Embedded Files
WHR March 2019
THE R. H. Blyth Award 2019 (Haiku)
Susumu Takiguchi announcing the Award at the World Haiku Utsav
The Award winner was first announced on 3 February 2019 at TRIVENI World Haiku Utsav 2019, Savitribai Phule Pune University, Pune, India, 1-3 February 2019. Here, in the March 2019 issue of the WHR we wish to show the rest of the result, together with the text of the winner’s announcement. The way the selected haiku poems are shown partly follows the usual practice of the WHR but it is also partly dictated by the selection procedure of the Award.
* * * * *
The World Haiku Club is pleased to announce
that the winner of The R. H. Blyth Award 2019 (Haiku),
who will recieve GBP 300 minus money transfer fees,
is as follows:
THE R. H. Blyth Award 2019 (Haiku) Winner
fallen leaves
the lost time
of another life
Eufemia Griffo,
Italy
TRIVENI World Haiku Utsav 2019, Savitribai Phule Pune University,
Pune, India, 1-3 February 2019
COMMENTS by Susumu Takiguchi
Many of the good entries for this year’s R. H. Blyth Award (Haiku) have demonstrated rather dark and anxious themes. It may perhaps be a reflection of the dark and anxious time we live in today. However, at any time in our history we have always had wars, illnesses, old age problems, massacres and existentialist anxieties. If we could ask people long dead in the medieval time or in the 19th century or whenever it was, they could have answered, “Well, to be honest our situation is much worse than yours. You are absolutely lucky.”
And it is a good thing that more than a handful of haiku poets are honest and brave enough to deal with these difficult subjects. This is one of the conspicuous characteristics of the R. H. Blyth Award this year. We had an enormous number of submissions from across the world and the selection job proved to be three times or four times as big as usual.
Some of them even enquire, deep inside us, into our inability to cope with these formidable challenges. Their haiku are therefore about our perplexity, self-doubt, resignation, loss of identity, direction or hope, disillusionment and despair. The Award-winning haiku has come out as the finest example of honest haiku by those facing up to this human frailty.
In only eight plain words, it reaches a universal truth, depicts an inconvenient fact with detachment and creates a resigned observation of the seemingly unending cycle of life and death and the human predicament of being at the mercy of it.
The layers of fallen leaves hide many realities as they decay and die. They may be completely ignored or forgotten until, that is, next time leaves fall again. Our lives follow the same natural pattern. And death hides all the vicissitudes of each of our lives. Its long, long story now looks but a momentary memory of our time lost. We are all therefore condemned to repeat the same search in perpetuity as in À la recherche du temps perdu.
The author is an Italian writer, poet, teacher and haijin, living in Milano.
THE R. H. Blyth Award 2019 (Haiku)
TWO RUNNERS UP
the nursing home
she greets the stranger
she gave birth to
Mary Alves Sella
United States
(About this haiku, see the Editor’s Choice of the present issue)
fading contrails
a line of refugees
turned back from the border
Jay Friedenberg
United States
A brief comment by Susumu Takiguchi: A powerful haiku on an inconvenient truth which has become horrendously common across the world. And how timely and topical it is! The embodiment of haiku capable of dealing with serious questions of our contemporary time. And yet, apart from the contrails, it has also been the same old problem for us humans from the time immemorial. Thus, it is a universal truth in time and space. Let us therefore not call it the Mexican border, or Syria. It is a human and universal tragedy. The images of L1 and L2 present an exemplary toriawase of exquisite nuances and subtleties, rarely seen among shallow and meaningless juxtapositions around.
SEVEN HONORABLE MENTIONS
(In no particular order)
first frost
a drop of whisky
in father’s tea
Rachel Sutcliffe
England
a row of backbones
facing a row of clouds —
rice planting song
Indra Neil Mekala
India
the dervish’s dance…
spring wind swirls
in each whirl
Ali Znaidi
Tunisia
storm shadows
souls of the pogrom
forgotten by humankind
Marilyn Humbert
Australia
the emptiness
after my hysterectomy
pumpkin carving
Christina Sng
Singapore
river eddy ...
what is it
that I've lost
Sanjuktaa Asopa
India
distant starlight
the way we cling
to illusion
Jay Friedenberg
United States
THE REST OF THE SHORT-LISTED HAIKU
(In no particular order)
As there were so many good haiku in the short list from which the best ten were selected, it has been decided that the rest should also be shown.
abandoned station
a fragrance of thyme at every step
to nowhere
Annie Chassing
France
without leaves
the ginkgo even thinner
her chemo treatment
Gregory Longenecker
USA
bedtime story...
she asks me to be louder
for the stars
Akila Gopalakrishnan
India
care home
she deadheads
spent roses
Ernest Wit
Poland
the potter
shaping
the sense of things
Mary Stevens
USA
losing my way. . .
raindrops find the part
in my hair
Carole MacRury
USA
flying kites...
