2009
HAIKU (Judge: Naia)
First Place ($100)
solstice moon
the sound of the mousetrap
snapping shut
Carolyn Hall
San Francisco, CA
Second Place ($50)
to each other
in the dark--
waving lanterns
Michael McClintock
Fresno, CA
Third Place ($25)
aspen . . .
I lose a word
or two now and then
Bill Pauly
Honorable Mentions (in ranked order)
the old mare's grave
already dug
April rain
Carolyn Hall
San Francisco, CA
Mother's Day card--
the attempt to say more with less
written larger
Alison Woolpert
the grief still fresh . . .
a leaf comes to rest
on its shadow
Carolyn Hall
San Francisco, CA
SENRYU (Judge: Ce Rosnow)
First Place ($100)
home office
my wife sends me an email
from the bedroom
Jeremy Pendrey
Honorable Mentions (not in ranked order)
overdue
the librarian’s
smile
John Stevenson
Nassau, NY
after the concert
the conductor motions
for his coat
Rich Krivcher
retirement day—
my plastic I.D.
snaps in half
Ruth Holzer
he talks about
his asset allocation
skimming bugs from the pool
Scott Mason
TANKA (Judge: Alexis Rotella)
First Place ($100)
winter afternoon
mother and I sort through
her jewelry box—
accepting baubles
just for their stories
Margaret Chula
Portland, OR
Second Place
without
his blue uniform
the mailman
quietly embarks
on a wild adventure
Cherie Hunter Day
San Diego, CA
Third Place
the shining moon
that used to perch
on my childhood dreams
now hovers over
a rooming house
Chen-ou Liu
Honorable Mentions (not in ranked order)
I pretended sleep
when my wife left them
on the night stand—
two fireflies
in a jar for me
Michael McClintock
Fresno, CA
moonlight
on fox tracks crossing
the frozen river
many winters have gone by
since visiting distant cousins
Kirsty Karkow
years later
the harsh words I spoke
bequeathed to me—
pressed wildflowers
in her dictionary
Linda Jeannette Ward
RENGAY (Judge: Billie Wilson)
First Place ($100)
“Pausing Mid-Pirouette”
between storms
stomping in rainbows
of ocean foam Renée Owen, Sebastopol, CA
a thousand fires
all day the orange sun John Thompson, Santa Rosa, CA
rising floodwaters
the boy in the red rowboat
waves a pirate flag Renée
three-day blizzard—
a chain guy adds my twenties
to his wad of green John
another heat wave—
she shares a snow cone with her dog
Renée
the lanky sunflower
pauses mid-pirouette
total eclipse John
Honorable Mentions (ranked)
“a pickup game”
standby seat—
filling in the crossword
left unfinished Christopher Patchel, Mettawa, IL
a pickup soccer game
at the roadside rest stop Alice Frampton, Seabeck, WA
first graders
fog the school bus window
to play tic-tac-toe Christopher
southbound train
my solitaire cards
used for gin rummy Alice
twenty questions
with the taxi driver Christopher
“Titanic”
the last night
of shipboard charades Alice
“Thump of a Rose”
moonflower
a dead friend’s name
on the tip of my tongue Billie Dee, San Diego, CA
hissing, a lava finger
enters the sea Josh Wikoff, Petaluma, CA
rustling aspen
mouse bones
in the barn-owl pellet Michael Dylan Welch, Sammamish, WA
a locust storm
above the field corn Billie
spawned out
each stone in the river
lends its voice Josh
the thump of a rose
on the child’s casket Michael
“Concoctions I” (a bilingual rengay)
dandelion wine
in the summer house
so many old books Linda Papanicolaou, Stanford, CA
grandma’s recipe
for lime flower cordial Sprite (Claire Chatelet), London, UK
cider apple trees
by night a pipistrelle
polishes the stars Linda
quince jelly
in a copper basin
the winter’s sun Sprite
slightly spicy
sorbet of Sweet William Linda
murder on the Nile
she sips hibiscus tea
in a china cup Sprite
(in French)
vin de pissenlit
dans la maison d’été
tant de vieux livres Linda
la recette de grand-mère
pour le cordial de sureau Sprite
pommiers à cidre
la nuit une pipistrelle
polit les étoiles Linda
gelée de coings
dans une bassine de cuivre
le soleil d’hiver Sprite
légèrement épicé
sorbet d’oeillet de poète Linda
meurtre sur le Nil
elle boit du thé d’hibiscus
dans de la porcelaine Sprite
“Bits of Shell & Ship”
a bag of fruit
by the driftwood fence
a budding friendship John Thompson, Santa Rosa, CA
on the incoming tide
a message hidden in a bottle Renée Owen, Sebastopol, CA
unearthed—
tiny fossils pressed
into blue slate John
finding myself
in a grain of sand—
day at the beach Renée
bits of shell and ship
gleaned from the ribs of waves John
losing track of time—
their sandcastle walls
in the setting sun’s light Renée
“Spiraling Down”
long weekend over
a maple key
spiraling down Tanya McDonald, Bellevue, WA
a pale green acorn
sprouts from the nurse log Russell McDonald, Bellevue, WA
freshly sliced watermelon
the retired mayor
spits the farthest Michael Dylan Welch, Sammamish, WA
siskins bicker
over the fallen thistle sock
Tanya
abandoned barn
cottonwood fuzz drifts
through the loft window Russell
granddad’s puff
of the dandelion Michael