1999

​

HAIKU     (Judge: Yvonne Hardenbrook)

 

First Place ($100)

 

almost dawn

cupped in the curve of the moon

the rest of the moon

 

            Christopher Herold  (Port Townsend WA)

 

Second Place  ($50)

 

Autumn begins

leaves follow me

into the shed

 

            Garry Gay  (Santa Rosa CA)

 

Third Place  ($25)

 

squash blossom

just enough dew

to cool my face

 

            June Moreau  (Lexington MA)

 

Honorable Mentions (in rank order)

 

cruising osprey

how easily she slips

into dusk

 

            Ernest J. Berry  (Picton, New Zealand)

 

chimney smoke

moonlight changing directions

with the wind

 

            Christopher Herold  (Port Townsend WA)

 

summer veranda

low night voices slip into

rocking chair rhythms

 

            Patricia Neubauer   (Allentown PA)

 

 

 

SENRYU   (Judge: Carolyn Talmadge)

 

 

First Place  ($100)

 

piano lesson . . .

her braids outdo

the metronome

 

            Peggy Willis Lyles  (Tucker GA)

 

 

Honorable Mentions (unranked)

 

zen monk

adjusting the mike

on his robes

 

            Paula Bakalar  (San Rafael CA)

 

the rabbi rides

a three-wheeled motorcycle

signed “the kosher hog”

 

            Jean Rhodes  (Mill Valley CA)

 

for her solo

the flautist’s nipples

stand up

 

            Jim Kacian  (Winchester VA)

 

 

 

TANKA   (Judge: Fay Aoyagi)

 

 

First Place  ($100)

 

autumn rain

begins to fall . . .

an eviction notice

blows from somewhere

down the street

 

            Michael Dylan Welch  (Foster City CA)

 

Honorable Mentions (in rank order)

 

no letter from her

in months—

I gaze at the open space

where the old poplar

used to sway

 

            Michael Dylan Welch  (Foster City CA)

 

watching my son

amuse himself in the snow

I recall the intersection

where I once directed

make-believe traffic

 

            Joann Klontz  (Swedesboro NJ)

 

      facelift

and orthodontia

      I strain

   to recognize

     my sister

 

Yvonne Hardenbrook  (Columbus OH)

 

 

 

RENGAY     (Judges: Helen K. Davie and Rich Krivcher)

 

(Note: No first place was awarded)

 

First Honorable Mention  (tie)  ($50)

 

 

DEEP WOODS

 

overhead

the creak of spruce branches

                         touching

 

polished by hiking boots

knotted root in the trail

 

deep woods—

moss carpet and the bones

of a snowshoe hare

 

losing my self

the rustle  the rain

of dry fir needles

 

the path overgrown

with oxalix

 

dusky light—

whispers under the redwood

from the map she folds

 

            Cherie Hunter Day

            D. Claire Gallagher

 

 

First Honorable Mention  (tie)  ($50)

 

 

LACY UNDERTHINGS

 

meandering

across a rutted fire road

puff of thistledown

 

the drake’s head nestled

on his own feather pillow

 

slicing the apples—

another short pause

to talk with her hands

 

on the clothesline

lacy underthings

awash with moonlight

 

the dream, whatever it was,

has become this frog chorus

 

rustle in the canopy—

flutter-down leaves

trace the river’s currents

 

            Alice Benedict

            Carolyn Hall 

 

 

Second Honorable Mention

 

 

UNDERCURRENT

 

sand crab

hiding in the crack

between my hands

 

blue June sky through

stilled wings of a dragonfly

 

on the path

the pond where no frog

jumps in

 

summer becalmed

dying leaf falling gently

into its shadow

 

what is it—gone

in the rustle of leaves

 

not a ripple

disturbs the silent descent

of the moon

 

            Leatrice Lifschitz

            Anne French