.
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 in the last twelve months and therefore are not a repeat submission from a previous year. Poems written using artificial intelligence (AI) are not allowed. Please submit using your first and last name, as we may find it difficult to distinguish between contestants who have similar first names.
.
PRIZE
$200
.
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.
.
WHEN
Now until August 15, 2025, 6 pm EST (New York time). Results to be announced August 28, 2025. Please check back on August 28 or after to view the “Best Haiku of 2025” selected from this competition. NOTE: THE HAIKU CONTEST HAS ENDED! No more entries, the comments have been closed! Thanks to all who entered!
.
HOW
Post your entries in the Comments below.
.
WHAT
Each competitor may post in the comments below 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 Once entries are posted, they can be revised or withdrawn ONLY by making another Comment.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.
.
PAST WINNERS
.
.
Golden sand
Smell of salty water
Sandy sea shells
Leaves dancing
Green to red orange yellow
One by one falling to the ground
Snow falls
Every snowflake different to another
Sun shimmering reflecting
The first breath of spring
A leaf can still fall away
Not only in fall
geese soar above clouds
flying to a warmer home
where the lilacs sing
————-
early spring morning
the fantail in the bird bath
her sweet song lingers
————-
a grasshopper sings
her newest composition
blossoms twirl in time
1.
Petals falling down,
Death in reverse, life in bloom,
Cycle without end.
2.
Winter freezes thoughts,
Ice words crawl out of my mouth,
Fragile proof of self.
3.
August heat clutching,
Suffocating memories,
Sticky grief clinging.
a cold winters night
smoke rises defiantly
extinguished at dawn
chartreuse grass rustles
August height hides maybe beast
cinnamon bunny
muggy midsummer
murky dusk, mellow meadow
flashing fireflies float
twisted forest stirs
secrets; coldest, darkest depths
grand ghouls glow golden
we open the window
and the wind blowing voices
of children fly in
scrubbing ma’s gravestone
black with soot from L.A’s air
and winter’s regret
when a child dies
it’s something you keep inside
you heart like a bomb
apple crisp morning
smatterings of orange, red, browns
falling quietly
early morning chill
shimmering icy waters
reminiscent blues
peonies blossom
delicate fragrant pedals
sweet heaven on earth
From dark spring slumber
Awake, sobbing – not knowing
Bulbs burst underground
——————–
Winter, sun – sets free
Deep, dazzling drifts of jewels
Wealth of common men
———————
Summer sky’s mirror
Blinding – shining stretch of mud
Tale of the glacier
Fallen leaves whisper
not an end, but painted breath
waiting for the spring.
Steam curls from my cup
words rise like birds in cold light,
morning warms their flight.
Footsteps fall in sync
two hearts pacing time and road,
parting, still they run.
Fleeting; haunting is
the silence stained in crimson
autumn’s moonlight weeps
The shadows lengthen
leaves succumb to gravity
crisp air on my skin
Blossoms dangle down.
Warm breeze makes them dance and sway.
Now comes yellow bee!
Sparkling snowflakes
Suddenly turn into rain.
Raindrops sparkle too!
Leaf drifts slowly down.
Butterfly, shadows entwine!
Now, which one is which?
Nathaniel Sexton
Title : To Nineveh
“Go to Nineveh.”
“From Sheol you heard, my Lord.”
“God bless Nineveh.”
Falls a drop unknown,
On the silent sands of earth.
quenching the soul’s thirst.
Oh look a brown duck!
Oh look a guy with a gun!
Oh look a dead duck!
So many places
You can go that I cannot
Flying with your wings
The gardens are teeming
With life: apples, peaches, pears
The hope that spring brings
Entry 1:
rain collects on leaves;
a melancholic Monday–
to stay or to leave.
Entry 2:
when birds soar a sky
while dark clouds come anon,
am i still to blame?
Entry 3:
green to gold to bare,
seasons tap the glass at me—
my tea is still warm
I’d just like to highlight the japanese words I subtly used for my first and second entry:
ame – rain
mondai – problem
sora – sky
anun – dark clouds
A ghost once told me
Things that go bump in the night
Are clumsy phantoms
Black and green teabags
Disrobe and seek your repose
In ancient caddies
Lemons’ true yellow.
A bee crawls across the shade
of the sunniness.
Cloudy all day long,
Raindrops to count on two hands:
Cool air in summer.
July rain washes,
douses me under the skin–
Grandest communing!
Amber, thank you for your contest entries! Please indicate also your last name–as requested in the paragraph above marked IMPORTANT. You may place it right here in reply to me, thanks!
sweet as sheer honey
buzzing sunny yellow bee
i see you in me
—
early morning rays
pigeons bathing in puddles
in hopes to belong
—
the sky is heavy
snowfall blankets the city
misery drowns me
all-encompassing
shades of sky greet me, and you
yet we’re much more blue
cherry blossom craves
crisp autumn leaves—echoes how
moonbeams miss the sun
Somewhere, violets bloom
Sapphic love singing for Spring
Under purple stars
a bee finds my sleeve —
I do not move or flinch.
some things just want warmth.
cicadas screaming —
your name in my mouth again,
but no one hears it.
cherry blossoms drop
into my open coffee.
grief can be gentle.
Humble postage stamp
carries weighty news afar,
graces my album.
ROOTED ASCENSION
I shall float once more.
My roots break through the Earth’s core.
Skies chant “Welcome home.”
REBORN
Won’t stay in and mourn.
Won’t be somebody’s failed hope.
Reborn: off your world.
SPIDERS IN MY ROOM
Spiders in my room –
Caught in a silky, sticky gloom.
Waiting for my doom.
Searching the mirror…
whose eyes stare back, unknown yet known?
Roots lost in the wind.
Papers, not stories.
A name given, not inherited.
Silence fills the gaps.
Two homes, neither whole.
A heart split by love and longing
ghost of a first cry.
Two lovers first meet
under a frail mistletoe
with a parting kiss