untangling the knots
of my mind
Lakshmi Iyer
India
our unsaid goodbyes
cormorant picks over
what the tide left
Hélène Duc
France
heat wave –
melting asphalt
reshaping a shoe print
Adjei Agyei-Baah
Ghana/New Zealand
too early
for cherry blossoms
this tiny white coffin
Maxianne Berger
Canada
snowflakes...
how soft the sound
of falling night
Gautam Nadkarni,
India
funeral’s end
with each step measuring
the depth of silence
Hélène Duc
France
war memories -
father's arthritic hands
collect the olives
Goran Gatalica
Croatia
winter chill...
on the zip of
the sleeping bag
K. Ramesh
India
mountainside—
the rugged ride
of eagle's shadow
Adjei Agyei-Baah
Ghana/New Zealand
only heavy rain
drumming the skylight
Armistice Day
Maxianne Berger
Canada
cut branches
the body remembers
all its past trauma
Christina Sng
Singapore
palmistry...
on the curve of my life line
so many deadlines
Zinovy Vayman
ZATSUEI, haiku of merit
(In no particular order)
egg moon
ellipses of geese
penetrate it
J. Brian Robertson
Canada
hushed evening
spent
with owls
Roberta Beach Jacobson
USA
a crescent moon
tugs at the Pacific tides ...
tangled thoughts of leaving
Chen-Ou Liu
Canada
the sky's clear
enough to spot Polaris . . .
New Year begins
Barnabas Adeleke
Nigeria
autumn crocus
mother’s memories
from before she was a mother
Debbi Antebi
United Kingdom
breaking in
the pointed shoes
spring thaw
Debbi Antebi
United Kingdom
doc says
the labour has started ...
half-open tulip
Sanjuktaa Asopa
India
hummingbird
mistaking my ear
for a petunia
Joan Barrett
USA
at the wake
your hammock weighed down
by dogs
Danny Blackwell
UK Citizen, resident in Valencia, Spain
too young
to look so old —
grey temples
Julie Bloss Kelsey
USA
cicada shell
clinging to the wall...
its soul
Ed Bremson
USA
old school
a collared dove
pounds the frost
Helen Buckingham
UK
quarter moon
waves fold
water
Owen Bullock,
New Zealand
winter chill
the domino effect
of dog barks
Claire Vogel Camargo
USA
harvest over . . .
the farmer bends his head
in prayer
Kanchan Chatterjee
India.
night drive
silvered arms of trees
and Chopin
Marta Chocilowska
Poland
ladybirds swarming
into the concrete bunker...
war headlines
Cezar Ciobîcă
Romania
sable door mat
watches me with one eye
and a languid stretch
Ben Clarkson
New Zealand
Desert street -
stuck in a gridlock
of memories
Vassileios Comporozos
Greece
encounter
despite the winter
a butterfly
Maria Concetta Conti
Italy
a garden with no children
dandelions
unblown
Guido Cupani
Italy
family dance
around the young cherry tree
its first blossom
Henryk Czempiel
Poland
mushroom gathering
saving the biggest ones
for the soup kitchen
Tracy Davidson
United Kingdom
frozen river
the ducks as usual
but on foot
Marie Derley
Ath-city, Belgium
waterfall
the cloud teaches him to fly
the river - to sing
Maria Dermendzhieva
Bulgaria
moor -
heather in bloom
lost in the fog
Rosa Maria Di Salvatore
Italy
neighbour’s wedding
the singing crickets
in my backyard
Gurpreet Dutt
India
their new aroma
wafting through crisp wrinkled sheets
making scents of love
Victor Fleming
United States of America
summer road trip
my father's ashes
in the wind
Joseph Fulkerson
Kentucky, USA
empty square
a mobile phone is ringing
from a litter bin
Zelyko Funda
Croatia
grazing cows . . .
the wind chases sleepy spring
across the meadow
Ivan Gaćina
Croatia
withered apples
on snowy branches ...
hospice garden
Lucia Cardillo - Rodi Garganico
Italia
thaw drip
a little girl jumps
imaginary rope
Nikolay Grankin.
Russia
night anemones
the rhythms
of tide and moon
Simon Hanson
Australia
rainy hike
loving words turn
to hail
Mariela Coromoto Hernandez
The Netherlands
cherry blossom rain -
his vocabulary
so poor
Dan Iulian
Romania
post box...
empty sound
of her love letters
Lakshmi Iyer
India
peace
what else is there
that I need?
Damir Janjalija
Montenegro
Night train
last race
to the dark unknown
Padmini Krishnan
Singapore
new year
without fireworks –
only full moon
Capotă Daniela Lăcrămioara
Roumanie
celestial vault
mom's still knitting
up there
Hervé Le Gall
France
pier fishing—
he eats the bait
for dinner
Michael H. Lester
USA
paper thin—
the skin on grandma's arm
numbered, like her days
Michael H. Lester
USA
obedient only
to herself: morning glory
defies the evening
Priscilla H. Lignori
United States
scattered blossoms
sparrows reclaim the schoolyard
after recess
Gregory Longenecker
USA
I forgive you
poor mosquito . . .
