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 line must have five syllables, the second seven syllables, and the third five syllables. Seventeen syllables total (5-7-5).
2. Contain a nature or seasonal reference: the crumbling leaves, the cold air, the smell of manure, the taste of fresh black berries, the cicadas’ buzzing.
3. Be in the present tense (swims rather than swam).
4. Be subtle and observational.
5. Contain some sort of twist in the third line: a shift in perspective or mood, a surprise, a new interpretation of the first or second line.
Read more about writing a haiku here.
When: Now until Saturday August 8, 2020 midnight EST. Winners Announced August 15, 2020.
Who: Anyone in the world, any age or background, may participate. From within the Society, anyone, including Advisory Board Members, not involved in judging the contest may participate. (If you are outside the United States, you will have to have a PayPal account or a bank that accepts U.S. checks to receive the prize money if you win.)
What: Each entrant may submit up to three haiku. Any topic. Must conform to traditional haiku rules above.
Where: Post your haiku in the comments section below.
Prize: $100.
Judge: Mike Bryant
Entry Fee: None
1.
A flower dances,
It even resists the wind,
Until I pick it
2.
A mighty shark swims,
A group of fish are swallowed,
The fisherman claps
3.
Flies buzz aimlessly,
The frog’s tongue comes back empty,
It tries one more time
Thunder-bellied clouds
Move slow over heathered hills,
Pregnant with June’s rain
Cruel storms shake the ash
Mother Dove returns, finds her
Fallen nest, destroyed
February thaws
Blooms pierce frost, resurrected—
The mountains breathe again
1. BLACK LIVES MATTER
In sweltering heat,
No justice No peace for the
Black bodies that bleed.
2. At the Corner Where Politics and Xenophobia Meet
Outside, flowers bloom.
Inside, they waste in dark room
Caged then shipped to D O O M.
3. Privilege–We All Have It
See how birds have wings?
How insects blend with most things?
It’s their privilege.
Soft blanketing fog
Rising outside my window
Then sunlight, a crash.
Crow’s Feet
delicate valleys
carved by the waves of laughter
monuments of time
SUMMER
hey, do you hear that?
the thrum of life is louder
no – just cicadas