Haiku

Deep Water   I. Kōan I ponder by the ancient pool. A frog jumps in. I hear a splash. The sun is hot. The moon is cool. What could it mean: this vernal jewel--- This scintillating Bashō-flash? I ponder by the ancient pool. My school of thought is back at...

. Coming Attractions (1994) Black is white, white is black, two and two is three. Put your common sense away, all you need is me. I’m the soothing voice, the calming face on your TV. Let me settle all your fears, all you need is me. I’ll raise you up...

. The Best Haiku of 2025 The Winner and Runners-Up of the Society of Classical Poets 2025 Haiku Competition Judged by J. Thomas Rimer and Margaret Coats (see their remarks below) See all entries here . COMPETITION WINNER Pine shadow stretchesA spine on the grassy fieldUnobtrusively —Rifka Kaplan-Peck . .s HIGH DISTINCTION . aloha print...

. Radio New Zealand's Culture 101 sat down with SCP Editor Evan Mantyk to talk about the SCP's Haiku Competition, the SCP, and the history of the haiku. Listen here: https://www.rnz.co.nz/national/programmes/culture-101/audio/2018994399/the-art-and-history-of-the-haiku . Original Haiku Featured in the Interview: . The cold lake shimmers Softly lapping on the shore Fifty years...

. 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...

. Underfoot Fescue and clover: A luxuriant carpet Fit for a king’s feet. . . Murder They take noisy flight, Leaving the harvest’s stubble To hungry field mice. The crows will not make a sound When they return for the mice. . . Hunger _Silent and stately, The prince of...

. Riverside Park—Labor Day An ambling river. Just a wheeze of gentle breeze. My soul aquiver. . . Desert Only sand and dread. Sunset looms in bloody red. Buzzards overhead. . . Chatter Throngs of chirping birds Flit above the lowing herds. Who discerns the words? . . Benjamin Cannicott...

. The Best Haiku of 2024 The Winner and Runners-Up of the Society of Classical Poets 2024 Haiku Competition Judged by J. Thomas Rimer and Margaret Coats (see their remarks below) See all entries here . COMPETITION WINNER . middle of winter— an old friend and I part ways before...

. 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...

. Epic poet and poetry video maker Andrew Benson Brown created a bit of excitement with his invented sonnet-haiku or haiku-sonnet published earlier this month---what poet Michael Pietrack has coined as "the sonku." It turns out that, unbeknownst to Benson Brown, this form was already invented by David Marshall over...

. The Fall of Time A Haiku Sonnet . Thinning coat of frost Whitening the ground with grief— Love forever lost Wrinkles on the leaf Yellowing a lawn undone— Beauty all too brief Spots upon the sun Reddening a field gone dry— Present on the run Cracks along the sky...

. Trump in Asia the carp glows in dark waters, remembering the time that Trump fed him . . White House Advent Melania walks in her orchard of glass fruits her Christmas forest . . Monika Cooper is an American family woman.

. The 23 Best Haiku of 2023 Winner and Runners-up of the Society of Classical Poets 2023 Haiku Competition Judged by J. Thomas Rimer and Margaret Coats (see their remarks below) See all entrants here. . COMPETITION WINNER . . . Swallow, an arrow bursts across the burnished blue I cannot...

. 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...

. Incensed For days, drawn draperies of fire, pinned close by dry pines, needled us with smells of smoke so thick it stung our eyes and burned our nose and made us run to see if flames arose from lightning flashes on the street-lined oak. Undoused by rain, unsoaked by...

. Commodore Perry Opens Japan On July 8, 1853, on the orders of President Millard Fillmore, Commodore Matthew Perry led four American ships into the harbor at Tokyo Bay, seeking to pierce Japan’s isolation from the western world and establish regular trade and discourse for the first time in over...

. Human Poetry Versus ChatGPT's AI Poetry Can you tell the difference between artificial intelligence poetry and human poetry? by Evan Mantyk and Mike Bryant Artificial intelligence, most notably ChatGPT, is gaining a lot of attention for creating works of writing that seem effective and even human-like to a scary...

. Senryu on Free Thought . I. As storied Kipling Is stricken from pupils’ tales I feel his burden . II. Arise Dame Roseanne From the inquisitor’s stake Comedy’s phoenix . III. Young Harry Potter Burnt by Mountain Dew addicts Still safe on my shelves . Editor's Note: See the difference between...

. The Little Knight The kitchen door slams open wide; The boy flies through to play outside. His house becomes his castle’s walls; The distant car horns, clarion calls. A stick becomes a mighty sword; The bushes, an invading horde. He charges with his battle cry, Defending home, sword brandished...

. The 22 Best Haiku of 2022 Winner and Runners-up of the Society of Classical Poets 2022 Haiku Competition Judged by Margaret Coats (see her remarks below) See all entrants here. . COMPETITION WINNER . a cicada’s husk grandfather in his best suit hands folded, eyes closed —Ngo Binh Anh Khoa . ....