I’m hungry too
Carole MacRury
USA
things that come
things that go
lacewing
Marietta McGregor
Australia
Arriving hungry –
May this smell of coffee
be from my home!
Franklin Magalhães
Brazil
spider web—
between wars
rumours of war
Martha Magenta
United Kingdom
sea of silence
my voice sailing
to a distant shore
Kumarendra Mallick
India
clear water . . .
floating petals followed
by their shadows
Tomislav Maretic
nightfall curfew
the old man walks
his dog
Anna Maris
Sweden
longest day…
bait fish in a bucket
dance in the sun
Scott Mason
USA
strong breeze —
the bulging branches
of cart puller’s veins
Indra Neil Mekala
India
June breeze
I sign for a package
with my finger
Paul Miller
United States
lunar eclipse -
the girl puts on
her first foundation
Radka Mindova
Bulgaria
plucked dandelions
still longing for the longing
in her eyes
Gautam Nadkarni,
India
Sweet pea...
not willing to move
the snail or I
Ashish Narain
The Philippines
washing plates
with her tears...
girl of ten
Shreya Narang
India
A moment, the sea
takes the shape of your body,
carrying it off-shore
Ecaterina Neagoe
Romania
autumn wildfire
a couple read their names
among the missing
Anthony Obaro
Nigeria
weak bladder
traffic jam makes my
forehead sweat
Franjo Ordanić
Croatia
home baked cookies
how does mom know how much
love to add
Vandana Parashar
India
first blossoms
stronger than sight
the sound of bees
Dejan Pavlinovic
Croatia
offshore breeze
I lick my lips
to taste the sea
Jacquie Pearce
Canada
splashed!
my toes in the pond
a frog jumps in
Carol Raisfeld
USA
graying sky, a
sudden chill as the moon
blots out the sun
Sondra Rosenberg
U.S.A.
mid-winter . . .
sunlight brings out the grain
on the old headstones
Bruce Ross
USA
yesterday’s funeral
the lingering scent
of mother’s lilies
Cynthia Rowe
Sydney, Australia
cheese-maker in tears -
his sheep ate
the pine boletes
Djurdja Vukelic Rozic
Croatia
Power cut -
darkness connecting
man to the moon
Raju Samal
India
bitter rain stops
my father fixing the roof
for another war
Ernesto P. Santiago
Greece
first handful of dirt
cemetery mockingbirds
keening heavenward
Agnes Eva Savich
USA
anniversary
a postcard addressed
to somebody else
Vessislava Savova
Bulgaria
single file
I follow my shadow home
winter sunset
Mary Alves Sella
United States
Alzheimer's-
Granny again counts
the floor tiles
Diksha Sharma
India
spring accessories
purple and yellow crocus
on a grassy bank
Adelaide B. Shaw
USA
on the horizon
an eagle appears to be
saluting the sun
Stuart Jay Silverman
U.S.A.,
The midnight hour…
last year’s resolutions
recycled
Keith A. Simmonds
France
Persian garden –
every avenue lined
with bitter oranges
Sandra Simpson
New Zealand
sudden rain -
street umbrella
a bestseller
Tomislav Sjekloća
Montenegro
cold rain
unpicked apple tree
hung naked
Dimitrij Škrk
Slovenia
(Translated by Đ.V.Rožić)
northern lights
the blur of scarves
as skaters pass
Debbie Strange
Canada
behind a curtain
of falling snow
village cenotaph
Rachel Sutcliffe
England
Storm
In the wind’s voice
There are notes of disquiet…
The bending pines groan.
Vitaly Svirin
Russia
heavy snowflakes
each word of the refugee
melting something
Eduard Tara
Romania
wrapped in fog
the whisper of owl's wings
above my head
Barbara Tate
USA
frosty morning...
your warm breath
tickles my lips
Diana Teneva
Bulgaria
raven at dusk
speaks a language
i can understand
Stephen Toft
United Kingdom
clothesline :
a rogue wind arm-twists
my blouses
Vidya S Venkatramani
India
The Moon
Silent in the sky
The silver coin
Buyer of dreams
Felice Vinci
Italy
such weakness!
I rest my head on the table…
thin dust
Anita Virgil
USA
winter evening
just the right amount
of tea leaves
Pragya Vishnoi
India
first kiss
in the meadow of daffodils…
no one to count Lyrids
Steliana Cristina Voicu
Romania
mellow rich sunset
burnishes pylon cables
alight with starlings
Michele Waering
United Kingdom
Midwestern farmer
takes handful of rich soil
honor, sweat and debt.
Jason Scott Wallace
Canada
helter skelter
down the wheelchair ramp
green acorns
Julie Warther
United States
blizzard clouds swallow
the wolf moon – dreams rise to
a squirrel’s nest
Tyson West
USA
last to leave
the garden of Eden
falling leaves
Ernest Wit
Poland
early morning hike
the forest path well hidden
beneath knee deep mist
David Wood
USA
the taste
of late summer fruit …
grabbing what's left
Beata Wrzal
U.K.
drought …
sharing the waterhole
predators and their prey
Beata Wrzal
U.K.
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