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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.
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PRIZE
$200
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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 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!
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HOW
Post your entries in the Comments below.
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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 Once entries are posted, they can be revised or withdrawn ONLY by making another Comment.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.
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PAST WINNERS
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A baby gosling
Slowly hatching in the sun
The wind picks up
Poem#1
The hot warm sun shines
Summer is finally here
My body is tan.
Poem#2
The new lambs are still
The foals in the paddock run
The spring breeze is calm.
Poem#3
The frost on the grass
The snow on the cold mountains
The winter sleds slide.
Golden sand
Smell of salty water
Sandy sea shells
Leaves dancing
Green to red orange yellow
One by one on the ground
Snow falls
Every snowflake different to another
Sun shimmering reflecting
1.
Browned maple tumbles
Off seasons branch to concrete
Cradled by a breeze
2.
Skyline kindles
Sea foam slips between waves
Clouds wane for solitude
3.
Pirouette of wind
Snow sheds for forgotten fields
Frost etches the glass panes
Just fixed your hair,
You’d better not get it wet.
At 61, life over looks, splash!
A man swings his axe,
thunder striking fear above,
a branch shaking hands.
I, food for the worms
Worms become food for the birds
Birds, beauty and song
The barred owl cries.
His love does not answer him.
Children found her, dead.
Camilla gets drenched,
and soaks up the fall droplets.
She blooms all winter.
The pink peony
smells like June and my heartbreak.
She can’t stand upright.
(1)
can see the shadows
through the clear water of the lake
hear the stillness speaks
(2)
cherry blossoms
detaching from every stems
a dance of freedom
(3)
autumn sea waves
making silvery foam
fleeting pleasure
They say a mountain
can be erased with one word.
Accept my silence
–
Salt over my eyes
I see horses eat their lunch
silence around them.
–
Bared and wild to all,
the planets have yet to be
born, broken and bleached.
On a quiet night
The wind blows softly
The leaves fall slowly.
after date ,
wish ing
…..to watch
rain kiss
window panes ’til
morning rainbow.
weeping willow bends
shadow on water margin
reading an old book
dewdrops face the sun
tender earth sustains mountains
I breathe in and out
sun rises too soon
fog blankets blooming lotus
cobwebs on your mug
Fire marks fire migrant,
Fighting for the Summer-days?
Fond of hope and rays.
after date,
wish ing
…to watch
rain kiss
window panes’til
morning rainbow.
I am sorry, sad, I typed my haiku in the shape of a rainbow(6 lines) but it has not transferred that way.
Thanks for this poem, Jody. I see what you are trying to do, but the comment area at Society of Classical Poets does not accommodate shaping. However, your haiku with the traditional number of syllables will be taken into account as an entry for the contest.
after date,
wish ing
…to watch
rain kiss
window panes’til
morning rainbow.
birch trees towering
parting in a winding path
I feel I am home
Muralidharan Parthasarathy – email: [email protected]
This rare bold girl child
points her finger – will the wolf
be booked and punished?
——-
Why you are so keen
to unmask me? – A carapace
that shields me from stones
——
AI made it clear
“You unlearn and then use me”
To free from known? How?
greed, war, frenzied dust
deserted desert the land
as heaven doesn’t weep
rain and shine mirror
upside down colorful smile
unbound joyful end
ribbit ribbit splash
song of love interrupted
“don’t litter the pond”
Bidyutprabha Gantayat
Poem1
mountain shadow
fireflie winter carnival
enlighted valley
Poem2
fairies in ganga
paying tribute to the dead
a living for life
Poem3
dead of the night
a Cockroach in search of food
smashed under boot
© Bidyutprabha Gantayat, Bharat
Email: [email protected]
a hadeda ha’s
at the oblong moon, New Year
marks time awkwardly
snowman sports a hat
like yours, memories blizzard
you will not find me
white curtains rustle
over the bay, a blue ship
netting silver cob
where the still shadows
of lifeless birch branches meet
a feather ascends
August august rain
Pitcher pitched on maiden’s head
Profuse (in)fusion
May I delete this version? Resubmitted with updated style …
Tekii Pretty
Sunrise on dry hills,
camel bells hum through the heat,
dust swirls like old songs.
Acacia shadows,
soft lips of camels sipping
from cracked desert wells.
Across red sand plains,
camels follow fading light,
home is where they kneel.
Tekii Pretty
august August rain
pitcher pitched on maiden’s head
profuse (in)fusion