2008
HAIKU (Judges: Renee Owen, Michael Sheffield)
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First Place ($100)
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the heart
drawn in snow
still falling
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Natalia L. Rudychev (Des Plaines, IL)
Second Place ($50)
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and so I agree
not to die before she does—
the sound of crickets
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Susan Antolin (Walnut Creek, CA )
Third Place ($25)
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water thrush. . .
as if time never
visited here
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Linda Galloway (Encino, CA)
Honorable Mentions (unranked):
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mockingbird . . .
but there ought to be
a moon
Ellen Compton (Washington DC )
the gazing space
between us empty—
deepening autumn
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Linda Galloway (Encino, CA)
this day . . .
snow blossoms
on the plum tree
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Linda Galloway (Encino, CA)
higher than the roof
the peace rose planted
three wars ago
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Susan Antolin (Walnut Creek, CA )
SENRYU (Judge: Chuck Brickley)
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First Place ($100)
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used bookstore
the creaking stairway
to poetry
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John Stevenson (Nassau, NY)
Second Place
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corn maze—
we tell the kids
to get lost
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Susan Antolin (Walnut Creek, CA)
Third Place
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the guest preacher
in his sunday best
passing thunder
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Roland Packer (Hamilton, Ontario, Canada)
Honorable Mentions (unranked)
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frescoed chapel…
I insert a euro
and then there is light
Scott Mason (Chappaqua, NY)
burial plot
the salesman offers
a free will kit
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Roland Packer (Hamilton, Ontario, Canada)
red lipstick
her laughter at his jokes
louder than mine
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Melissa Spurr (Joshua Tree, CA)
sizing me up
the jeweler measures
her ring finger
Tom Painting (Rochester, NY)
TANKA (Judge: Jim Wilson)
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First Place ($100)
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the late summer sun
pulls down into the ocean
the day’s afterbirth
my sense of waiting too long
for something, for anything
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Michael McClintock (Fresno, CA)
Second Place
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where the iron bridge
crosses the Platte, shivering,
the cottonwoods
open their leaves for a star
that falls toward the river
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Michael McClintock (Fresno, CA)
Third Place
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my grandson sleeps
in the baby carrier
the weight
of wanting to live longer
heavy on my shoulders
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David Rice (Berkeley, CA)
Honorable Mention (unranked)
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enough is enough—
painting the old house
I stop at the eaves
deciding to keep them
cobwebbed and beautiful
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Michael McClintock (Fresno, CA)
Sabbath morning
going down to the sea
and raising the sail,
a white prayer
going up to the sky
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M. Kei (Perryville, MD)
the heft and weight
of the old butcher tools
that were my father’s—
a distant era of Sundays
and T-bone steaks
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Susan Diridoni (Kensington, CA )
RENGAY (Judge: Ebba Story)
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First Place ($100) (tied)
“Rainbow Lorikeets”
the colors
of passing cyclists—
autumn wind Linda Papanicolaou (Stanford, CA)
rainbow lorikeets gather
after the storm Kathy Earsman (Queensland, Australia)
S.A.D.—
not one penny
in my pocket Colin Stewart Jones (Aberdeen, Scotland)
glimpsed through draperies—
Waterford bowl Linda
yellow surfboard—
its tilt against the blue
coffin Kathy
darkness pours into
the crescent moon Colin
“Returning”
a roll of linoleum
on the side porch—
the scent of rain Michael Dylan Welch (Sammamish, WA)
in dry cement
the neighbor’s initials Alice Frampton (Seabeck, WA)
the coffee table
moved back
over the carpet stain Michael
cold entry tile—
the UPS man
puts on his jacket Alice
the children’s throw rug
now in the trash Michael
returning soldier—
leaves pressed
under the welcome mat Alice
Honorable Mention (no Second Place and Third Place in 2009)
“Off the Top of Our Heads”
my son’s baseball cap
on backwards—
daylight saving time Michael Dylan Welch (Sammamish, WA)
a grey fedora
floats downriver Alice Frampton (Seabeck, WA)
lowering the visor
on the bike helmet
female cop Connie Donleycott (Bremerton, WA)
the line cook’s hairnet
almost falls into the soup Michael
after midnight
I find the toque
on the snowman Alice
the elastic breaks
on my birthday hat Connie