2015
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HAIKU (Judge: Ce Rosenow)
First Place ($100)
​
winter gathering –
bits of bone too
heavy for the wind
paul m, Bristol RI
Second Place ($50)
pine needle path
ordinary words
layered just so
Julie Warther, Dover OH
Third Place ($25)
a fire station’s halyard
banging in the wind –
another night of protests
paul m, Bristol RI
Honorable Mention (not ranked)
autumn equinox –
a fern curls back
into the earth
Julie Warther, Dover OH
his widow’s
silhouette
early sunset
Joseph Robello,Novato CA
sea fog
somewhere else
the right words spoken
Sharon Pretti, San Francisco CA
TANKA (Judge: Margaret Chula)
First Place ($100)
the pieces
of his jigsaw puzzle
litter the floor . . .
winter moonlight slipping
through the hospice window
Chen-ou Liu, Ajax, Ontario, Canada
Second Place
the bouquet
i surprised mom with
on her birthday . . .
the pain in her smile
for the 20 bucks i spent
Shrikaanth Krishnamurthy, Birmingham, UK
Third Place
worn thin
after all these years
my worry stone
cracks in half—
all my worries set free
Lesley Anne Swanson, Coopersburg PA
Honorable Mentions (in order of preference)
plucking
a nose hair—
this divorce
more painful
than I thought
Susan Burch, Hagerstown MD
this jade plant
all that remains
so like you
to bequeath me
so much sturdy green
Donna Buck, Carlsbad CA
your vein-streaked hand
lifts the hem of my dress
. . . barely visible
beneath frost-burned blooms
fresh buds on the quince
Linda Jeanette Ward, Coinjock N.C.
SENRYU (Judge: Carlos Colón)
First Place ($100)
​
baby shower
the curve of her belly
invites us in
Carolyn Hall, San Francisco CA
Second Place
first love the ring his ring leaves
Julie Warther, Dover OH
Third Place
searching
the pages of the Bible—
two still joined by gilt
Julie Warther, Dover OH
Honorable Mentions (in order of preference)
after the nightmare
mother leaves a light on
for the ambulance
Tracy Davidson, Warwickshire UK
your enlistment photograph
as you were
Scott Mason, Chappaqua NY
talking to myself
the color of her
last breath
Renée Owen, Sebastopol CA
an old Dodge Dart on the front lawn
my neighbor, I wonder
how he lives
Rich Krivcher, Citrus Heights CA
​
​
Rengay (Judge: Garry Gay)
First Place
Weighing In
Michael Dylan Welch, Summamish, WA
Sonja Arntzen, Canada
summer trip—
no scale
on the island map Michael
scaling the hill
he skins his knee Sonja
scales of justice—
my uncle’s brass rubbing
framed in his office Michael
snake scales
transparent on my palm…
the discard Sonja
my son practicing
a minor scale Michael
in the scale model
of our new home
his infinite care Sonja
“Weighting In” What makes this a very wonderful rengay for me is the playful way the poets used the word “scale.” Its very clever, original and a very clear theme. Each verse can stand alone and yet connects to over all poem linking perfectly to the theme. Its nicely done.
Second Place
Lost
Stephanie Baker, San Francisco, CA
Sherry Barto, Daily City, CA
Chuck Brickley, Daly City, CA
lost in an eddy-wind
the drone
without its queen Stephanie
sharpening his sword
masterless samurai Sherry
empty park
the pit bull wags what’s left
of his tail Chuck
street corner encampment
a stirring of cardboard boxes Stephanie
“Hit the road Jack”
cut off as the driver
rolls up his window Sherry
fog drifting
the old shrine here somewhere Chuck
“Lost” You can feel the loss of each verse, the “lost” effect ripples throughout the over all poem. It shows you the many ways things are lost or misplaced or even an empty feeling like the “masterless samurai” or the encampment of cardboard boxes.
The poem is intricate in that it does not tell you what is “lost” just that something is missing. This poem is a fun read, and I kept coming back to it over and over.
Third Place
A Shared Umbrella
David Terelinck, Australia
Beverley George, Australia
this sleight-of-hand
known only to magicians
and timezones David
a phone call transports you
to the armchair next to mine Beverley
here or there
in every photo
our elbows linked David
a shared umbrella
our fingers tracing lines
on the same map Beverley
charting a friendship
that’s never lost its way David
each day a book,
a cup, a pen you gave me
cradled in my hand Beverley
“A Shared Umbrella” This rengay captures the feeling of a friendship over a life time. Can a rengay travel this far over time when often they are more like haiku in the here and now? This one does and it brings a lot of feelings with it. While the individual verses work well, it’s the over all feeling of the poem or its theme that ties it together for me.
Honorable Mention (not ranked)
No Escape
Julie Warther, Dover, OH
Angela Terry, Lake Forest Park, WA
late autumn
a hornet’s nest
in the cemetery tree Julie
no escape route
highlighted Angela
tuesday afternoon
a fly’s thwap thwap
against the window Julie
leaf bonfire—
a moth stops by
to investigate Angela
cutting off asters—
a black chrysalis Julie
milkweed pods…
a monarch misses
the fall migration Angela
Underbelly
Beverley George, Australia
David Terelinck, Australia
pink underbelly
of a huntsman spider
on the fly-screen door Beverley
she lies to mum
about her facebook friend David
a retreating tide
dumps one spike-heled shoe
on sloping sand Beverley
day after day
all the teenagers who
look like her… David
a flock of noisy miners
drive off a wattlebird Beverley
a flock of noisy miners
drive off a wattlebird Beverley
the silences
… where once
we’d mention her name David