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The Winner and Runner-ups are listed HERE.
WHO
Anyone in the world, of any age or background, may participate (SCP Membership not required). 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.
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 2023. Please submit using your first and last name, as we may find it difficult to distinguish between contestants who have similar first names.
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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 15, 2024, 6 pm EST (New York time). Results to be announced September 29, 2024.
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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.
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 Once entries are posted, they can be revised or withdrawn ONLY by making another Comment.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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It is indeed a delight to write classical haiku in the 5-7-5 syllable format and with Kigo (season word). While the kigo is evident in the first two haiku below, in the third it is ‘acorn’ – which is an autumn kigo.
autumn riverbed
patches of moss holding on
to some of the stones
one more war coffin
the summer a teenager
suddenly grew up
acorn below ground
does it know a sprawling oak
lies within its womb
#1
Jacaranda tree
Lavender blossoming forth
Shower Spring on me!
#2
Piles of stacked flat rocks
Largest anchors the bottom
Brave waves, wind, and rain
#3
A flash of lightning.
In awe of Mother Nature,
I count the seconds…
Thank you for this opportunity!
mother’s braided hair
the exposed roots of an oak
covered in fresh snow
what will be will be
a world within a dewdrop
clinging to a branch
resting on the palm
of a stone Buddha statue
a praying mantis
a deer springs away
from the path of an arrow
a tree later stopped
the first drop of sap
hitting softly the bottom
of an old steel pail
the lonely seabirds
connecting with the mainland
an isle made of fill
Town of sandstone spires –
jacarandas bury my
eroding footprints
I’ve seen that this is the second jacaranda haiku in as many days! 🙂
I love Halli Steinberg’s beautifully vivid poem!
at work at my desk
a spider darns a web
in the window frame
daybreak
a girl skips across the lawn
picking buttercups
raindrops caught
on the branches of the quince
and my umbrella
Drought drives the dirt mad,
Vine’s fruit autumns and wrinkles.
Sad whine is fruitless.
Yellow False Foxglove
Sits at summer’s edge and lies
In Fall’s coming truth.
Fall’s first tree to drop
Its aged leaves halos the ground,
Deeply forgetful.
fireflies in the night
glowing with a golden light
like stars in my sight
everlasting spring –
maidens on a Grecian urn
always dance and sing
middle of winter –
an old friend and I part ways
before a black bridge
Monsoon rain of mine
and his rainfall in sunshine
Life at a crossroads
Two eyes in prison
draw a gritty black rod grid
on a cloudy sky
On a warm night, the
scent of night-blooming jasmine
revives the old grief
tulips awaken
late frost hits the snooze button
nature unfriends them
I sprint to dinner.
warm rain spatters my sweater,
leaving cheetah spots
like unruly vines,
barbed wire wraps the fence top,
piercing sky and dreams
cleats rip the grass,
revealing terrain teeming
with bewildered ants
Please remove my submissions of Sept 1 and replace with these revisions:
Awakening day
comes later, silvery now,
leaving frosted glades.
When the thunder claps,
the birds just continue on
about their business.
Spring’s indigo nights
gleam with minute diamonds,
greater than the sun.
Moon shining down bright
Dark woods bathed in brilliant light
Beauty sees twilight
The rain ceases now
Though the grayness will remain
Colors will not fade
Thank you for considering my haiku for publication.
morning light strikes fish
-ing boat small ripples big SPLASH!
dog jumps overboard
wind gust.. picking up….
even the scarecrow will pay
homage by resting
dog gnaws on a dream
-sicle sunset while right paw
guards large set of twigs
Thank you to the respective judges for considering my haiku’s!
Whispers slash the night,
Grotesque truths drip like fresh blood;
I drown in your lies.
Falsehood consumes me,
Gore paints the walls of my mind-
Truth’s malformed disguise.
Blood paints the silence,
Love’s facade now stained with red-
Tear-stained hearts collide.
1) september flower
no scent but adores roaming
bees and butterflies
2) dancing and singing
a sky lark on the branch of
the cemetery cross
3) deep meditating
a monk on river water
neck drown for the rain
I here by declare these haiku are my own haiku and written after july 2024
-Arunachalashiva Ravisankar
the monsoon raindrops
held on a wild grass cobweb
diamonds on hammock
late summer heat
walking in the pine forest
butterfly fans me
somnambulism
I turn on my new laptop
and shut it down
Haiku 1:
Rough clear ocean waters
Like a soaring ballerina
A whale shows splendor.
Haiku 2:
Close the warmer months
Mayflies rising from ponds, ready
Their fleeting lives mourned.
Haiku 3:
Prestine marks on snow,
A striking red fox fix gaze,
Aiming on its catch.
Haiku 1:
What a misery
My once delicate feathers
Nothing but mere shreds
Haiku 2:
For all of your words
That are cruel and unjust
I’ll still love the same
Haiku 3:
Tears will only flow
Somewhere where I’m all alone
When I let them fall
I declare that these haiku are my own haiku and are written after July of 2024
-Angela Quintanilla
Unmistakable!
Kingfisher’s trusty twitter,
Drought, pond life teeters.
Deep woods mystery,
Puzzling quiet, forecast moot,
Cicadas are mute.
Summer’s snow stings legs.
Wind sifted, sugary sand
Fills fleeing footprints.
restrained, bound, enchained
wings rent and torn – burned to ash
fly; I shall never
this Haiku is titled Severed Wings
“Thymos”
Blood is down your wrist,
Elbow deep within my chest,
Do you twist your arm?
“14,000 ft”
Do you remember
the mountain? You cut
the rope, and I screamed.
I’ve already entered two haiku earlier; this one is my third.
lengthening shadows
fall on the chair in my porch:
an early candle