. 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...

. How to Write Haiku What Makes a Good Haiku? by Margaret Coats The required 5-7-5 syllable form alone does not make a haiku. A good haiku ⦁ presents an observation of nature, or of human activities in nature ⦁ uses present tense (“goes” or “going,” not “went” or “has...

. Classical Camouflaged __It begins, like all prose poems today, with a bit of narrated diary, as though it were a tale by Hemmingway, but more self-conscious and less flowery. __It then proceeds to rub the reader’s nose in an unrelated past happenstance where the tortured soul of the poet...

. Haiku Across western skies, a long, dark array of clouds: the storm approaches. . . Parnassus O, God, he saw the awesome summit rising up ahead, surprising in its beauty, fearsome in its dire dread. It rose up higher than surrounding forms—that rounded mount— above the town, there at...

. Haiku How long will it last? Butterflies are in decline. Monarch flutters past. . . Nevermore (and Somewhat Less) Beside a little country church, The ravens on the gravestones perch To do, not what you might expect, But are restrained and show respect. All dressed in black, a sober...

Winner and Runners-up of the Society of Classical Poets 2021 Haiku Competition Judged by Margaret Coats (see her remarks below) See all entrants here. . WINNER . Fog enshrouds the nightWoven in the heavy mistA thread of fireflies ---Joe Tessitore . . RUNNERS-UP in seasonal order . Spring in the hedgerowsMagpies...

. Hagi at My Study Window hagi or bush clover, a symbol of poetry, blooms as summer turns to autumn. Paper shapes the future’s surface, Paperweights the present state. Inkstones hold a scholar’s treasure: Ink, the past in pine-soot sticks. Water droppers moisten motion Brushes pensively perform, Taken from a...

. Winners announced here. Write a haiku and post it in the comments section below. The haiku must adhere to the traditional parameters of a haiku to qualify and may be deleted if it does not. See traditional haiku requirements here. Note that a haiku is like a a painting of...

. O Say Can It Be? "How long you been suckin’ up oxygen, friend? For seventy years? Well now that’s gonna end! And moochin’ off Social Security too? The Great People’s Zoo is the next stop for you! You’ll be in their keep, but not for very long, Till they...

. Limerick I have lived my whole life about me And at last I can finally see That my choice only smothers, Life is all about others And the truth really does set you free. . . Senryu I was born to dance. Alas, I sat on my ass When given...

. Haiku A grounded sparrow Wings hurt, head raised to the sky "Is this how I die?" . . A Snowflake From sky’s descent and earthward bound, __A snowflake, small and bright; It’s slow and steady, floating down, Until he lands without a sound, __And shrouds the dirt with white....

. The Plague They muzzle their breath, Sealed in rooms as if in tombs, Scared to death of death. . . A Tale from the City They’ve worn my patience very thin So I wear my mask upon my chin “Nose exposed!”, a stranger’s cry! “Brains in chains!”, my swift...

. . Who Knew How often I crushed autumn leaves Until I saw a robin drink From one that cupped the fallen rain, And many times too, I did break Icicles dripping from a roof. How often in the spring I plucked A bud before it opened full, Afore the...

. Governor Mussolini Fifteen thousand souls,Killed by the stroke of his pen,For whom no bell tolls. . . Covid Chronicles I saw a naked face today---It nearly took my breath away!I knew the girl and so I asked “How is it, Dear, that you’re unmasked?”. “I’m on the phone, as...

. Blackwater River State Park A warm summer day. The kayak floats quietly. The cicadas sing. . . Nightfall at Pensacola Beach The sun has now set And not a light can be seen. What just made that splash? . . The Forts of Pensacola Bay The guns are silent....

  July 4, 2020 A monument falls Rioters have no remorse What happened this fourth?     Summer 2020 Sunny days are here! The beach is ideal and near. It’s Fall already?     Day Dreaming A warm summer day That should be spent at the bay. Not at work...

Winner and Runners-up of The Society of Classical Poets 2020 Haiku Competition Judged by Mike Bryant and Susan Jarvis Bryant See all entrants here.   Thunder-bellied clouds Move slow over heathered hills, Pregnant with June’s rain ---Savannah Leahy, Competition Winner   Sixteen Runners Up   With soft clicks and clucks,...

The winning haiku can be found here Write a haiku on any topic and post it in the comments section below. The haiku must adhere to the traditional parameters of a haiku to qualify (and may be deleted if it does not). It must... 1. Be three lines. The first...

  My Coat---a Haiku God pays no heed to disguises He can see through--- I've worn myself out.   The Old Poet's Tree I'm bent with age and the cold, empty page has a lesson it can teach: the fruit I see on the Old Poet's Tree is now well...

(All poetry by Bruce Dale Wise) Haiku by W. "Cured Eel" Sabi I came to the sea. I saw mountains of water. I conquered nothing. *** The fisherman drops his line with bated breath down to a certain depth. W. "Cured Eel" Sabi is a poet of Japan and the...