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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 Once entries are posted, they can be revised or withdrawn ONLY by making another Comment.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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The steep cost of life
Even while the world burns down
The birds sing in spring
God makes no mistakes
A spring bird with a clipped wing
Plans hidden in song
She opens her eyes
To forests once out of sight
Gentleness of life
First green leaves unfold—
eyes awaken to the wood,
soft hum of spring rain.
Beneath plum blossoms—
a swallow, one wing broken,
hides dreams in its song.
Ash falls like petals—
while wildfire scorches the earth,
the nightingale sings.
Spring light in her hands,
yet she saw only the dusk—
gold in a pine box.
Ash falls like petals—
while wildfire scorches the earth,
the nightingale sings.
Beneath plum blossoms—
a swallow, one wing broken,
hides dreams in its song.
Hello poets. If I may? My name is Eric.
I have been reading and silently critiquing haiku by some aspiring poets on this site, and while I enjoy their imagination and various ways of expressing their surroundings in the most difficult task of fitting it all into three lines and seventeen syllables, I have noticed that a dependence on definite articles (mainly “the”) to deliver the cutaway line often breaks from the poem’s rhythm and loses its intended effect. Please keep trying to deliver those lines differently without the definite article, and sometimes a splicing comma that also tends to break from a poem’s rhythm. I hope this helps. You may respond if you have questions, and I will answer.
Capital letter or lower case to begin?
Hi Roy
Most often haiku start each line with a lower case letter
Peter
I am so sorry:
I don’t write haikus, ever;
Please stop all this, now!
Though you have zero chance of winning, James, this is a very funny anti-haiku.
Damn, ABB!!! I’d set my sights on winning this one: is it really so bad? I’ll have to stick to terza rima then!
Softly falling snow
Makes my back lawn disappear.
Abracadabra!
Wintry wisps of fog
Skim the surface of the lake
Lifetimes passing by
End of life draws near.
Winter sunset, final breath.
Will there be a spring?
a small kettle pond
left behind by the glacier
blinking in the dawn
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a raft of otters
tied together in the kelp
we watch holding hands
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the lone erratic
so much softer than bedrock
a cloud on the ridge
Mercury below
Zero, chimney smoke stripes sky
Heeling sundogs flare.
Near my feet hoppers
Spring out of the grass buzzing
Like a rattlesnake.
Red-capped cranes stroll
Trilling each other like two
Baritone crickets.
Thank you, David. These three stand as your entries for the contest, and I believe the moderator has removed the others.
in dawn’s early light
our boat makes it into shore
now swept out again
astro poetry
a haiku fit between words
the world opens wide
25 years
in this garden together
bright orange poppies
cold water rises
tree roots grasp at sifting soil
the bank collapses
ripening peaches
partially covered by leaves
basking in sunshine
a pretty spring dress
essential equipment for
twirling in the rain
cold water rises
tree roots grasp at shifting soil
the bank collapses
sheets off the clothesline . . .
carrying the scented breeze
inside for a nap
autumn solitude
a dark-roasted chicken rests
in the dutch oven
calling us all home
a flock of birds moves as one
deepening autumn
Frozen winter light
Sparkling like diamond gems
Priceless until spring
A ghastly gale slams
Against a crumbled castle…
Still no surrender.
Sifting ashen soils,
Between the black, wild-fired wood,
Grows a wry green wisp.
Fallen from its grace,
Blossom gathers in the drains—
Flooding closes roads.
midnight sale review:
monkeys take over our zoo
drinking from the loo
cuckoos build haiku
wire – duck tape – crazy glue
jimmy sing da blues
lawsuit – windfall – sue
yellow snow has soaked his shoes
booger in the stew
‘Are you lost?’ He asks
‘No,’ head shakes, moves through the mist
She is very lost
Golden leaf drifts down
I could catch it but instead
Let it fall and rot
Moth caught in a web
I could save it but tread on
To the flower field
only phlox and me –
suddenly an honeybee
buzzes between us
an old Texan died
of hemorrhagic fever –
last October moon
long live the shower!
the koi fish on my left calf
with its open mouth
wind through a cornfield
a sighing across the land
a scarecrow dances
a raging storm of leaves
on a windy afternoon-
an endless cycle
a flowered chalice
offering this spring morning –
a golden tulip
Humid night swelters.
Distant lightning flashes white.
No sound of thunder.
Darkness of storm clouds;
A gust shakes blooming pear trees.
White petals rain down.
Snow blankets the path,
Silent beneath clear starlight.
Crunch! I leave footprints.
My darling Sunny.
Sunshine that warms up my world.
Oh, I love you so.
My baby so sweet.
My sun, so tender, so warm.
So much love to give.
Gentle summer breeze.
Birds sing and vibrant blooms sway.
With each breath you take.
Color mandalas
Rest for your weary being
Enjoy life again
Nature everywhere
In the heart of the colors
Purity unleashed
Mandala is the
Geometric universe
A Buddhist symbol
morning dewdrops dry
as sun sizzles…petals
glisten with my sweat
asphalt on my street
melts in afternoon strong heat
sticks to tires, shoes, feet
water trickles from
our hose after watering
robin stops to drink
sun dog fills the sky
our pet’s let outside to play
with his own shadow
Creeping Bellflower
the slow spread of decaying
yellow aspen leaves
slung like a hammock
the heavy farmyard’s clothesline
kisses the hard ground
on the gloomy night
the moon is hiding its light
crickets sing with pride
a lonesome sparrow
severe rain ruptures her nest
quivering with fear
on the way back home
smells rotten egg in the train
man raises his hand
Through the window, birds
Red apple skins shrivelled old
Unpicked tree, birds eat
heat wobbles off roof
two girls bounce up red balloon
rising rising pop