2025 Moon Viewing Haiku Contest

Friday, 5 September 2025

First Place

it’s spider season

we say, avoiding the webs

glinting in the moon

Ella Dorband

The star of this poem is the moon, even though it’s almost a secondary discovery after focusing on spider webs. This is the sort of misdirection that a good haiku uses to create subtlety and surprise. Yes, it’s that time of year, when spiders seem more prevalent, perhaps also bigger after a long summer season of growing in our gardens—or in our houses. But despite the spiders, or maybe because of them, thanks to their webs, we can enjoy the moon.

Second Place

shadows of the moon

hide in the foggy corners

of the night garden

Jari Preston

This poem is about light from the moon reaching the garden, whether it’s Seattle’s Japanese Garden or one’s garden at home. The moon is creating shadows where it can, dimmed by fog, and the poet has taken a moment to notice. Because the poet has noticed, those shadows aren’t hiding after all.

Third Place

now a third performance

at the moon festival—

kingfisher’s trill

Jacob Johnson

The kingfisher that flew about the pond on moon-viewing night added an unexpected delight for many garden visitors. We are left to wonder what the first two performances were, surely the moon itself and all of the evening’s musical performances. By withholding this information, the poem deftly leaves these details to our imaginations, thus engaging us in receiving the poem.

Honorable Mentions

(in alphabetical order by last name, or first name/initials if no last name was provided)

autumn moon rises

the damp transports me elsewhere

though my feet remain

Kelsey Boyce

wind rustles the trees

yellow leaves fall

the silent moon

DJ

moon is hiding now

behind fire and smoke and haze

bright glow, we need you

Terry Goetz

smoky evening

wildfire haze

can’t dampen moon joy

Claire Keller-Scholz

rising again

the moon tells

we are alive

Kim Krempien

seen or unseen

the harvest moon hastens

summer’s fade to fall

Bill McGee

smoke obscures

the light of the moon

hearts still swell

Meredith McMahon

calm waters

leaves turning orange

moon in my veins

Leslie Ota

foggy full moon night

are you hiding a secret

tell us, tell us, please

Jari Preston

a long day’s work—

time for a bath

in the full moon’s glow

Alexander Romero

full moon sky

though I look up

the moon is playing peek-a-boo

Michiru Suzuki

Saturday, 6 September 2025

First Place

a falling leaf

hides for a moment

a distant moon

Jameson Inrino (age 14)

This poem offers what may be an unintentional surprise. Is the leaf hiding somewhere? We may wonder that for an instant, but the falling leaf is hiding the moon. Haiku celebrate fleeting moments of perception, and this one is very fleeting indeed. By sharing the leaf and the moon together in a moment of seeming interaction, the poet makes us more deeply aware of both the leaf and the moon, and the changing season of autumn.

Second Place

smoke-filled sky—

a blood-orange moon

watches with a baleful eye

Paul Pietromonaco

Haiku most often don’t rhyme, but this one does, connecting the eye metaphor with the smokey sky. The moon is personified, and on a night when we are eager to see the full moon, it’s easy to project human feelings of balefulness onto the moon when its reddened by wildfire haze.

Third Place

moonless evening

but I sense its smile

atop its cloudy bed

Giffor Jones

It’s natural for us to imagine a moon smiling, shining its benevolent light on all of us, even if clouds have dimmed that light. Even amid clouds, no night is truly moonless after all, and a sensitive observer will feel that light.

Honorable Mentions

(in alphabetical order by last name, or first name if no last name was provided)

moon quiet but at the same time loud

we all have our differences

just like the moon

Anna, age 10

moon beams—

red-gold leaves crunch

beneath bare feet

Melissa Blouin

the couple smiles

red blanket yellow moon

ah . . . first date I think

Beth Daynes

hand in hand we walk

like the moon reflects the sun

I see me in you

Eric and Katya

a placid pond

a koto plucked

aglow in moonlight

Clare Lin

the full moon rises

and shines on my darkness

dispelling my fears

Dan Morrell

the moon lays quiet

in the sky, sharing

all our secrets

Graycen Rendel, age 8½

we changed the world—

now we watch the moon

through a smoky haze

Mike Ruby

red leaves first appearing

the moon watches

its reflection in the pond

Mike and Edith Ruby

bat acrobatics

to music—warm-up act

for the moon

Bob S.

where is the moonlight?

did the owl flying the night

cloak it in wonder?

Rodney B. Smith

moonlight on still pond—

koi glide through rippling silver

maples whisper fall

Nancy Weir