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Haiku Selection
There was such a vast amount of submissions of haiku this time that I could not have any quiet time during Christmas festivities and the New Year celebrations as the difficult selection job kept me busy 24-7. Two kinds of reward I got though. One is that it alleviated my suffering and trauma of having, at Christmas of all times, my bathroom and kitchen-diner flooded during my absence. The other is that it made me thrilled to greet so many “new faces” to join my old friends in enjoying haiku together in the WHR forum.
Some people are asking what on earth is Shintai haiku, or Vanguard haiku. The classification is just like the titles of a filing cabinet in order to avoid unnecessary polemics about what is and what is not haiku. There are now so many different varieties of haiku that defining haiku seems to me to be almost like fighting a losing and pointless battle. So much so that we had better say that “Haiku is haiku if the author says so.” All the rest is only one real and essential question: Is it then a good poem?
All haiku poems can conveniently be divided into three categories according to how traditional or radical they are. The most traditional end is grouped together under the Neo-classical with stringent kigo or 5-7-5 rules. The most radical (freest) end is classified as the Vanguard. Anything between these two falls into the Shintai (or new-style). The borderline cases can go either category depending on the perception of a haiku poet who creates or reads them. And whichever category they may go, it does not matter.
Neo-Classical Haiku
First Place
year end
thinking of what ifs
and what might have beens
Victor P. Gendrano
Second Place
crickets can't see stars
and stars can't hear crickets
that's why there's us
William Hart
Third Place
heavy snow
each step to your door
a little higher
André Surridge
Seven Honourable Mentions
(In no particular order)
chilly morning
she grabs me back to bed
a little longer
Victor P. Gendrano
the pruned oak
looks like I feel
after a haircut
William Hart
chained dog
chases the bee
with its eyes
Snehith Kumbla
Zatsuei, or Haiku of Merit
another snow
another chance to change
the subject
Melissa Allen
first snow
I no longer have a child
to measure its depth
Melissa Allen
finding my way
at night --
fireworks display
Angelo B. Ancheta
mud cracks –
in random patterns
bull ants scatter
Alexander Ask
frosty breath
I can almost hear
the icicles
Don Baird
the scarecrow watches
north, south, east and west …
all at once!
Don Baird
no more roses
but the scent of jasmine
at my door
Don Baird
working its way across
each spider thread...
winter sun
Alan S. Bridges
sunflower seeds
radiate from the feeder--
hoarfrost
Alan S. Bridges
monsoon floodwaters
everything rushes downstream
except the snake
Belinda Broughton
atop the chair
an inchworm waves
clear sky
Belinda Broughton
crows
in the windrows
whitening grass
Belinda Broughton
summer heat
the ratcheting
of cicadas
Raffael de Gruttola
November rain
under the street lamp
snowflakes
Kai Falkman
Whirls of snow
lift from the ground
ahead of the helicopter
Kai Falkman
drizzle—
the drying-line shelters
a housefly
Nana Fredua-Agyeman
sundown--
following a falling leaf
into darkness
Nana Fredua-Agyeman
birds chirping
amidst the cherry blossoms
christening day
Claire Gardien
in the glaring snow
the brook’s
crystal clear murmur
Claire Gardien
Christmas program
the deaf children sing
in sign language
Victor P. Gendrano
Red Cardinal sits
Like a Christmas ornament
On green tree background
Deborah Green
above the fog
an airplane's steady hum
December chill
Peggy Heinrich
full moon
the new baby
at her breast
Peggy Heinrich
New Year's Eve
only the half moon
for company
Peggy Heinrich
Such a windy night
my mother calls for her shawl
our summer, now gone.
Anne Hills
Faraway branches
scratching the pale winter sky
itching for the spring.
Anne Hills
breach in the canopy
a red-headed woodpecker
peers from a hole
Elizabeth Howard
stepping out
of a snowdrift
minus one shoe
Hans Jongman
moon viewing -
even through bare branches, is
moon viewing
vishnu p kapoor
sparrow tracks
winter’s new
alphabet
john martone
a candy wrapper
joins the leaf pile
autumn dusk
John Stevenson
moonlight
the wind-chime
muffled with frost
André Surridge
long drought season
a boy opens his mouth
for sudden rain
John Zheng
(In no particular order)
slippery snow
we grab at
each other
Snehith Kumbla
in the woods
a christmas wreath
turns brown
Joseph M. Kusmiss
on a winter hike
trailing behind unnoticed -
everyone’s shadow
Priscilla Lignori
a crow stands alone
in a large snow-covered field
staring at his feet
Priscilla Lignori
hush descends --
snow cloud slips from a
pine tree branch
CaroleAnn Lovin
up she pops
same old moon
fat as a melon
Sean MacMathuna
May dawn
sudden snow
will the gossamers hold?
Sean MacMathuna
day moon
faint scent
of snap beans
Thomas Martin
late summer
sliced apples dry
on the barn roof
Thomas Martin
veranda view
the hill blanketed
with blossoms
Gautam Nadkarni
sultry noon
the watermelon juice
in paper cups
Gautam Nadkarni
plucking flowers—
the garden shifts
to my basket
P K Padhy
roof top
the moon drains
to my eyes
P K Padhy
early morning
birds fly with
fogs
P K Padhy
dark shadows
signal the way home
fallow fields
Andy Pomphrey
98th birthday –
she asks for red jelly
not green dessert
Pat Prime
Anzac Day
poppies throw shadows
on the cenotaph
Pat Prime
frosty weather
all summer’s warmth
stored in the hay
Pat Prime
winter evening-
my eyes follow
the birds homewards
Geethanjali Rajan
beneath the winter snow
dreams of spring
sprouting.....
G R Parimala Rao
a crow waits
until I pass the tree
cold morning
Bruce Ross
further in the woods
they become even brighter
winter birch
Bruce Ross
Winter's soft brush
paints a white fairy-tale
just for today
Riitta Rossilahti
winter morning —
air that moves through my breath
moves through the tree
Nirali Shah
dawn --
in the echo of temple bells
rabbits spring
Marie Shimane
In a tea room
overlooking a winter lake
69 tomorrow
Marie Shimane
first snow—
the boys’ footprints
all over the playground
John Zheng
Moon and Jupiter
high in the starry heaven
freeze warning down here
Howard Lee Kilby
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