2007
HAIKU (Judge: Billie Wilson)
First Place ($100)
summer
one bumblebee
deepens the hum
Ernest J. Berry
Picton, New Zealand
Second Place ($50)
weathered bench—
I open my palms
to the winter sky
D. Claire Gallagher
Sunnyvale, CA
Third Place ($25)
hollow center
of the raspberry—
Mother's silence
D. Claire Gallagher
Sunnyvale, CA
Honorable Mentions (ranked)
ouija board evening—
through the trees
a window of sky
Carolyn Hall
San Francisco, CA
cold morning
the saw's song changes
in the heartwood
Jim Kacian
Winchester, VA
the shadow
bigger than the pebble…
hunter's moon
Josh Wikoff
Petaluma, CA
second miscarriage—
chalk flowers dissolve
in a late spring rain
John Thompson
Santa Rosa, CA
SENRYU (Judge: Roberta Beary)
First Place ($100)
after the dentist
prying open
the oyster
Bill Pauly
Dubuque, Iowa
(Instead selecting Second Place and Third Place, the judge selected Ranked Honorable Mentions and Unranked Honorable Mentions)
Honorable Mentions (ranked)
night-nurse
see how she tip-toes
over the moon
Ernest J. Berry
Picton, New Zealand
passing the cream puffs
the guest of honor full
of herself
Francine Banwarth
Dubuque, Iowa
Honorable Mentions (unranked)
reunion
almost forgotten
the old me
Roland Packer
Hamilton, Ontario
my death poem
rejected
I carry on
Scott Mason
Chappaqua, New York
tax deadline
everybody says
it's nice outside
John Stevenson
Nassau, New York
TANKA (Judge: Ellen Compton)
First Place ($100)
weary
of the same old thoughts…
the scrape
of eucalyptus leaves
on the peeling wall
John Barlow
Waterloo, United Kingdom
(No Second Place and Third Place)
Honorable Mention (unranked)
in a voice
soft as light
cast by embers of pine
she reads from a book of moons
to a child no longer there
Linda Jeannette Ward
Coinjock, NC
autumn afternoon
we keep our distance
in dappled light
talking about the life
we haven’t shared
Sylvia Forges-Ryan
North Haven, CT
alone by choice
this autumn evening
a grebe arcs
across the reservoir
the sunset in its wake
John Barlow
Waterloo, United Kingdom
RENGAY (Judge: Cherie Hunter Day)
First Place ($100)
Sixth Sense
the baby’s eyes
change color
with the sky Tom Clausen, Ithaca, NY
loud train horn—
ice crystals hang in the air Michael Dylan Welch, Sammamish, WA
three-cheese lasagna—
a bit of garlic stuck
to the pulled-out hair Tom
at the seaside museum
the sample otter skin
worn bare Michael
parking lot’s fresh blacktop
simmers in the sun Tom
Peter and the Wolf—
my toddler’s eyes
opening wider Michael
Second Place ($50)
Circling
homecoming…
moss thickens
on the sundial Billie Wilson, Juneau, AK
the web returns to stillness
winter fly Carolyn Hall, San Francisco, CA
eight names for the wind—
a crumbling compass rose
on his gravestone Billie
Hunter’s Moon
white tails of the deer
bound into the woods Carolyn
dark shadows—
an owl circles its prey Billie
rustling corn stalks—
again she enters
the labyrinth Carolyn
Third Place ($30)
Quilt
this box of fabrics
no one wanted when Grandma died…
last leaves falling Helen K. Davie, Templeton, CA
faded, a rainbow quilt
the color of her hair Lynne Leach, Kentfield, CA
the hushed snip-snip
of scissors cutting cloth—
puddles dimple again Helen
“Starburst”
needlepoints of light
melt into midnight blue Lynne
binding the layers together
a trail of tiny stitches Helen
so tight this last thread…
on his bed a new comforter
in case he comes home Lynne