.
Our 2023 Haiku Competition is on now HERE.
WHO
Anyone in the world, of any age or background, may participate. 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 resident in the United States, must have a PayPal account or a bank that accepts US checks, in order to receive prize money.
.
PRIZE
$100
.
JUDGE
.
WHEN
Now until August 15, 2022. Results to be announced August 30, 2022.
.
WHERE
Post your entries in the Comments below.
.
WHAT
Each competitor may submit 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. They should be new poems, written since the closing of the 2021 haiku competition. Although this competition is held in summer, haiku dealing with any season are acceptable.
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 Once entries are posted, they can be revised or withdrawn ONLY by making another Comment.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who submits more than three entries will have ALL his or her entries disqualified, unless excess entries are clearly withdrawn by a later Comment.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
.
.
When you stare into
the abyss, what do you see?
Now look more closely.
All that is alive
will be dead, a fact of life.
None is immortal.
My heart is burning
to ash, to be flown by the
wind to the ocean.
I sing to the sun
Summer breeze bends my body—
Am I scarecrow or flower?
1
“the thrill of de-feet
Doctor Scholl is hero mine
to walk without ouch!”
2
“good intentions train
derailed by as-soon-as
tomorrow new start”
3
“haiku you demand
I might need to hai your ku
syllables scare me!”
a hot summer night
only a slice of the moon
for my refreshment
the sun almost down
only goldenrod flowers
between you and me
loud shots in the fall
the stork flies over Ukraine
on a different route
Chin-up chirps eat, hot
wind is like worms; down the warmth
mother couldn’t feed.
Leaves fall on rooftops—
tap-dance’s eat sounds; hear death
hush silence too loud.
Bats hang from dead pines—
wood mirrors the sun until
eyes replace candles.
Life has no meaning
We are born, we live, we die
We are forgotten
The smell of fresh grass
Mass murder, beheading blades
Drown the screams with “beauty”
Knock, the door opens
Ask, you surely will receive
Faith is all you need
Chai-ku
The Hebrew word chai:
multiples for charity
changing the decree
Hanukiah Haiku
Eight same-height candles
lit by one that’s out of line:
Inequality?
Passover Hangover
when the fourth cup
made Bubbe fail
the matzobriety test
Words strike like bullets
Springtime flower, your dreams fly
But your body fails
On Resting:
There are butterflies,
sipping sugar water drops,
in spring’s balmy breeze.
1.
even the gull knows
flying against the wind is
not how to get home
2.
puppy is planting
bones in the autumn garden
weary worms rejoice
Texas Home
Cool evening lone star
Shivers in an endless sky
Guiding the way home
footprints in the snow
fresh ink on winter’s canvas
shows me where to go
Sunshine and dew mixed
with the honey of a love—
tastes sweet like your skin.
Beaut in brevity,
like the soft words breathed while I
lay in your warm arms.
Secret moon so shy
Gentle crescent soft shimmer
Caress sleeping grass
Aloha
Tropical island
Frangipani enticed scent
Love whispers in breeze
ravenous red flames
devour ancient forests—
a doe calls her fawns
~~~
the sun’s golden sword
frees spring from winter’s stronghold—
shy blossoms emerge
~~~
birds twitter bees hum
blackbirds robins wrens chorus
—a springtime orchestra
Forbidden Kisses
As hot tears fall from the sky
Your father drives by
The crisp chills now wane
Fresh blooms, outside and within
Transform: into you
Heavy monsoon rains
meet the asphalt laid with hopes
with the steam, they rise
Cumulous clouds part
as golden nectar cascades
down their luscious curves
Dead Alcoves
In the freshly charred snow,
A twisted dove flapped about,
Waiting for spring love.
Dead Flowers
Lips shrink from stem’s bone,
Drop themselves through dirt and stone,
Hopeful to rise again.
Dead Poets
For this woven word,
they leave these pages unbidden
unwritten, smoked stars.
My desires are mocked
I’m Sisyphus without crime
Here I’ll climb this rock
Burnt from my limbo
I paid my dues in torment
Shadowed from the plan
I’ve had stagnant say
Pay me in life’s full beauty
Young but deserving