galaxies moving in
I hid with my frog in my apartment and he started speaking to me he turned into a prince
Oh gee!
__________
Grass weeps, crystal grief
Teardrops for winter’s passing
Adieu. Spring mourning.
__________
This stone in my shoe
Just proves that ‘The Rock’ is in
everything these days.
__________
When all ‘The Woke’ sleep
Wisdom slips silently from
its priest hole to eat.
__________
Poppies bloom reckless;
Crepe paper skirts thrust aside
Exposing black hearts.
1. She Waits
Clouds blocking the sun
In stillness she waits for song
A hummingbird’s breath
2. Allia
She opened a book
She found worlds behind a word
Nothing else as true
3. Rings True
A sparrow’s wing
A baby’s shallow cry
An angel rings true
the tang of blackberries
picked from low-hanging branches
last rays of the sun
kitchen extension roof
so many neighbourhood cats
padding across us
a different moon
comes to linger over us
the novel also
yellowing petals
falling without wind, the wings
of a honeybee
a slight aroma
of ripening banana…
I’m so middle-aged!
the ragwort plundered—
cinnabar caterpillars
make their getaway
mid day touching, now
your eyes blessing our joining
such soft, soft spring rain
finger tips, your sighs
a slow smile upon moist lips
summer’s quick rivers
dreaming now, after
long deep droughts of lovesweet aire
perfume of the fall
we two, together
desire rekindles love’s fire
winter’s rose hearth-light
talking of springtime
in the harsh teeth of cold’s breath
warms the groundhog’s tales
the tracks of a fox
stop at the hint of a mouse
beneath winter’s snow
peppermint flowers
in the warm mid-summer heat
painting air with scent
the dragon fly skims
across the pond snatching prey
from the cool spring air
Seventeen short words
all of monosyllables
can paint a picture.
Salmon leaping high
fight to do the two main things
lay your eggs and die.
Early morning sun
punches the night’s jaw open
birds scream and escape.
Autumn’s hand brushes
the flags shaking in the wind
prayers fall like leaves.
Last winter the cold
did not dare touch my old bones
You were still around.
1)
scramble past boulders
sparse trees on trace of a path
summit view: verdure
2)
windshield wipers work
crawl along icy snow road
Prime brought xmas gifts!
3)
heron fishing sole
riparian currents swirl
kayakers flush him.
October cold dust
around falling ghostly moon
swiftly changing wind
Orange pumpkin stare
around October darkroom
light up autumn moon
Lullaby of dust
bedtime especially full
moon is deepening.
Kathy, PLEASE PROVIDE YOUR LAST NAME, as directed in contest rules above. There is already a Kathryn (who did give her last name) and I know another Kathy (same spelling as yours) who may enter. We need to be able to give you distinct credit for your poems. Thanks!
Okay
thank you!
October cold dust
around falling ghostly moon
swiftly changing wind
Orange pumpkin stare
around October darkroom
light up autumn moon
lullaby of dust
bedtime especially full
moon is deepening.
Verdant umbrella
The weeping willow dries its
hair in the spring sun
Tall glaciers sweating
A white bear scans left to right
Neither friends nor foes
winter is alive
as old crinkled leaves die off
purple crocus blooms
mice dance to bird chirps
on a wooden seed table
they do pirouettes