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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 Once entries are posted, they can be revised or withdrawn ONLY by making another Comment.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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Snowstorms ravaging
along the west cars sheltered
in snow unmoving
Hurt, Abandoned Fawn
(Haiku)
Hurt, abandoned fawn,
Searching the frozen white wood…
Does not find the dawn.
-Sinclair-
cherry blossom buds
are slowly opening up
a new found buddy
***
sipping orange juice
the tangerine sun slips down
the sea horizon
Hello Judges,
Making a small change in my first haiku. Forgot to put a hyphen in the word “new-found”.
cherry blossom buds
are slowly opening up
a new-found buddy
***
sipping orange juice
the tangerine sun slips down
the sea horizon
bare branches waving
twisting to heavens above
– a lightening bolt strikes
nestling amongst reeds
ducklings finding a way through
the shadows grow tall
some loquat flowers…
steeped in boiling water
exuding fragrance
Embrace the dreamer
Coming back through memory
Bridges of belonging.
Beauty in green light
Calm flows like wind in silence
Wonders drift through stars.
In a perfect city
Twilight dances on still hope
Breathing for a chance.
dusk meditation—
where the light meets the shadow
a pine needle falls
open chrysalis
the butterfly emerges
into present tense
through the bars of grief
uncontained by tomorrow
the laughter of children
beneath the rubble
voices of the not yet dead
already memories
the waiting willow
aglow with guilty secrets
cradles the spent sun
Birds dart like arrows
Shot from tree to tree to tree
Bullets of bird fire
Stop Mum wait keep right
Newborn snail travelling north
My daughters keen eye
Venus rises bright
Curving into the dawn sky
Seen from a pillow
avocado tree
wide and low, heavy with fruit
invites small climbers
red rose petals fall
do I mourn lost youth or love
these child-bearing hips
cloudless night eclipse
stars appear and fade away
hiding in plain sight
an autumn evening
wild geese in the melon sky
my only anthem
though now past midnight
voices of the mountain wind
acorns falling down
through the open door
the beginning of autumn
in the sweet gum tree
tiny seeds set low
in soil furrows full of hope
wait for water’s flow
hands of cherries ripe
dripping balls of red delight
picking time is here
full moon slips below
no curtain call to applaud
just the hand of God
Cut-eared yard cat
Claims poolside swap shop
chaise lounge
Grooms itself regal
Night Heron perches
Watching over GhostTown’s streets
The summer fog lifts
Thanks for your haiku, Michaelyn. Please provide your full surname as the competition instructions request.
The birds sharp whispers
Lift you from your nights journey
Bring you back to me
What could this mountain
Clear, green, and cast in dawn’s light
Have in store this day
Pebbles smoothed by time
live, moving on down. Clatter
as songs in the creeks.
Kahren Morris-Denby
mud squelches through toes
houses swirl through rising flood
tears flow forever
cumulus clouds float
across snowy mountain tops
immortality
raindrop on a wing
sunlight glimmers on puddles
sparrow ablution
life in perspectives
the golden hour flashing
in a mayfly’s eyes
still turning toward
the light beyond the darkness
sunflowers in bloom
the end of summer
a leaf moves through hopscotch squares
at the wind’s nudging
starry night silence –
in this cosmic indulgence
just a cricket’s song
after summer rain
my kiddy explores the sky
from every puddle
lotus flourishes –
the remainder of the day
becomes thinkable
the gentile hostess
prepares tea ceremony
weary travelers
a flock of swallows
emerges from drifting cloud
a happy omen
village revelers
celebrate in spring sunshine
talk of a wedding
The sound of a frog
Jumping into an old pond:
The haiku is born.
The lawn mowers and
The leaf blowers fall silent:
The birds sing again.
Bright clouds at night float
Behind the ash tree: a kiss:
And the dreamer wakes.
Father watches me
The old man watches me close
Sees who I will be
I will be him now
His time is done mine begins
He thinks I will fail
But I prove him wrong
He smiles and nods at me
The family is safe
1. Garden Party
sun stretches itself
over our grand carnival
On withering grass
2. Summer Pests
citronella cream
mosquitoes multiplying…
voracious vampires
3. Idols of Summer
lips crumpling in heat
summer wind scorching sundress
who will seek for rain?
When all creatures die
Those of feather, scale, and fur,
We’ll eat each other
About Losing My Dearest Aunt
A chaotic storm
Rumbling in the distance
Echoing our grief
A funeral shroud
Gathering dewy flowers
Panicked breathing—grief
Moonlit grief scrolling
Digital images dance
Flowering remembrance
Outside my window
the night air carries music,
and I sing along.
What we can not see
does not mean it isn’t real
faith has its own breath.
Have you ever felt—
that ocean of emptiness
surrounding your shores?
Lynn Carole Brown
sliver of silver
a rill that snakes through the drift
I pluck the grey hair